 |  | San Francisco for the Arts - Culture Around Every Corner in the City by the Bay Friday, March 28, 2008 San Francisco is a city of fascinating neighborhoods and around every corner is another cultural treasure waiting for you to discover. Whether it is one of the City by the Bay's acclaimed theaters or performing arts companies, a renowned museum, a neighborhood festival, or a distinctive gallery, the array of choices is sure to delight any lover of the arts.
The San Francisco Bay Area is the third largest theater center in the country, hosting more theater companies per capita than almost any other metro area. The area is also home to the third largest community of Equity (union) actors, after New York City and Chicago. Over 200 new plays are premiered in the San Francisco area every year. And San Francisco's Ballet and Opera companies are some of the oldest continuing performing arts companies in the United States.
Union Square is a landmark in the heart of San Francisco and the city's primary theater district. The nationally-recognized American Conservatory Theater (415 Geary Street), formerly the Geary Theater, features groundbreaking productions of classical works and bold explorations of contemporary playwriting. The conservatory serves over 3,000 students each year, with Danny Glover, Annette Bening, Denzel Washington, Benjamin Bratt, and Anika Noni Rose among the conservatory's former students.
SHN presents the Best of Broadway theater series at three theaters - the Curran (445 Geary Street), the Golden Gate (1 Taylor Street), and the Orpheum (1192 Market Street) - providing Bay Area audiences with current hits from Broadway, as well as pre-Broadway world premieres. This organization hosted the world premieres of such shows as Wicked, Legally Blonde and Baz Luhrmann's production of Puccini's La Boheme, all prior to their opening on Broadway. It has also featured blockbuster hits like Les Miserables, The Lion King, Mamma Mia, The Phantom of the Opera, and Jersey Boys. SHN's Orpheum Theatre is a historical landmark in the arts, and has hosted vaudeville, movies and musical comedies over 75 years.
The Post Street Theatre (450 Post Street) presents a diverse array of high caliber, smaller-scale Off-Broadway and avant-garde theatrical attractions in a restored building from 1924, which also houses the Kensington Park Hotel. The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (620 Sutter St) is named after the African American author of "Raisin in the Sun" and features productions written by black playwrights. The EXIT Theatre (156 Eddy Street) is San Francisco's center for experimental theater, and home to the annual Fringe Festival, an open, non-juried, uncensored festival where performers are selected through a lottery.
Also in the Union Square area, on Sutter, Post, and Geary streets, are numerous fine art galleries, some which sell the big names like Chagall and Picasso, and others featuring contemporary artists. The Xanadu Gallery (140 Maiden Lane) is housed in the city's only Frank Lloyd Wright building, which has the same circular interior as the famous Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Civic Center is the cultural center of San Francisco. Crowned by the Beaux Arts gem City Hall, this part of town is home to glorious architecture and fascinating museums. The War Memorial Opera House and Davies Symphony Hall, both part of the War Memorial Performing Arts Center, inspire envy from music lovers from all over the world.
The War Memorial Opera House (301 Van Ness Avenue), one of the world's greatest opera houses, was designed by Arthur Brown, Jr., who also designed the newly renovated City Hall, and Coit Tower. The Opera House is home to the San Francisco Opera, an internationally-acclaimed opera company which presents 13 productions in over 80 performances annually. The San Francisco Symphony performs at Davis Symphony Hall (201 Van Ness Avenue). In a smaller theater, the San Francisco Lyric Opera (631 O'Farrell Street) presents fully-staged classical opera sung in the original language (with English super titles). Enjoy the future music superstars at one of over 400 public performances at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (50 Oak Street).
Alonzo King's LINES Ballet (26 Seventh Street) is an internationally-known modern dance and performance arts company and one of the highest-regarded dance instructional institutions in the country. The San Francisco Ballet Association (455 Franklin Street) offers a six-month repertory season and an annual Nutcracker.
The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (200 Larkin Street) is one of the largest museums in the world devoted exclusively to Asian art, with a collection comprising nearly 15,000 objects spanning 6,000 years of history. The Museum of Performance & Design (401 Van Ness Avenue) - formerly the San Francisco Performing Arts Library & Museum (SFPALM) - is the first international arts institution devoted to the celebration of the performing arts and theatrical design.
In the South of Market/Yerba Buena neighborhood, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (151 3rd St), affectionately known as SFMOMA, is one of the world's most innovative museums of modern and contemporary art, housing over 15,000 artworks, including paintings and sculpture, photography, architecture and design, and the media arts. The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission Street) is a $44 million entertainment and art complex with performances and exhibits showcasing San Francisco's cultural diversity. The Museum of the African Diaspora (Third and Mission Streets) showcases African experiences in San Francisco, as well as around the globe. Tickle your funny bone with a collection of original cartoon art, as well as a children's gallery, at The Cartoon Art Museum (655 Mission Street).
The Asian American Theater Company (690 Fifth Street) is known as the birthplace of the modern Asian American theater, producing live drama comedies and musicals from the city's diverse Asian American heritage. The Lamplighters Music Theatre (469 Bryant Street) offers fully staged, high-quality Gilbert & Sullivan and other musical theatre. Smuin Ballet (300 Brannan Street) presents dance theatre and ballet at its best. The San Francisco Chronicle calls it "the hottest ticket in town."
Among San Francisco's iconic buildings is the terracotta Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District/The Presidio area. You will recognize this building from TV  shows, the Sim City video game, and numerous movies, including The Rock and The Bachelor. The Palace now houses the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre and the San Francisco Exploratorium, a hands-on science museum. Nearby, the Fort Mason Center houses BATS Improv, with improvised shows each week, and the Magic Theatre, one of San Francisco's premier homes for new plays.
In the Castro District/Upper Market area, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus (1800 Market Street) is the world's first openly gay chorus, with a three-fold mission: to perform at the highest standard of musical excellence; to instill pride and provide support for the membership; and to serve as goodwill ambassadors for the city of San Francisco.
Each February, Chinatown is the focal point for one of the city's most popular festivals, Chinese New Year. A week's worth of fascinating festivities ends with a huge downtown parade overflowing with Chinese folklore, including a block-long Golden Dragon. The Pacific Heritage Museum (608 Commercial Street) is on the site of the original San Francisco Mint and focuses on art of the Pacific Rim. The Chinese Culture Center (750 Kearny Street) rotates exhibits of Chinese arts and crafts.
North Beach is known as San Francisco's "Little Italy." Each June, the North Beach Festival, San Francisco's oldest street fair, unfolds along Grant Avenue and Green Street. The North Beach Museum (1435 Stockton Street) offers a collection of vintage photographs tracing the neighborhood's early days. Beach Blanket Babylon (678 Beach Blanket Babylon Boulevard/Green Street) is the longest running musical review in American theater history.
The Embarcadero/Financial District may be the business hub of the city, but it also offers the leading jazz institution on the West Coast, SFJAZZ (San Francisco Jazz Organization). SFJAZZ (Three Embarcadero Center) presents the San Francisco Jazz Festival in late October/early November, as well as special concerts year-round. Teatro ZinZanni (Pier 29) offers an evening of European Cabaret and Cirque, set along San Francisco's historic waterfront.
If you are traveling to San Francisco, CRSHotels.com has the perfect hotel for you. Choose the Hotel Mark Twain, in the heart of San Francisco (check out the great CRSHotels.com deals), the La Luna Inn, the King George Hotel, the Kensington Park Hotel or the Touchstone Hotel in the historic theater district. Stay at the Hotel Fusion or the Hotel Diva. Enjoy the Hotel Stratford, the Adante Hotel, or the Hotel Griffon.
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