‘Jubilee!’ celebrates El Campanil’s 80th

Posted on November 13, 2008
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Repost from: Brentwood Press
Link to Article: http://www.brentwoodpress.com/article.cfm?articleID=20753

Antioch’s El Campanil Theatre, 604 West Second Street, will celebrate its 80th anniversary with a one-night-only “Jubilee!” on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m. The show features performers who have appeared on stage since the venue was renovated and reopened in 2004 as a performing arts center.

“We’re bringing back for one night only some of our most outstanding entertainers who drew standing ovations from our audiences – singers, musicians, actors and dancers representing a wide range of entertainment, from musical theater and symphony to opera and pops,” said Rick Carraher, the theater’s executive director.

One of Contra Costa County’s oldest and most architecturally magnificent theaters, El Campanil made its debut on Nov. 1, 1928.

For four decades, the El Campanil Theatre had been a prime venue for vaudeville shows, including appearances by Roy Rodgers, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Donald O’Connor, and Gene Autry. Many inscribed their autographs on dressing room walls. All signatures, as well as those of contemporary performers at El Campanil, have been preserved under an acrylic plastic transparent shield.

With the decline of vaudeville and the emergence of talkies, El Campanil (“tower of bells” in Spanish) became a movie palace, staffing a full corps of uniformed usherettes, flashlights in hand, until 1990. In its final days, the theater served as a church.

Although the years took their toll – peeling paint, faded artwork, a leaky roof and other signs of deterioration – a restoration project began in 2002.

The El Campanil Theatre Preservation Foundation purchased the theater in 2003, and has raised funds to restore the original décor, expand the stage, provide new seats and install state-of-the art sound and theatrical lighting systems as well as other enhancements. The theater reopened on July 4, 2004. Three months later, the “official” grand opening was celebrated, headlined by Debbie Reynolds.

Since then, El Campanil has become a destination for audiences with a taste for a wide range of entertainment, from singer-composer Randy Newman and the Mariachi Divas to the Kingston Trio and film classics. Audiences at El Campanil have enjoyed the California and Diablo symphony orchestras and Lamplighters Musical Theater Company. Among the artists on stage for the theater’s “Jubilee!” celebration will be soprano duo Bella Sorella, the song stylists Vocalese, the Strolling Strings, Drew Harrison, Frankie G & the Conviction, the Sonos Handbell Ensemble and Vagabond Players.

Tickets for “Jubilee!” are $80 for preferred seating, $30 for adults, $25 for seniors and $15 for children under 12, and are on sale at the theater box office, by calling 925-757-9500, or by visiting www.elcampaniltheatre.com.

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