San Francisco’s Castro Theatre is back, baby.

What better name could preside over the rebirth of the Castro Theatre than Phoenix Day? The Bay Area studio fashioned Art Deco chandeliers in 1937 for the Spanish Revival landmark designed by Timothy L. Pflueger in 1922. Nearly a century later, invited back by lessee Another Planet Entertainment, Phoenix Day rewired and reimagined its luminous originals during a meticulous two-year, $41-million restoration alongside CAW Architects, preservation architects Page & Turnbull, and Berkeley theater consultants Shalleck Collaborative.

Artisans from EverGreene Architectural Arts revived the gilded Neoclassical proscenium long concealed behind a makeshift screen wall, and restored sgraffito plaster murals and hand-painted ceiling finishes dimmed by decades of smoke. Meanwhile, discreet digital infrastructure ushered the movie palace into the 21st century.

Adjustable raked ramps now convert to a flat, 1,385-person dance floor. A finely calibrated sound system serves film, live music, and a new digital organ replacing the aging instrument that once thrilled audiences. Removable seats with cup holders, fresh air delivered through ramp risers, and expanded bathrooms heighten comfort—but it is the lighting that best transmits the transformation.

The principal chandelier, craned down for repair, now glows with LED color-shifting bulbs—a contemporary echo of Pflueger’s 1930s lighting experiments at Bimbo’s 365 Club. “He would be happy to see this here,” marvels Mary Conde, senior vice president of production at Another Planet.

On opening night, as The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert played to a jubilant crowd, it shimmered in triumphant rainbow hues.

Photos by Zahid Sardar and Phoenix Day