Sophisticated performing arts centers, vintage theaters, cultural centers and cool nightspots are an increasingly vibrant part of the California meetings scene. Here’s a look at some of the new and improved places for off-site events or for simply kicking back and enjoying a performance.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco’s music scene got a major boost with last spring’s opening of the SFJAZZ Center, a permanent home for the city’s celebrated SFJAZZ Festival and also the West Coast’s first stand-alone facility designed expressly for jazz performances. The 35,000-square-foot structure offers a flexible performance theater that can be configured from 350 to 700 seats and rented for conferences, product launches and other events.
It complements a notable jazz venue that opened a few years ago, The Fillmore Heritage Center, which includes Yoshi’s Jazz Club and Japanese Restaurant; 1300 on Fillmore, a soul food dining venue; and the nonprofit Jazz Heritage Center, which has a jazz art gallery, gift shop and screening room. All parts of the center are available for events. Yoshi’s, which also has a location in Oakland’s Jack London Square, offers seating for up to 400 people.
“We love 1300 on Fillmore, which you can buy out or use its meeting rooms,” says Barbara Edwards of California Host, a local DMC. “At Yoshi’s, you can combine dinner in the Japanese restaurant and then move on to the club for a performance.”
Edwards is also a fan of San Francisco’s recently renovated Great American Music Hall, which has long been a popular venue for headline entertainment. With its tiered balconies and central open floor, the Music Hall is an ideal backdrop for themed events, according to Edwards.
“We’ve done Cajun by the Bay with a New Orleans theme, a 1920s speakeasy party and other events that really go with its historic atmosphere,” she says.
The city’s premier cabaret club has a new owner, entertainer Michael Feinstein, who converted the Razz Room at the Hotel Nikko into Feinstein’s at the Nikko. The sophisticated 140-seat venue offers scheduled performances by major cabaret artists and is available for buyouts. PageBreak
San Jose
When it comes to offering a choice of major entertainment venues a few steps away from the convention center, few cities can rival San Jose. Four performing arts theaters that are available for special events are marketed and managed by San Jose Theaters, a division of Team San Jose, the city’s CVB.
“The four theaters and the convention center are within a block of each other, so there’s no need for transportation,” says Meghan Horrigan, director of communications for Team San Jose. “Planners can use them all as unique event spaces or take advantage of the entertainment.”
Among them is the San Jose Civic Auditorium, which recently completed a $15 million renovation that updated the 1936 venue, where Duke Ellington, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan have performed. The 3,300-seat auditorium is available for general sessions and customized concerts.
The others are the 2,665-seat Center for Performing Arts, designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and home to Broadway San Jose and Ballet San Jose; the 1,119-seat California Theater, a 1920s movie palace that houses Opera San Jose and Silicon Valley Symphony; and the 523-seat Montgomery Theater, home to the Children’s Musical Theater.
Napa Valley
In a bucolic setting of hillside vineyards, the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center at Lincoln Theater opened late last year in Yountville. The 1,214-seat theater is home to the Symphony Napa Valley and offers a wide range of ballet, concerts and headliner entertainment throughout the year.
Along with the theater, the performing arts center has several areas for meetings and events, including the Grand Foyer for banquets and receptions, the Rehearsal Room for small meetings and wine tastings, and the Swanson Board Room, which has a projection screen and opens onto a private patio.
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
San Luis Obispo
Located on the campus of California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), The Performing Arts Center, San Luis Obispo is both a major entertainment venue and special events site. It offers the Christopher Cohan Center, which includes the 1,289-seat Sidney Harman Hall and the 180-seat Philips Hall; the multipurpose Pavilion that holds up to 400 people; and the 498-seat Alex & Faye Spanos Theatre.
“It’s a beautiful venue with a lot of possibilities,” says Stacie Jacob, executive director of Visit San Luis Obispo County. “We host many meetings and events there, including a recent one where we had all 200 attendees seated up on the stage for a banquet.” PageBreak
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles
The biggest entertainment news in a city built on entertainment is that The Forum, once an NBA and NHL arena, will reopen as a concert and events center in January, following a $100 million renovation. The 17,500-seat arena was acquired by the Madison Square Garden Co. last year, which has booked The Eagles for a series of concerts to mark the opening.
“The Forum is being redesigned with flexibility, so that it can also be configured for groups that only need half the seating,” says Ernest Wooden Jr., CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board. “It’s really going to be a first-rate facility for general sessions and other events.”
Along with the seating area, The Forum will offer a 40,000-square-foot terrace around the perimeter of the building, a luxury lounge and the historic Forum Club, which is being redesigned with thematic music-inspired detailing.
Covering a city block in Beverly Hills and embracing both the city’s past and present, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is set to open this month. The complex, which will offer touring dance and theatrical performances, comprises two buildings: the 1933 Italianate-style Beverly Hills Post Office and the contemporary 500-seat Goldsmith Theater. The former Post Office will house the flexible 150-seat Studio Theater and a cafe. Both buildings will be surrounded by landscaped courtyards, a sunken sculpture garden and an event terrace.
The TCL Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood landmark with footprints of the stars immortalized in cement outside its entrance, reopened in September after an extensive renovation. The new theater seats 932 people and is the largest IMAX auditorium in the world. It celebrated its reopening with the screening of The Wizard of Oz, which originally premiered at the theater in August 1939.
The Annenberg Space for Photography, which exhibits digital and print photography, recently opened its new Skylight Studios event area. The 3,000-square-foot space has customized lighting, soundproof walls, two large screens, a 14-foot stage and extensive audiovisual capabilities.
Nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains, the Skirball Cultural Center presents concerts, films and exhibits pertaining to Jewish heritage. Available for bookings in November, the new Guerin Pavilion offers a ballroom with vaulted ceilings and views of a terraced garden. It can seat over 600 people for a banquet or be divided into smaller rooms.
Orange County
In Anaheim, Disneyland Resort always has exciting new entertainment options on tap for meetings. The latest is at the recently transformed Paradise Pier in Disney California Adventure Park, which has dedicated viewing areas for groups of up to 4,000 to watch the new Disney’s World of Color nighttime spectacular. Entire buyouts of the show, a panorama of water effects, lighting and dramatic music, are also available.
With sweeping ocean views from a hilltop site, the Newport Beach Civic Center is a new venue designed to achieve LEED Silver status. It can seat up to 150 for an arts program or other special event.
“This is an excellent addition to Newport Beach’s current meeting space inventory,” says Michelle Donahue, vice president of sales for Visit Newport Beach Inc.
The Huntington Beach Art Center is the place to go for contemporary art exhibits, film screenings and art workshops. It’s also a popular site for evening receptions for up to 80 guests.
