Vision

The AMS Planning and Research business feasibility study clearly shows that there is opportunity for the restored Fox Fullerton Theatre. Let’s take a tour of the newly restored Fox Fullerton Theatre and envision the experience.

As we approach the Fox notice a restaurant once again operating in the Tea Room space. Spanning the courtyard is a new marquee modeled in a style appropriate to an earlier day in the theatre’s history but fitted with modern electronics. The courtyard is busy with people.

At the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Chapman Avenue is a new plaza. Parking spaces have been replaced with tables, chairs and a fountain. Food and beverage shops make the plaza an inviting place to start an afternoon or evening of entertainment.

Those traveling west on Chapman Avenue will see an addition spanning the length of the historic building. One of the features of this addition is a new alternate entrance with an elevator to make the Fox accessible to more people.

Guests entering the courtyard will find the box office on the back wall where it was located when the Fox opened in 1925. Ticket holders enter the lobby to discover the ceiling richly painted with the recreated design as originally produced by John Gabriel Beckman.

The lobby is more spacious than in the past. The concession stand is now inset into the north wall between the doors entering the auditorium. On the south lobby wall is the entrance to new restrooms – large enough to prevent long lines at intermission.

Entering the lobby doors leading into the auditorium you notice that there is now a short hallway ending with another set of doors. This short hallway, known as a sound and light lock, prevents ambient light and noise from disrupting the experience inside the auditorium.

Once inside notice the new comfortable seating with areas set aside to accommodate patrons not able to sit in the permanent seating. The rich detail in the proscenium has been restored. The ornamentation above the emergency exits to the left and right of the stage has been recreated. A curtain covers the stage adding to the anticipation of what is ahead.

Looking up to the ceiling below the balcony see that the richly detailed artwork designed by John Gabriel Beckman has been recreated. In the main ceiling the stenciled designs have been recreated and illuminated by the two wrought iron chandeliers. Smaller light fixtures in other areas also light the space. To the left and right walls are the 6 restored A. B. Heinsbergen murals depicting the discovery and early settlement of California. These murals pre-date all other murals in Fullerton.

Those with loge tickets will take the grand lobby staircase or the newly installed elevator to the second floor. In the mezzanine lobby ceiling John Gabriel Beckman’s mural has been cleaned to bring back its original brilliance. The romantic themes depicted in the mural were Beckman’s tribute to newlyweds Alice Ellen and C. Stanley Chapman, the developers who built the Fox, then known as the Alician Court Theatre.. Ladies in attendance will notice a new ladies’ room at the end of the mezzanine. There are sound and light locks leading into the auditorium.

The audience is now seated ready for the program to begin. On this night we are here to watch a film. The chandeliers and other house lights begin to dim. The curtain rises to reveal a wide screen with proper matting to accommodate the various aspect ratios of film from the silent era to modern day. The film begins and the THX certified sound system fills the auditorium with spacious surround sound. On another evening the curtain will rise to reveal the stage with musicians, or perhaps a live theatre engagement.

Our evening ends as some of you stop in for a late night dinner in the restaurant. Some of you may join the artists for an end of program discussion in one of the meeting rooms on the second floor above the restaurant.

As you can envision by our imaginary tour, The Fox Fullerton Theatre will enhance downtown Fullerton and add cultural richness to the community. The Fox will be a quality venue reopened with respect for its history but modernized to provide an outstanding experience for the expectations of today’s audience. Please join us in our work to reopen the Fox Fullerton Theatre.

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