Majestic Theatre - Stars on the Ceiling

Majestic Theatre - Stars on the Ceiling

Photo: Renelibrary, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on San Antonio River Walk and the Alamo, a free self-guided tour.

Your last stop is a palace of a different kind. The Majestic Theatre opened on June 14, 1929, built for Karl Hoblitzelle's Interstate Theatres and designed by John Eberson, the master of the atmospheric theater. Its tall building mixes a skyscraper with Spanish and Mission Revival details, which suits a city with such deep Spanish roots.

Inside, Eberson made audiences feel as if they were sitting outdoors in a Spanish courtyard at night. The dark blue ceiling has a projector for drifting clouds and tiny lights for stars, arranged with advice from National Geographic Society experts for opening night. The auditorium seats about 2,264 people today.

After years of decline, the Majestic was restored and reopened in 1989, and it became a National Historic Landmark in 1993. Today it hosts touring Broadway shows and concerts; if you can catch a performance, look up before the lights go down. From here, walk a few blocks east to finish your loop at the Alamo.

Getting here: Walk north from Military Plaza to Houston Street and turn right; the Majestic is about half a kilometer (a third of a mile) east, with its tall vertical sign over the sidewalk.

Did you know?: The Majestic was home to the San Antonio Symphony from 1989 to 2014.

Photo op: Cross Houston Street and shoot up at the tall vertical sign; at night, when it is lit, it is even better.

More on Wikipedia: Majestic Theatre · John Eberson

Stops on this tour

  1. The Alamo - A Mission Before a Battlefield
  2. Alamo Plaza - Inside the Old Walls
  3. River Walk - A Bend Saved from Pavement
  4. Hemisfair - A World's Fair and Its Tower
  5. La Villita - The Little Village
  6. Arneson River Theater - A Stage Across the Water
  7. Main Plaza - Where San Antonio Became a Town
  8. San Fernando Cathedral - Flag, Vows and Remains
  9. Casa Navarro - A Tejano Founder's Home
  10. Market Square - El Mercado and Pan Dulce
  11. Spanish Governor's Palace - The 1749 Keystone
  12. Majestic Theatre - Stars on the Ceiling