The Charming & Historical Curran Theater Begins Extensive Renovation
Local theatrical presenter and Tony Award-winning producer Carole Shorenstein Hays is currently leading a massive remodel of Curran Theater in San Francisco. The 1,650-seat venue on Geary Street in Lower Nob Hill, named after its first owner Homer Curran who opened the theater in 1922, is a charming historical building can look forward to some modern upgrades.
The current renovation, led by architecture firm Perkins+Will and interior designer Brian Murphy, includes reupholstered seats, new carpeting, and enhanced lighting. Additional upgrades expected will be remodeled lobbies, three bars with digital displays, as well as a new lower level with expanded restrooms plus new electrical and mechanical systems. The entire remodel isn’t expected to be completed until early 2017. Curran Theater hasn’t received a structural update since the five-year run of “The Phantom of the Opera” that began in 1993. Curran Theater has previously hosted Broadway tryouts for other shows including, “Wicked” and “Beautiful.”
To add to the news, Curran Theater has named journalist Kevin Sessums their new Editor-At-Large. New responsibilities for Sessums include managing and overseeing all editorial content for the “Curran: Under Construction” programs, as well as curating and hosting an occasional on-stage series of conversation and performance featuring today’s most compelling thought leaders and artists, called Groundbreakers with Kevin Sessums.
Carole Shorenstein Hays, a theatrical producer from San Francisco, purchased the Curran Theater in 2014. She has helped produce a dozen Broadway shows including “Fences” and “Doubt,” and is currently on the producing team of 2015 Tony champ “Fun Home.” Hays has decided to focus Curran Theater’s programming on non-traditional works with audiences entering via the stage door. Curran Theater split last year with SHN, a theatrical entertainment company in the Bay Area, which was Hays’ joint venture with the Nederlander Organization.
