The easiest way to see the inside of Oakland’s Fox Theater is to grab a concert or a drink there because tours are not regularly offered. So of course I jumped at the chance to get inside this beauty with an architecture tour offered by the Oakland Heritage Alliance. It’s not as iconically Art Deco as the nearby Paramount but still it’s a gorgeous example of atmospheric design.

The day after this tour, I was out with friends and one asked what I learned. I cackled to myself and thought: It’s dangerous to ask me questions like that! These are some of the things I learned:

  • The theater was built in 1928, and was the largest west of the Mississippi at the time.
  • It’s located in Uptown, what would be considered part of downtown Oakland today but at the time was sparsely populated outskirts. The original city center, around Jack London Square and the waterfront, was aging and developers decided to move north into Uptown to build shiny new stores and attractions.
  • Originally planned as The Baghdad, that plan was scuttled when Portland’s Baghdad Theater opened in 1927. Because so many theaters had taken the Middle East and North Africa as inspiration, they turned to the Brahma Temple in Khajuraho instead. After all, it’s not ‘exotic’ if it looks like all the others.
  • Looking around the inside, however, aside from the elephants it’s clear no one knew jack about Indian motifs. It’s a reason why many people erroneously assume the theme is Moorish or Moroccan. (Ok, it’s me. I’m people.)
  • It was originally to be a vaudeville theater until, also in 1927, The Jazz Singer set the world on fire. Now knowing that talkies were going to be the next big thing, they rejiggered the plan to include the ginormous speakers of the time.
  • Shows were more than a movie. In addition to a feature film there was also stage show with a full orchestra led by a band leader, who was a celebrity in their own right, plus an organist with a spinning Wurlitzer, and a Rockettes-style dance performance. And all that 5 times a day!
  • The theater itself is a simple concrete box. Every design element — the structures, the guardians, the ceiling tiles — are all made of acoustic plaster to tame the sound.
  • Speaking of the ‘guardians’, the figures that flank the stage: The building was originally heated with steam, and excess steam was routed to the bowls the guardians are holding to make them look extra mystical.
  • The reinforced concrete construction was so solid, it went unscathed in the Loma Prieta quake that destroyed many nearby buildings plus it needed almost no seismic retrofits later on when it was redeveloped.
  • It closed in 1966 but after a long campaign it was resurrected, reopening in 2009. (Side note: Sometimes economic downturns protect old architecture. In a wealthier city, the downtown art deco buildings might have been torn down and replaced a few decades later but Oakland was poor and overlooked so the buildings were left alone, waiting to be rediscovered later.)
  • The city of Oakland owns the building, and paid $75M on the renovation so that it could house an arts high school as well as be an anchor of their hoped-for Uptown renaissance.

The city’s investment in the Fox was a smart one. It’s the best music venue in the area, a favorite with bands for its sound and artist-friendly spaces. And it did spur an astonishing amount of local development! Uptown today is a vibrant, busy area with loads of housing, restaurants, and art. Nearly 25 years ago when I moved to Oakland it was not like this, and I love to see it.