"Over the past few years, the future of San Francisco's temporarily shuttered Castro Theatre has been one of the city's most hot button cultural issues. Protests over maintaining its identity as a movie palace lingered throughout the costly renovation by concert promoter Another Planet Entertainment. There are still questions as to how much film programming will fill the schedule, but after an announcement of a packed concert slate, it's clear that there's a change in the air."
"The theater plans to reopen in February after renovations, which ballooned to $41 million in costs after an initial estimate of $15 million. The reopening run of concerts will feature singer Sam Smith, whose 20-date residency has already sold out. The yearly LGBTQ+ film festival Frameline is set to return to the venue in 2026, but otherwise, live performances remain the main programming, with 16 events in March, 11 in April, four in May and one in August."
"The lineup of musical acts is full of heavy hitters: two nights of indie rock stalwart Father John Misty; pop iconoclast Perfume Genius; local synthesizer maestro Tycho; aughts throwback Santigold; and boygenius's Lucy Dacus. Other standouts include drag icons Alaska and Alyssa Edwards, reunited aughts rockers the Format playing two dates, legacy pub rocker Nick Lowe, electronic San Francisco transplant Vandelux, and José González, who notably provided the soundtrack for the Sony commercial in which 250,000 bouncy balls were shot down San Francisco streets."
San Francisco's Castro Theatre is set to reopen in February after renovations that rose to $41 million from an initial $15 million estimate. The reopening schedule is dominated by live performances, anchored by a sold-out 20-date residency by Sam Smith and multiple concerts across March, April, May and August. The Frameline LGBTQ+ film festival will return in 2026, but regular nightly film programming remains uncertain. Film-adjacent events such as the "On Cinema" live show and The Gayme Show! are included. Presale tickets for most shows go on sale Nov. 6.
Read at SFGATE
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