The Curran Theatre opened in February 1922 on Geary Street, between Taylor and Mason, in the heart of San Francisco's Theater District. Its namesake, Homer Curran, was a theatrical producer who had already operated another theater bearing his name before building this one. More than a century later, the Curran remains one of San Francisco's principal venues for touring Broadway productions and original theatrical works. Its current owner, however, would surprise anyone who thinks of theater as separate from sports: since 2025, the building belongs to the San Francisco Giants.
Homer Curran was not the kind of producer who sat behind a desk. He had already lent his name to an earlier theater -- originally the Cort Theatre, opened in 1911 -- before constructing this larger, more ambitious venue at 445 Geary Street. The new Curran Theatre reflected the optimism of 1920s San Francisco, a city rebuilding not just from the 1906 earthquake but from the austerity of World War I. The Theater District along Geary Street was becoming a concentrated corridor of live performance, and Curran positioned his house at its center, designed to host the touring productions that brought Broadway to the West Coast.
The Curran has operated continuously for more than a hundred years, making it one of the longest-running live theater venues in San Francisco. Its programming has mirrored the evolution of American commercial theater: the vaudeville-adjacent variety shows of the 1920s gave way to the golden-age musicals of the mid-century, which yielded to the mega-musicals of the 1980s and 1990s, which in turn made room for the contemporary productions that fill the house today. Through every shift in taste and economics, the Curran has maintained its role as one of the city's primary gateways to touring theater -- the place where San Francisco audiences experience Broadway without the flight to New York.
The San Francisco Giants' acquisition of the Curran Theatre is one of those Bay Area transactions that makes perfect sense only if you understand that San Francisco sports teams have never confined themselves to sports. The Giants' ownership connects the theater to a broader entertainment portfolio, reflecting a trend in which sports organizations diversify into live entertainment venues. For the Curran, corporate ownership by a well-funded organization may prove more sustainable than the independent producers who preceded it. The building's location, architecture, and century of theatrical goodwill are assets that transcend any single owner -- the Curran has outlasted every company that has held its deed.
Located at 37.787°N, 122.411°W at 445 Geary Street in San Francisco's Theater District, between Taylor and Mason Streets. The building is in the dense downtown grid near Union Square. Best viewed at 2,000-3,000 feet AGL. Nearest airports: KSFO (11 nm south), KOAK (10 nm east). The Theater District runs along Geary Street west of Union Square.