Warnors Theatre

Warnors Theatre is a historic theater located in downtown Fresno, California. The 2,100-seat venue opened in 1928 as the Pantages Theater, after the name of its then owner, Alexander Pantages, and later, the Warner Theater in 1929 after it was purchased by Warner Brothers. The name was changed again in the 1960s to "Warnors" to avoid trademark issues.

Pantages, Alexander, Theater
Location1400 Fulton Street
Fresno, California
Coordinates36°44′17″N 119°47′40″W
Built1928
ArchitectB. Marcus Priteca
Architectural styleSpanish Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No.78000663 [1]
Added to NRHPFebruary 23, 1978

The theater was designed by B. Marcus Priteca, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[2]

Organ
Ornate ceiling of the Warnors Theatre
Warnors Theatre Pipe Organ

The theater features a unit orchestra (a pipe organ which includes numerous features and instruments, meant to be able to replicate sounds of a full orchestra with only one organist), which was manufactured by the Robert Morton Organ Company of Van Nuys, California and installed in 1928. The organ was to be used to accompany silent films. Around the same time the organ was to be installed, movies were beginning to include sound. The theater tried to cancel the order but the organ was installed anyway. The organ has 14 ranks built with 1,035 pipes and a four-manual console with 720 keys, pedals and combination pistons. The organ was used primarily for motion pictures until 1973. Because of the cost of paying orchestra members, most accompanying orchestras were replaced with unit orchestras.[3]

The Berlin Philharmonic gave a concert in the theater on November 15, 1956, under its new music director Herbert von Karajan.

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "California - Fresno County: Pantages, Alexander, Theater". National Register of Historical Places. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  3. Rose Caglia. "Pantages Theatre (Fresno, California)". Historic Fresno. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
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