Lensic Performing Arts Center

Somewhere I read or was told that the letters L-e-n-s-i-c are the first letter of the names of the original owner’s children. Spectacular place.

I miss when it was a movie theater. Saw Gary Oldman in “Immortal Beloved” there, Woody Allen’s “Everyone Says I Love You” multiple times, great times

(Evangelo’s, the bar where Jeff Bridges performed in Crazy Heart (and in the forthcoming Granite Mountain) is just across the street to the right of the photo).

This was the place where I saw Star Wars in ‘77. It was my small town equivalent of the Village Theater in Westwood.

1987 photos of the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe here, here and here.

Nice work! Your old buddy from Toronto Canada, now living in Manila, Willy M. –

ziggy: “I visited this theatre on November 6 to see the screening of ‘Gone With the Wind’…”

Hey, so did I! Um, wait. I don’t think it was November. Maybe you saw a re-run. I saw that movie at the Lensic on its first run. (Admission for kids 10 cents? or was that later?)

ziggy: “…The atmospheric auditorium has had all vestiges of tile roofs and plants removed, and the atmospheric dome has been replaced by a flat ceiling from which are suspended various light bridges, catwalks, and ducts…”

Hmmm… I recall the ceiling as very mysterious. Mostly dark but with (I think it was at the Lensic, if not some later theater in Albany) something reddish glowing in the corner(s)…as if a giant apple. [Maybe it was later, because I sort of associated it with that poisoned apple in Snow White.)

Will Dunklin: “I just spent a lovely vacation week in Santa Fe and was very fortunate to be able to see Buster Keaton’s silent comedy ‘Steamboat Bill’ presented with a live 6-piece orchestra at the Lensic…”

Now I’m confused. I saw a movie about a steamboat at the Lensic, but it was a talkie: I recall a repeated refrain, guy on the bridge saying “steamboat ‘round the bend!” (Was it Wallace Beery? couple of kids beside him?)

I went to the College of Santa Fe in the mid 1960’s. We always had an ‘inside’ joke about the Lensic. The name of the theater was spelled out on the walls inside… “LEN” on the left and “SIC” on the right (as noted above). We called it the (Look quickly left and say) Len (look quickly right and say) Sic. College kids. I remember seeing Mary Poppins there with my friends and enjoying it.

Some clarification:
The LEN SIC letters were in place at the time that the restoration began – and at that point a weird neon green color.
There is cove lighting.
The ceiling had already been painted flat black (it is now dark blue) and the cloud projector and tapestry long gone – same with tile vestiges or plants.
There is a house drape but it would have been up for the film. The black draperies are standard and necessary for a performing arts center – which the Lensic now is with about 250 shows a year.
It is a funky space, but there was some consideration at the time of restoration to not transform the theater beyond recognition. A lot of folks around here hold the place near and dear for that first movie, first date memories etc. And Santa Feans are very suspicious of the change that outside money can bring. Just look at the El Paseo Theater, errrr I mean Banana Republic up the street and the Paris Theater, oops parking garage across the way.
Obviously I work for the theater. Glad to see your comments. This is a great website.

Hello Will Dunkin. Your comments on the Lensic have reminded me of how unhappy I was with the renovation/desecration that’s been done there. One thing I remember is that under the balcony, along the sidewalls, there is a small arcade on each side of the auditorium. Obviously they were originally decorated to appear as if one were looking through the arcade to to “outside”. After the renovation, the arcades were painted beige (as per your comment)and in each archway was a giant painted letter so that it spelled out the name of the theatre. If that wasn’t bad enough, there are only 3 arches on each side, so that on one side of the theatre is “L – E – N”, and on the other side is “S – I – C”. The effect was so ridiculous that I have to laugh even now!

I just spent a lovely vacation week in Santa Fe and was very fortunate to be able to see Buster Keaton’s silent comedy “Steamboat Bill” presented with a live 6-piece orchestra at the Lensic. I can’t agree with Ziggy enough. The Lensic is standing, it’s clean, it’s loved, but the magnificient plasterwork now looks like a temporary stage set inside a black box. It looks like the architect and client had no idea how to renovate a movie palace. Curtains are black, light fixtures are all modern and surface mounted, all the cove lighting is gone, the atmospheric sky is gone (black flat ceiling with stage lights hung on a grid), the interior painting looks amaturish (did they get a do-it-yourself kit from Home Depot), what curtains there are are all black, there is no house main, the screen was in full view the whole time. (They did have a go-bo on the screen to give it a little interest). The organ seems to be gone.

I had to laugh at the curtain speech inwhich the MC complimented the theatre’s magnificent acoustics. Then the orchestra came in and they all had microphones pointed into their instruments: even the TUBA and SAXOPHONE!

Lest we forget though, this is the only movie palace in Santa Fe and it is still a wonderful venue. The projection quality was spot-on, the seats comfortable, the entire theatre was clean and open. A side alley has been enclosed and serves as ancillary lobby space with new spacious restrooms.

One day, we can hope for a more sympathetic renovation. But in the mean time, it was a great show and Santa Fe still has a jewel of a theatre. It is very much worth a visit.

The architects at the theatre’s web site are identified as the Boller Brothers, and not Craig Hoopes and Associates. Regarding Nick Seibel’s comment re: Santa Fe, he’s right. I’m a recent transplant to New Mexico and went to Santa Fe as a tourist. The locals all warned me what a superficial place it was and MAN, ARE THEY RIGHT!! It’s rare to come across a place so full of itself, and yet so shallow!