This Theater Was a Refuge for Queer Americans. Now It's Been Reborn.
Unpacked by Afar | Travel Smarter, More ResponsiblyShow Notes
She’s 104 years old, newly renovated, and she’s ready for her close-up.
On this episode of Unpacked: America 250, host Aislyn Greene talks about the newly renovated Castro Theatre in San Francisco, a $41 million transformation of one of America’s most beloved LGBTQ+ landmarks.
Aislyn sits down with Mary Conde, SVP at Another Planet Entertainment, the independent concert promoter behind the renovation, to explore what it took to bring this icon back to life, and why this was always about more than a building.
In this episode, you'll learn
The history behind the Castro Theatre, from a Lebanese immigrant’s grocery store to a 1,400-seat icon.
How the Castro became the heartbeat of San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community.
What a $41 million renovation actually looks like, from a peach-glazed ceiling to a color-changing chandelier.
The story of the organs (yes, plural) that have defined the Castro’s sound for decades.
Why Another Planet Entertainment sees this as a gift to San Francisco, not just a business investment.
Chapters 00:00:00 The Castro's Comeback
00:00:59 Castro Theatre
00:02:00 From Grocery Store to Icon
00:05:30 A Safe Harbor for a Community
00:09:00 Inside the Renovation
00:13:00 The Organ's New Life
00:15:30 What's Coming Next
Meet this week’s guest
Mary Conde, Senior Vice President at Another Planet Entertainment and a lifelong San Franciscan who has shaped the city’s music scene for decades. Another Planet is the independent concert promoter behind Outside Lands and the recent mayoral inauguration party, and the company that took on the Castro’s renovation.
Resources
Read the transcript of this episode.
Explore the history of the Castro Theater.
Buy tickets for upcoming Castro events.
Read about the Frameline LGBTQ+ Film Festival.
Be sure to subscribe to the show and sign up for our podcast newsletter, Behind the Mic, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode. And explore our second podcast, Travel Tales, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us, and View From Afar, where we spotlight the people and ideas shaping the future of travel. Unpacked by Afar is part of Airwave Media's podcast network. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from Unpacked by Afar | Travel Smarter, More Responsibly
Welcome to episode three of a four-part Unpacked series on Dubai travel, this time focused on Dubai food: how a city long known for celebrity chefs and global concepts has grown a homegrown food scene with a flavor all its own.
In a new ongoing series, Afar is asking a deceptively simple question: What does a UNESCO World Heritage designation actually do? This episode starts in North Queensland, Australia, home to two UNESCO sites that sit side by side: the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics, which includes the Daintree Rainforest.
Welcome to episode two of a four-part Unpacked series on Dubai travel, this time focused on Dubai hospitality: how a city with more than 800 hotels and 150,000 rooms built a world-class hotel scene on one of the Arabian Peninsula’s oldest traditions: the welcome.
Welcome to episode one of a four-part Unpacked series on Dubai travel: the history, the ambition, and the glamorous, multicultural city it's become today.
Afar contributing writer Emma John road-trips the Great Victorian Bathing Trail, uncovering the best spa towns in Victoria, Australia—from thermal springs on the coast to century-old bathhouses inland.