Issue 183, Spring 2008 - Telegraph Hill Dwellers

The Pagoda continued from page 24group that Douglas Cruickshank described “an outrageoustheatrical troupe comprising gay men, womenand babies who use their LSD-infused exuberance,imaginations and a gift for dressing to the nines inthrift store drag and glitter to illuminate a series offunny, flamboyant and utterly unprecedented midnightmusicals.”One attendee remembers, “As the Chinese moviegoers were leaving at midnight throngs of peoplewould gather waiting for the box office “lady” to finishdecorating the box office window usually withfeather boas so they could buy $2.00 tickets to seethe Cockettes.”The Cockettes performance of a piece like“Tinsel Tarts in a Hot Coma” would be followedby campy movies. Busby Berkeley and Betty Boopcartoons were favorites.The loose scene continued for some years.Remembers one attendee:”At a midnight movie in1971 Bette Milder and Barry Manilow, then performingat Bimbo’s 365 Club, came in. He went tothe piano on the main floor and started playing atune, and she went on stage and yelled ‘anyone haveThe Pagoda Palace Theaterc o u r t e s y Sa n Fr a n c i s c o Hi s t o r y Ro o m, SF Pu b l i c Li b r a ryThe Pagoda Palace Theaterc o u r t e s y Sa n Fr a n c i s c o Hi s t o r y Ro o m, SF Pu b l i c Li b r a rya joint? From the balcony a shower of joints raineddown, and Bette picked most all of them up.”The Palace, then the Pagoda, then thePagoda PalaceIn 1974, in keeping with the Chinese fare featured,the theatre was renamed the Pagoda. Its wilddays were somewhat behind it though one attendeeremembers that “the management was pretty permissiveas long as you were a paying customer. Outsidefood was perfectly acceptable, as was chugging 40ouncers of beer and smoking in the theater.” Duringthese years the theater showcased Hong Kong’s newwave cinema, featuring the work of John Woo andJackie Chan before they became international stars.Briefly in 1986 the Renaissance Rialto theaterchain took over the theater, rechristened it thePalace, refurbished the old building and opened it asa repertory house. According to Osterberg, “The firstmovies featured were two filmed in San Francisco:‘The Maltese Falcon’ and ‘Dark Passage.’ They wereshown at a $10.00-a-person fundraiser to save theGrace Marchant Garden.” But soon the repertoryeffort failed and the theater returned to showingChinese films. Now it was the Pagoda Palace.continued on page 3028 Issue #183 • Spring 2008