Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre
Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre as seen from Polk Street
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| Address | 895 O'Farrell Street San Francisco |
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| Coordinates | 37°47′06″N 122°25′09″W / 37.784877°N 122.419295°WCoordinates: 37°47′06″N 122°25′09″W / 37.784877°N 122.419295°W |
| Opened | July 4, 1969 |
| Website | |
| http://ofarrell.com/ | |
The Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre is a striptease club at 895 O'Farrell Street near San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. Opened as an X-rated movie theater by Jim and Artie Mitchell on July 4, 1969, the O'Farrell remains one of America's oldest and most notorious adult-entertainment establishments; by 1980, the nightspot had popularized close-contact lap dancing, which would become the norm in striptease clubs nationwide. Journalist Hunter S. Thompson, a longtime friend of the Mitchells and frequent visitor at the club, claimed to be its night manager in 1985 as part of his research for a book on pornography. He called the O'Farrell "the Carnegie Hall of public sex in America" and Playboy magazine praised it as "the place to go in San Francisco!"
The O'Farrell Theatre is open seven days a week and nearly every evening of the year. Customers must pay a comparatively steep admission price ($20–$50, depending on the time of day) and no alcoholic beverages are served, although a snack bar is located on the premises. The O'Farrell's main showroom is New York Live!, a continuous striptease show where one performer dances on stage while the others offer lap dances by asking customers, "Want some company?" The dancers then actually sit on the men's laps (a practice that is illegal in some other states) and insist on substantial tips ($20 is common). There are several themed rooms, such as the Ultra Room, a peep show-type room where patrons stand in private booths watching women perform with various props such as dildoes; the Green Door Room (named for the Mitchells' classic hardcore film Behind the Green Door and its sequel; it served as the principal set of the latter), the darkened Kopenhagen Lounge, where the customers use flashlights to watch the performances, and private booths of varying sizes (although not all dancers make themselves available for private sessions with customers) and onstage lesbian simulated-sex performances.
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