Pantages Theater

Pantages Theater (1929)
1400 Fulton Street, Fresno, CA

The Pantages Theatre was constructed by Alexander Pantages, one of the most prominent managers of vaudeville entertainment and a renowned theater magnate. Before he retired, he owned sixteen large theaters outright and controlled forty more. All of the houses owned or operated by Pantages were designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca. In 1929 the theater was purchased by Warner Brothers, and its name changed to "Warner's Theatre." Fresno thus became the second West Coast city to have a Warner Brother's motion picture theater. The theater was used primarily for motion pictures until 1973, when it was sold to the present owners. Since that time it has been used mainly for concerts. Its name was changed to "Warnors Theatre" in the 1960s.

The theater features a unit orchestra (a pipe organ which includes numerous features and instruments, meant to be able to replicate sounds of a full orchestra with only one organist), which was manufactured by the Robert Morton Organ Company of Van Nuys, California and installed in 1928. The organ was to be used to accompany silent films. Aroud the same time the organ was to be installed, movies were beginning to include sound. The theater tried to cancel the order but the organ was installed anyway. The organ has 14 ranks built with 1,035 pipes and a four-manual console with 720 keys, pedals and combination pistons. The organ was used primarily for motion pictures until 1973. Because of the cost of paying orchestra members, most accompanying orchestras were replaced with unit orchestras

This is now more of a community run theater, if I understood things right. On our first walk, there was an event playing here. Our tour was able to go into the theater and looked around-they were in awe. The theater does tours on Art Hop nights-well worth the effort to see it.