A relic of the great era of downtown theater-palaces, this pretty space has been a venue for everything from sugary musicals to rock and rap. Opened in 1912, the 1,466-seat theater was converted for film use in 1922 and back to live shows in the 1970s, thereby escaping the urban "renewal'' that leveled so many smaller movie houses.

With its marble box office and statuary, it's worth getting to the Spreckels half an hour before the show if only to bask in the ornate atmosphere before the house lights dim.