# Circle Star Theater

The Circle Star Theatre was a performing arts venue in San Carlos, San Mateo County, California. Its name is based on it being a theater in the round, featuring a rotating circular stage with none of its 3,743 seats further than 50 feet (15 m) from the stage. Unlike similar venues across the United States, the Circle Star Theatre stage had the ability to rotate in either direction without limit, thanks to the slip ring and brush system that supplied electrical/audio to and from the stage. The theatre's address was 2 Circle Star Way (1717 (1800?) Industrial Road), San Carlos, CA 94070.

## History

Its original concept was as a dinner theater, similar to the Hyatt House Theatre in nearby Burlingame.
On 9 March 9, 1964, ground-breaking took place, financially backed by Debbie Reynolds, Steve Allen, Sammy Davis Jr. and others.
On 13 October 1964, Opening Night was celebrated.
In 1964, the Circle Star Theatre opened with Jane Powell starring in My Fair Lady.
Lewis & Dare Productions hosted many Broadway touring shows, such as The Odd Couple, with Ernest Borgnine and Don Rickles.
In 1971, the revolving stage was introduced, and the theatre was purchased by Marquee Entertainment, run by Don Jo Medlevine of the famed Chicago nightclub Chez Paree. Marquee Entertainment booked Las Vegas acts such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, and Liberace, among many others. In the mid-1970s the theatre was kept solvent by booking Motown acts to increase its diversity.
Don Jo Medlevine sold the Circle Star Theater to Leonard Bloom.
In 1987, Bloom sold the theater to a local car dealer, Jim Burney. The new owner did not have the same elite relationships with the top entertainers as Bloom had, but leased to a booking agent, later locking them out in December 1993. The building caught fire on April 18, 1997, damaging much of the backstage area, though by this time plans had already been made for its demolition. The theater was ultimately demolished to make way for the Circle Star Center, a complex containing two four-story office buildings and a small hotel. Since 2015 or 2014 Softbank owns the buildings and uses them as offices. The hotel is now an Extended Stay America.

## Performers

The following musicians, actors, and comedians are among those who appeared at the Circle Star:
* Air Supply
* Al Green
* Ray Charles
* Exposé
* Chet Atkins
* Hank Ballard and the Midnighters
* The Beach Boys
* Jack Benny
* Red Skelton
* Oliver North
* Little Richard
* Ella Fitzgerald
* Sugarhill Gang
* Sammy Davis, Jr.
* Dionne Warwick
* Jane Powell in My Fair Lady
* Luther Vandross
* Stevie Wonder
* Judy Garland
* Waylon Jennings
* Smokey Robinson
* Gregory Hines with Dionne Warwick
* Liza Minnelli
* Doug E. Fresh
* Air Supply
* Cheech and Chong
* George Carlin
* Fishbone
* Sonny and Cher
* Mario Cuomo
* Willie Nelson
* Al Green
* Red Buttons in Damn Yankees
* Jimmy Durante
* George Benson
* Chuck Berry
* En Vogue
* Bread
* Bonnie Bramlett
* James Brown
* Cameo
* George Carlin
* Moody Blues
* Robert Palmer
* Louis Anderson
* Rita Rudner
* Johnny Carson
* The Brothers Johnson
* Steve Marriott Allstars
* Tommy Bolin
* The Carpenters
* Johnny Cash
* Chicago
* Judy Collins
* Miss Pat Collins, The Hip Hypnotist
* Bill Cosby
* DeBarge
* John Denver
* Chris LeDoux
* New Edition
* Miami Sound Machine
* Mel Tillis
* The Animals
* Slim Whitman
* Boxcar Willie
* The Kingston Trio
* Roseanne Barr
* The Limelighters
* Don Ellis
* The 5th Dimension
* Neil Diamond
* Kenny G
* Garry Shandling
* Foreigner
* The Rascals (Reunion Tour)
* Marvin Gaye
* The Gap Band
* Herbie Hancock
* Jeffrey Osborne
* Hiroshima (band)
* Engelbert Humperdinck
* Bob Hope
* The Jackson 5
* The Jets
* Jan & Dean
* George Jones
* Chaka Khan with Rufus
* B. B. King
* Gladys Knight & the Pips
* Leo Kottke
* Jerry Lee Lewis
* Liberace
* Gordon Lightfoot
* Little Richard
* Melissa Manchester
* Barry Manilow
* Richard Marx
* Airto Moreira w/ George Duke
* Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé
* Van Morrison
* Willie Nelson
* The Ohio Players
* Con Funk Shun
* Tony Orlando & Dawn
* Marie Osmond
* Ricky Nelson
* Tommy James & the Shondells
* Buck Owens
* Lydia Pense with Cold Blood
* The Temptations
* Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass
* Richard Pryor 1992-10-31
* Kenny Rogers & The First Edition
* Return to Forever
* Kenny Rogers
* Diana Ross
* Shalamar
* Frank Sinatra
* The Three Stooges
* Tower of Power
* Donna Summer
* Ike & Tina Turner
* Roger Troutman
* Conway Twitty
* Luther Vandross
* Dionne Warwick
* Grover Washington, Jr.
* Barry White
* Andy Williams
* Wolfe Tones
* Alec Baldwin
* Holly Dunn
* Tim Allen
* Julio Iglesias
* Tom Jones
* Bunny Wailer
* The Skatalites
* Yvonne Elliman
* The Statler Brothers
* Carl Perkins
* Jerry Seinfeld
* Bob Goldthwait
* Dave Chappelle
* Marsha Warfield
* Burt Bacharach
* Sha na na
* Andy Kaufman
* KC and the Sunshine Band
* The Lennon Sisters
* Oasis
* Rick James
* Rodney Dangerfield
* Roy Orbison
* Benny Goodman
* The Oakridge Boys
* Crystal Gayle
* Dan Seals
* Martina McBride
* Restless Heart
* Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons
* The Dave Clark Five
* Redd Foxx
* Harry Chapin
* Jimmy Buffett (with Michael Utley)
* Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
* Leo Sayer
* Judy Garland
* Smokey Robinson
* Jean-Luc Ponty
* Craig Chaquico
* Tony! Toni! Toné!
* Bob and Ray
* The Spinners
* Olivia Newton-John
* Bootsy Collins
* Yellowman
* Howie Mandel
* Sam Kinison
* Peter, Paul and Mary
* Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band
* Canned Heat
* Linda Ronstadt
* LL Cool J
* Doobie Brothers
* Pia Zadora
* Liza Minnelli
* George Strait
* Toby Keith
* Lacy J. Dalton
* Tom Wopat (From Dukes of Hazzard)
* War (U.S. band)
* Big Brother and the Holding Company with "new" singer Janis Joplin
* Brenton Wood
* Aretha Franklin with King Curtis & the Kingpins
* Janis Ian
* Stevie Wonder billed as Little Stevie Wonder
* The Grass Roots
* The Righteous Brothers
* The Captain and Tennille
* Rich Little
* Pat Boone
* The Smothers Brothers
* Tom Waits
* Pato Banton
* Ziggy Marley
* Wayne Newton
* Frank Zappa
* Fishbone
* Untouchables
* Trouble Funk
* Cleo Laine
* Sérgio Mendes and Brasil 66
* Sérgio Mendes and Brasil 77
* Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
* Gallagher
* Natalie Cole
* Sylvester
* Josephine Baker
* Robert Palmer (singer)
* Louie Anderson
* Rita Rudner
* Isley Brothers
* America
* Glen Campbell
* The Mills Brothers
* Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy
* The Stylistics
* The Bellamy Brothers
* Chuck Mangione