Bay Theatre
340 Main Street,
Seal Beach,
CA
90740
340 Main Street,
Seal Beach,
CA
90740
23 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 32 of 32 comments
Update: The Bay Theatre organ has been removed, and either donated or sold to a religious school. Though I always am disappointed to see an organ removed from a theatre, maybe this will allow the original murals flanking the original screen area to once again be seen, if they’ve survived the intervening years.
The Bay theater is like an escape from the crazy movie going scene. It is such a great place to see a movie. Like the other commenters said, down town Seal Beach is a quaint town. The reastaurants are great and taking a walk on the pier is a treat. If you have the chance to go, go. Take your friends too!
It’s great to hear the Bay has a curtain once again! I saw “Searching for Bobby Fisher” there in the mid-1990s after having not been to the Bay since 1973, and the screen at the time was bare, masked by black fabric (the organ is behind). I thought at the time that the organ was a wonderful addition, but I missed the double curtain I remembered from my childhood (one was a waterfall curtain and the other parted), as well as the curved walls on either side with their softly polychromed murals of stylized foliage in the so-called Skouras Style. I’m so glad to hear that a curtain of some sort has returned to the Bay! Now if there’d be a return to the original facade color scheme next time it’s time to repaint, and at the very least a repairing of the surviving pink, green and yellow animated neon display at the center of the marquee—I’d truly be thrilled! Nevertheless, if I were a resident of Seal Beach or the surrounding communities, this would still be a theatre I would attend often.
Forgot to mention one crucial element: they still have a curtain, and they still open it before the movie. Cool huh? Also, most of the shows I have been to recently have had increasingly larger audiences. Still not enough in my opinion, but encouraging nonetheless.
The Bay is always a joy to visit. It is rather small and unimpressive, but the films and presentation are always first rate. I encourage anyone in the area to pay a visit to see one of the classic films here. I have seen The Shining, The Exorcist, Citizen Kane, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and others at the bay and it is always a great evening. Main St. Seal Beach has a wonderful small town feel and has numerous bars and restaurants to visit before or after the movie. Please support this theatre! I have been many times when the screenings have only been attended by 10-15 people. It would be a shame if it closed!
The last major chain to operate the Bay theatre was Mann Theatres in the late 70’s.
This was MY hometown theatre from about age 4 until 10.
The theatre is a product of the Skouras era of the Fox West Coast chain, and still remained with that charming Moderne look when I was a kid.
In later years, a Wurlitzer pipe organ was installed, an instrument which I understand to be a very fine one, though I have yet to hear it. Unfortunately at around this same time—mid 1980s, a heavy remodeling of the facade was undertaken, removing most neon and converting what was once a colorful building into something like an earth-toned pueblo, definitely an aesthetic hangover from the “natural” 1970s. A return to the facade’s original look would be physically feasible, if someone ever had the money.