San Francisco and its suburbs have been cautious, maintaining various restrictions while other parts of the country reopened businesses and eased mask mandates..
G. Allen Johnson April 28, 2021Updated: April 28, 2021, 4:42 pm
Children watch “Toy Story 2” at the Balboa Theater, where guests are treated on the weekends to a jazz show and movie at their parklet. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle
On a recent sunny Sunday afternoon, the sounds of live jazz wafted up and down Balboa Street in the Outer Richmond District as a small crowd sipped beer, munched on popcorn and moved with the rhythm.
During the final set from Danny Brown and the Noise All-Stars in front of the closed entrance to the Balboa Theater, Emily Bridwell and her two young children arrived. As the musicians packed up their instruments, workers wheeled a big-screen TV out to the theater’s parklet, where Bridwell’s children plopped down to watch a free showing of “Toy Story 2.”
G. Allen Johnson March 5, 2021Updated: March 10, 2021, 1:24 pm
Cinemark is marketing its auditoriums for booking by families and small groups of friends. Photo: Cinemark
Movie theater screens are lighting up across the Bay Area once again, but don’t expect a Hollywood ending just yet. The cinematic atmosphere in the Bay Area is more like a David Lynch film: strange, surreal and disjointed.
On the plus side, major theater chains AMC Theatres and Cinemark have reopened, as Alameda and Solano counties this week joined San Francisco, Santa Clara, Marin, San Mateo and Napa counties in advancing to the second-most-restrictive category of California’s reopening blueprint, from purple (widespread) to red (substantial). Alameda and Sonoma counties remain in the purple tier.
Skip to main content
Currently Reading
San Francisco s beloved nightlife venues are on the brink of closure. It s time for everyone to step up
FacebookTwitterEmail
Marsha Marsha-Marsha performs in Mother: Britney vs Christina, a drag show at Oasis, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, in San Francisco, Calif.Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle
The glamorous wigs still sit atop foam heads. The sequined dresses dangle from their racks. The large red heels rest, impatiently, in a closet.
All that’s missing at the Oasis San Francisco’s beloved drag club and cabaret is the audience. All that’s coming in are the bills.
D’Arcy Drollinger, owner of the South of Market nightclub and a drag performer himself, said that between rent and other costs, he’s spending $1,000 a day just to keep the 8,000-square-foot space shuttered. He’ll hold an old-school telethon Saturday in which drag queens will take donations over the phone as a last-ditch effort to save the club.