S.F. theaters to change ownership
The Golden Gate and Orpheum theaters, two historic performance venues along Market Street in San Francisco, will be taken over by the Ambassador Theatre Group, the British company that also operates the Curran Theater on Geary Street.
The acquisition from the Nederlander Co., scheduled for March 29, was announced by ATG’s parent company, International Entertainment Holdings Limited. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The transaction, initiated by Nederlander’s financial adviser, Barron International Group, reunites the city’s three leading commercial stages, which were operated for decades by the company known as SHN, a partnership between impresarios Carole Shorenstein Hays and Robert Nederlander. That company, split up acrimoniously in 2019 after 42 years of operation, was subsequently renamed Broadway SF.
Broadway SF spokesperson Scott Kane told The Chronicle that “our customers’ experience and relationship with us will not change,” adding that more than 80% of its members have already renewed their seats for the 202122 season.
Productions for the new season also remain mostly the same — “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations,” “Hadestown,” “The Prom,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” and “Oklahoma!” — though a seventh show is expected to be added to replace the previously announced “The Cher Show,” which was set to run April 27 through May 23.
Broadway SF is still in the process of finalizing performance dates and times for the upcoming season.
“As part of the ATG family, we will continue the long and successful foundation we’ve created of providing Bay Area audiences with Broadway blockbusters and oneofakind theatrical experiences, as well as the topnotch customer service that our loyal fans expect from us,” Kane said.
In 2019, Shorenstein Hays retained ownership of the Curran but leased it to ATG for the local premiere of the Broadway hit “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” That production opened in December of that year, only to be shuttered months later by the onset of the COVID19 pandemic.
The 2,400seat Golden Gate opened in 1922 as a vaudeville house and underwent a 13month renovation in 2018 in preparation for its centennial. The Orpheum, slightly smaller with a capacity of 2,200, opened in 1926. Both theaters have been the home to prominent touring production of Broadway hits, such as LinManuel Miranda’s “Hamilton.”
ATG is also taking over Detroit’s Fisher Theater along with the operation of that city’s Detroit Opera House and Music Hall to go with a portfolio of more than 50 performance venues throughout the U.K. and the U.S.
“This extraordinary portfolio of venues located in San Francisco and Detroit, two of America’s key theatrical touring cities, is comprised of precious assets and we are delighted to be taking over their stewardship,” ATG CEO Mark Cornell said in a statement.