Lorenzo Theatre
Theater Location: 16080 Hesparian Boulevard, San Lorenzo, CA
Theater Chain: United Artists Theatres
Theater Open Date: 1947
Theater Status: Closed
Cast Affiliations
The Lorenzo Theatre is a now closed classic Art Deco theater. It was built by United Artists Theatres and opened in 1947. The 700-seat theater was the first in Northern California to have painted murals which glowed in black light; the painter was Anthony Heinsbergen, the renowned Dutch muralist. He depicted black panthers in a colorful jungle.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show began showing at the Lorenzo Theatre on Friday and Saturday at midnight after it changed management in 1979. The new Manager, Dan Tocchini Jr, renovated the Lorenzo and re-opened it on November 1 1979. The first showing of Rocky Horror at the Lorenzo was the following night, making it among the first theaters in Northern California to present a shadowcast production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In June 1980, the Friday night showings were cancelled.
The Lorenzo closed again in 1982 due to a lease dispute with United Artists Theatres and has never re-opened.
The Lorenzo received an Art Deco Preservation Award from the Art Deco Society of California in May 1986, was designed a California Historic Resource early in 2001, and was named an Historic Preservation (HP) District by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in 2002.
There are ongoing efforts in San Lorenzo to buy the property for renovation by a group called Save the Lorenzo, including giving tours of the premises with black lighting to show off the murals.
References
"Lorenzo Theatre Counting on Movie Buffs", The Daily Review, 2 Nov 1979
"A Study in Movie Madness", The Daily Review, 13 Jun 1980, page 7
"Dispute Closes Lorenzo Theatre", The Daily Review, 22 Sep 1982
