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This week, "Outfoxed?“: Anyone who has attended a concert or other event at Oakland’s grand Art Deco pile, the Paramount Theatre, has the same question after the splendid impression of the place wears off: “Why doesn’t the Paramount get more bookings? It’s so beautiful, it should be used more.” Exactly. Turns out the 3,000-seat former movie house has had management problems from the day it first opened in 1931. Now it’s owned by the city of Oakland, which runs it as a non-profit, and it generally pays for itself, or comes close. But there’s a “new” old movie palace about a block away – the ornate Fox Theater, also a 3,000-seater from the Depression era, also being helped by the city, and now in the process of emerging as an entertainment venue run by the music promoters Another Planet. Can these two white elephants co-exist? And what does it all mean for Oakland’s reborn Uptown entertainment district? Staff writer Kathleen Richards peeks into the situation.
Also: Any Express readers out there who remember going to a movie at the Fox before it stopped showing first-run movies in 1965? If so, comment on this post and tell us about it.
.You Write Too Long — This Week’s Cover Story Bite-Sized
