signs: Paramount Theatre

Paramount Theatre

It's 80 years since the beautiful Paramount Theatre opened its doors in 1931. The theater ran for many years showing movies, then fell into disrepair. It was restored in the 1970s as a home for the Oakland East Bay Symphony. The outside of the theater features prominently in the city's walking tour of Uptown, which focuses on Art Deco buildings. The Paramount also gives tours of the theater (something still on my to-do list), on the first and third Saturday of each month. Which is all to say it's a remarkable building.

K and I have been there to see movie classics like A Streetcar Named Desire and Dr. Strangelove, but it also has Oakland Symphony and other concerts, hosts graduations, naturalization ceremonies and a variety of other events. K's mom remembers being taken there as a child to see The Wizard of Oz in 1939. Speaking of which, The Wizard of Oz is the upcoming movie classic on December 30th.

Read Annalee Allen's article about the building and restoration of this Art Deco gem, and check out the theater in person -- it's beautiful, inside and out.



More pictures of the Paramount: