El Campanil Theatre
602 W. Second Street,
Antioch,
CA
94509
602 W. Second Street,
Antioch,
CA
94509
6 people
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Also see article written when theater was new, see Motion Picture News (Jan – March 1929). Look up February 2, 1929 issue on pages 306 – 307 !!
There are five photos of this theater on this webpage; clicking on them will enlarge the thumbnails.
A few 2011 photos can be seen here and here.
When the theatre was “rehabilitated” in 2004, the stage was extended, new lighting, sound, marquee and 700 new (vintage style) seats were installed.
Visit the website at: www.elcampaniltheatre.com
Here is a 1981 photo:
http://snipurl.com/gjt97
i been to this theater twice to see 2 really good shows in late 2007 i seen a mexican folk band from richmond ca called Los Cenzontles and they rocked the house and in march of 2008 i seen another very good band from los angeles called mariachi divas they played to a sold out Audience and also rocked the crown i had such a good time .
but as a theater it has that classic charm i really enjoyed this place i’m glad this cinema gem was restored …..
I am not sure what ‘cosmic’ is talking about above. The El Campanile had a 2 manual 6 rank style 165 Wurlitzer that was installed when the theatre opened.
After leaving the El Camp,the organ went to an Oakland area nightclub known as 615 Club where it was played for dancing by
the late Dave Quinlan.
When the 615 was closed, the organ was moved to Rudy’s Supper Club in Vallejo where it contineud to play for many years, again played by Dave Quinlan.
Due to the vintage of the organ (1928), the organ was equipped with “black cap” [electro] magnets to actuate the switching and pipe valves. These magnets are often prone to failure, but are easy to replace.
Sadly, an electronic organ sales effort got the Supper Club to dump the pipe organ because it “was in bad shape” and the club hauled in some sort of electronic organ and sold the pipe organ. The pipe organ was broken up for parts and no longer exists. Some parts were used in the composite Wurlitzer in the Fox Theatre in Hanford, CA (which is now, misguidedly, about to be replaced with another composite organ with none of the quality of the organ presently installed.)
The team responsible for renovating and preserving the theatre deserves a huge applause. Not only did we enjoy the Debbie Reynolds show held there, but the theatre was as lovely and charming as my mother used to describe, as it was THEE place to go when she was a young girl. Thank you so much for allowing us “youngsters” to marvel in some of Antioch’s great history.
This theatre is reopen and beautiful! Debbie Reynolds will be appearing October 9th, 2004! A series of productions by Playhouse West is scheduled. Currently classic movies are shown one weekend a month. Visit the website @ www.elcampaniltheatre.com
The theatre is presently closed for the first phase of a four phase renovation/restoration project. It is due to reopened July 4, 2004 as a performing arts theatre.