CULTURE 30 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 6-12, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com “An indirect lighting system of unique design brought out every nook and cranny of the Alvarado Street exposure to the best advantage…it follows modernized school of Spanish construction, partaking just the least bit of the colonial scheme to make it fit in admirable fashion, into the magnificent setting of the city where civilization’s feet were first planted upon the Western coast of the United States.” That’s how theater ownership introduced the venue to the community in its first-ever program, as the State Theatre opened its doors on Aug. 6, 1926 with an organ solo, a vaudeville act and two silent motion picture presentations—Up in Mabel’s Room and Uppercuts. Exactly 100 years later, Golden State Theatre (renamed circa 1935) opens its door for a centennial celebration, with an open house, ceremonial tributes, live music, a rare organ performance and a classic silent film double feature. As is tradition every 10 years, guests can go behind the scenes, take guided backstage tours and view memorabilia and vintage projection equipment. The theater opened with 1,600 seats at a time when Monterey’s population was only about 6,000, making it the largest theater between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The venue would have continuous shows every day from 2:30-11pm, and a vaudeville show every Sunday. It had its own orchestra and a music director/organist providing sound for everyday features and during intermissions (silent films were anything but silent). Designed by the San Francisco firm Reid Brothers, the auditorium was built to feel like an open-air Castilian courtyard—a painted “sky” fresco ceiling, backlit coves in red, blue and amber, wrought-iron chandeliers, tapestries and heraldic shields, with lighting rigged to simulate sunrise and sunset. That’s how volunteer Martin Schmidt, the guardian angel of the theater, remembers the building he visited as a child in 1967, before the original colors and ornaments were covered over after United Artists Theatre Circuit took ownership and painted everything a homogeneous white. “It’s the love of my life,” he says about the venue, several decades after he decided to restore it—first as part of a nonprofit, later on his own, one piece at a time. “I just approach each new owner and introduce myself,” Schmidt says, praising the cooperation of current owner Igor Gavric, the manager of Santa Cruz’s The Catalyst, who bought Golden State for $4.5 million in 2021. Thanks to Schmidt, the venue has the organ again, a replacement 1928 Wurlitzer pipe organ, very close to the original instrument. Schmidt is hardly the only one who gave his heart to old theaters. C.B. “Cowboy” Heerdt has been a technical director and production manager at Golden State for the past 12 years. “I was raised in a theater like this,” he says from an empty theater a few hours before a show. “Now I have a 4-year-old who runs around this theater as I once did.” The story of the Golden State Theatre extends through changes in entertainment and the movie industry itself. It was the first venue on the Peninsula to show “talkies”—sound movies. It witnessed the end of vaudeville. In the 1960s, as television and suburban multiplexes ate into single-screen movie palace revenue, United Artists sold the venue to Regal Cinemas, after triplexing it, carving the balcony into two smaller screens while leaving the main floor intact. Since 2004, the theater has been in private hands. Investor Warren Dewey bought it for $2.5 million and restored Golden State to a single 1,300-seat auditorium and invested in partial restoration, while also leasing the space to Monterey Church for services. Lori and Eric Lochtefeld from Silicon Valley, who also owned the Fox Theatre in Redwood City, acquired it in 2014, and bolstered entertainment programming. Over the decades, the City of Monterey expressed interest in purchasing the venue, which continues to be the entertainment heart of downtown Monterey, and continues to operate as a live music and comedy venue, featuring such names as Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Tracy Morgan, B.B. King, Chris Isaak and Bad Religion. Schmidt says he remembers the fun the audience had when the pipe organ was last used—during the intermission for Interview with the Vampire, a movie released in 1994. When Gavric arrived in 2021, “We were trying to preserve concert venues during Covid,” he says. “We are concert people and this is a beautiful place.” He adds that the theater hosts 120 shows a year, in contrast to 50-60 in prior years. The future is bright, he says. For its 100th birthday, the venue takes a nod to its original diversity and hours, as in the late 1920s, opening at 2pm. The evening will include ceremonial remarks, a jazz performance, a double silent feature and a pipe organ demonstration. “Not a lot of people showed up for the 1976 open house thrown by the United Artists’ manager,” says Schmidt, who did show up. He is planning to be there on Aug. 6, for his love’s golden birthday right in the middle of the golden summer. Golden State Theatre centennial 2-6pm open house; 7pm ceremony/evening program Thursday, Aug. 6. Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey. Free. (831) 649-1070, goldenstatetheatre.com. Golden Years Downtown Monterey’s entertainment hub, Golden State, turns 100—with a nod to the past. By Agata Popęda “It’s the love of my life.” Golden State Theatre opened in 1926, the same year Del Monte Hotel was renovated, and the Monterey Peninsula became a playground for the well-to-do. Below: “Cowboy” Heerdt, technical director/production manager, working on lights. DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS
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