PARAMOUNT THEATRE RESOURCES
PHOTOGRAPHS
Use the image browser at the top of this page to view the Paramount Theatre's photography collection.
View Dan Vint's collection of
Paramount Theatre photographs
Enter the keywords PARAMOUNT THEATRE OAKLAND and select "Match all of these words"
on this Library of Congress
search page to access the Historic American Buildings Survey
collection of Paramount Theatre photographs.
DOCUMENTS
The book The Oakland Paramount by Susannah Harris Stone with photographs
by Roger Minick tells the story of the
Paramount's history, restoration and operation. The book is available for purchase
on-line, by
mail order, and at the Paramount Theatre.
Enter the keywords PARAMOUNT THEATRE OAKLAND and select "Match all of these words"
on this Library of Congress
search page to access the Historic American Buildings Survey
collection of Paramount Theatre documents. (Data is available in graphic TIF file format only - not text)
Text excerpts from Historic American Buildings Survey data are used
in the History of the Paramount
(long version) and in descriptions accompanying the Paramount Theatre's
photography collection.
THE PARAMOUNT THEATRE MUSIC LIBRARY
The Paramount Theatre Music Library is one of the largest collections of sheet music in the country with over 250,000 catalogue entries
dating from the 1870s to the 1950s.
The Paramount Theatre Music Library consists of three categories of printed music:
Symphonic, Chorus, and Popular music.
The Symphonic and Chorus libraries were obtained by the City of Oakland, California from the original Oakland Symphony
in 1985 and are material typical of the repertoire of such symphony orchestras.
The Popular Music Library, the largest and most well-known of the three, was originally collected by various radio stations,
by band and orchestra leaders, and by other professional musicians and dedicated amateurs. The Popular Music Library
comprises many genres of printed sheet music, including silent film, movie soundtrack, opera and operetta-derived, salon, parlor,
semi-classical, circus, ice show, vaudeville, ballet, Dixieland, Big Band, various immigrant and social classes, humor, ballads, and all the dance forms popular in their respective eras.
More information is available from
the California Sheet Music Project.
An ongoing effort to catalogue the collections is directed by Paramount Theatre Librarian Jean Cunningham.
Copies of sheet music already catalogued are available for a nominal fee. Donations and volunteers are always welcome.
Construction of the Paramount Music Library web site is currently underway - please check back.
ORGANIST JIM RIGGS AND THE MIGHTY WURLITZER
For over 25 years, Jim Riggs has been the San Francisco Bay Area’s most visible - and most listened to - purveyor of music on the “Mighty Wurlitzer” pipe organ. Having regularly appeared at every major Bay Area movie house equipped with one, Riggs has entertained well over one million toe-tapping patrons. It’s no wonder local media and emcees call him the “Wizard of the Wurlitzer”.
Riggs is now in his twentieth year as House Organist at the fabulous Paramount Theatre in Oakland, an internationally acclaimed Art-Deco masterpiece and National Historic Landmark. He has appeared previously at the Grand Lake Theatre (also in Oakland), the Castro Theatre in San Francisco and at the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto.
Riggs’s music mostly features Classic American Pop - the music produced between the wars. His programs highlight the great tunes of Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, Kern, Arlen, Warren and many more. His musical stylings are always orchestral and often evoke dance orchestras and big swing bands. If audiences walk into a theatre expecting the monotonous drone of the typical pipe organ, they’re in for a big, uplifting surprise!
Of the handful of touring theatre organists worldwide, Riggs is one of the few that also specializes in the presentation and live scoring of silent films. He has composed and performed scores for the films of such greats as Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo, Harold Lloyd, Lon Chaney, Buster Keaton, Gloria Swanson, Joan Crawford, Laurel & Hardy and many others. His scores are always dramatic and creative, blending seamlessly with the action on-screen without overtaking it.
Riggs has several recordings released, with the latest - “The Perfect Combination” - released in 2008. His music has been heard on National Public Radio in the USA and BBC Radio in the UK. Riggs was featured in the Public Broadcasting System’s television documentary, “Pulling Out All The Stops - A History of the Pipe Organ in America”. Jim's YouTube videos have been viewed nearly 100,000 times!
Jim Riggs lives in Walnut Creek, California where he spends time with his two daughters (Georgia & Rosemary). He enjoys cooking and entertaining and collects vintage fountain pens and pencils, 78 rpm records, vintage autographed movie star photos and sheet music from the 1920’s, 30’s & 40’s.
[Also see "Mighty Music at the Paramount", S.F. Chronicle]
PARAMOUNT THEATRE CONTACTS
- Leslee Stewart, General Manager
- Jeffrey Ewald, Operations Manager
- Gina Bishop, Box Office Manager
- Cecilia Acejas, Assistant Box Office Manager
- House Manager, Front of House/Volunteers
- Leila Chambers, Executive Assistant to the General Manager and Board Liaison
- Security, Security Department
- Jean Cunningham, Music Librarian
- Rowan Sherwood, Accounting
- Larry Hunter, Stage Manager
- Jim Riggs, House Organist
- Bob Fisher, Webmaster
Contact the staff by regular mail at:
Paramount Theatre of the Arts
2025 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94612
PARAMOUNT THEATRE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
- David Foulkes, President
- Lorenzo Hoopes, Vice President
- David P. Johnson, Treasurer
- Clinton O. Killian, Secretary
- Michael Panico
- Julia Taber
- Ed Thomas
- Tom Hart
- Ronald R. McClain
- Robert McKean
- Omar Benjamin
2009 Board Meetings
Board meetings are held at 8:00 am in the Music Library of the Paramount
Theatre:
- Wednesday, January 21
- Wednesday, March 18
- Wednesday, May 20
- Wednesday, July 15
- Wednesday, September 30
- Wednesday, November 18
USHERING AT THE PARAMOUNT
Thank you for your interest in joining the team at the Paramount Theatre. As a non-profit organization, volunteer support is crucial to our operations.
To be a volunteer usher, please come to one of our orientation and training sessions, which are held September through June on the first or
third Saturday of each month, immediately following the Public Tour, depending on whether there is an afternoon performance.
The tour begins promptly at 10:00am, ends at approximately noon, and the usher training and orientation will end at about 2:00pm. Gather outside the 21st Street Entrance
(Box Office) before 10:00am for the tour, or shortly before noon for the orientation (if you’ve already been on the tour).
PLEASE NOTE: The next orientation will be Saturday, July 18 at 12:00 noon. Prior to the orientation, please attend one of the 10:00 am Public Tours on the first or third Saturday of the month. At the end of the tour, please pick up your volunteer packet from the Tour Docent. Please fill out the application and read the material in the packet. Please bring the completed application with you to the orientation.
Please check this web site page regularly for usher orientation updates - some dates may change at the last minute due to show bookings.
(most recent update: 6/22/09)
Please call the House Manager
at 510-893-2300, extension 826 for more information.
REQUIREMENTS FOR USHERING:
- Attend a tour and participate in usher orientation.
- Usher three of the mandatory shows before signing up to usher other shows (and continue to work at least three required shows per year)
- Arrive on time dressed in the appropriate attire for each show for which you sign up to usher.
The appropriate attire is black (or navy) dress pants/skirt and matching dress jacket with a white dress
shirt (with collar). You must bring your own small flashlight. The call time is typically 75-90 minutes prior to show times. We ask for
a time commitment only as large as you wish to make, but we do ask that we be able to rely on you for a commitment to ushering.
I will be happy to offer guidance and advice as needed.
After attending the training, you may sign up to usher required shows (after ushering three of these you may sign up for any show) and your
dates will be confirmed via phone, email, or regular mail (your preference). You may also choose to be an on-call usher, and/or be added to the e-mail list.
To be an "on-call usher" you must call in a few days before a show, and listen to the usher hotline Extension 804 to see which show ushers are
needed for and what time to be here. Leave your name and the show you wish to usher. You will not receive confirmation.
If you have any further questions, or are interested in other volunteer opportunities at the Paramount Theatre, please call the House Manager
at 510-893-2300, extension 826 and leave your name and number after the tone, or send an e-mail to
housemanager@paramounttheatre.com.
Be part of the Paramount team. We try our best to provide you with the level of volunteer experience you desire. Your willingness
to help is as valuable as it is invaluable. As a volunteer, you make a world of difference.
SHOP FOR BOOKS, VIDEOS, AND MUSIC
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