Yost Theater History

An old adage says, “Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it,” but in the case of the Yost Theater in Santa Ana, the past has been both remembered and repeated with great success.

Built in 1912 and opened shortly after as the Auditorium Theater, the movie theater quickly became a hot spot in downtown Santa Ana. It wasn’t until Edward Yost bought the theater in 1919 that it gained the name it is still known by and was transformed into the vaudeville capital of Orange County—where singers, dancers and acrobats displayed their talents in a variety show format. During his ownership, Yost expanded the theater from 950 seats to 1700, and the theater was a focal point of local cinema for decades, as many celebrities from Mexico visited the theater. Mexican movie stars and singers such as Pedro Infante and Miguel Aceves Mejia, among others, went to the theater to showcase their talents.

The Yost underwent many changes and switched hands several times before the city eventually purchased the land in the 1980s. The Yost was later incorporated into the Fiesta Marketplace, a redevelopment program spearheaded by Irving Chase. Chase originally intended to use the Yost for cultural events, but his vision never materialized. He eventually rented the theater to churches and, unfortunately, it was not well-kept and became rundown.

Things looked bleak for the Yost for a number of years. Then along came Dennis Lluy, a Santa Ana entrepreneur dedicated to providing culture and entertainment to the community, and the game changed. Lluy is the founder of Koo’s Art Café in Santa Ana, which he turned from a Chinese restaurant into a hub of youth culture and art. His current goal is to transform the Yost Theater into a cultural epicenter for Orange County in Santa Ana.

“People love the fact that we are renovating everything from the ground up,” Lluy said. “We have a lot of events; we have brought in artists from South America and Europe and opened up the venue to community events as well.”

[Local band The Union Line playing the Yost Theater. Photo by Blythe Hill]

Although no photographs of the original theater have been found and it has undergone many transformations over the years, Lluy is intent on incorporating the history of the site by using documents and firsthand accounts of what the theater originally looked like.

“We will never know how it originally looked—a photo wouldn’t depict that,” Lluy said. “We are utilizing everything we have in order to respect [it] in every way we can while modernizing at the same time.”

Despite the renovations, the Yost is still holding events. Recently the theater hosted the 2010 OC Music Awards and there are plans for a Jewish Federation Event as well as 8 events with the Fiesta Marketplace in the near future.

Lluy wants to ensure that the Yost not only appeals to the older demographic who have experienced the history of the venue, but to the youth in the area as well.

“A lot of the older crowd have kids that need a place to go for entertainment; we want them to go to Santa Ana,” Lluy said. “People in their 20s and 30s should be better served. We aren’t forgetting the older demographic, we just feel we want to cater to the younger people as well.”

Under the guidance of Lluy, the Yost Theater is poised to be a cultural epicenter of Orange County once again.

“My heart has always been in Santa Ana. I have lived here for 5 years and I feel it really needs to be a central entertainment hub,” Lluy said. “Geographically, [Santa Ana is] the center of Orange County and yet we do not have any culturally significant venues integrated into our downtown community.”

Lluy was inspired by venues in Los Angeles like the El Rey—venues that have not only a great atmosphere, but a great history as well. He plans on connecting the theater with the already burgeoning arts district—and is in the process of gaining permits to open a restaurant.

In January 2011, the Yost Theater will have a grand opening celebration and begin its quest to create a cultural revolution by providing a gathering place for artists young and old in Santa Ana.

The Yost Theater is returning to the glory days of old, when it was the center of culture and arts in Orange County.

{ BY KEITH COUSINS }