It's the final curtain for 3Below Theaters in downtown San Jose
The 200-seat auditorium at downtown San Jose’s 3Below Theaters sat empty earlier this week. The stage, however, was set with a mock-up of a Mondrian-painted school bus and an orange sofa that both screamed “It’s the Seventies!”
And starting tonight, a cast of 15 actors will fill those spaces for the final five performances of “The Bardy Bunch,” a Shakespearean-style mashup that pits the “The Brady Bunch” and “The Partridge Family” in a bloody — and funny — confrontation.
When the curtain falls Sunday afternoon — metaphorically since 3Below has no curtain — it’ll also mark the end for the downtown venue after eight years. In addition to losing another place to see live theater, it also means downtown will lose its last screen devoted to first-run movies.
“I’m glad that we’re ending with something fun,” 3 Below co-owner Scott Guggenheim told me in an interview Wednesday.
Fun has actually been a hallmark for 3Below since it opened, hosting sing-along screenings of “The Sound of Music” and quote-along showings of “The Princess Bride,” among others. Their live shows have leaned into musicals and comedies, especially lesser-seen productions, like “Xanadu,” “Shout! The Mod Musical” and “The Game Show Show,” which Guggenheim created with his brother, actor Stephen Guggenheim, and his wife and co-owner, Shannon Guggenheim.
They had high hopes for 3 Below when they opened in 2018, but the COVID-19 pandemic two years later forced them to close along with other theaters. With the city’s blessing, they held screenings on the roof of the garage in fall 2020. But even after they were allowed to reopen, audiences never returned consistently enough to keep up with expenses. They tried to lure audiences back with movies about social issues, classic movie anniversaries and a membership deal.
“For us, how many times can you pivot?” Scott Guggenheim said. “There’s only so much we can do in this world.”
3Below’s relationship with its landlord — the city of San Jose — was often rocky, but it really seemed to get unfriendly in the past year. Installation of a giant digital billboard operated by Orange Barrel Media on the garage made the theater appear closed in the prime holiday months, and 3Below’s own digital marquee was removed. The Guggenheims collectively decided enough was enough and announced the end back in March.
“The Bardy Bunch” closes Sunday, and the following weekend, May 2 through May 3, 3 Below will be holding a liquidation sale for all of its props, set pieces, and equipment — including seats from one of its three theaters. You can get more information on the show, as well as the inventory list for the sale, at www.3belowtheaters.com.
The popcorn machines are for sale, as are all the furniture and decor from the lobby — including the purple baby grand piano. Looking through the inventory is like perusing a catalog of Guggenheim productions, going back to “Schoolhouse Rock Live!” which they originally staged back in the 1990s at the old Oasis nightclub by St. James Park. Some of the items, like false doors that open to reveal art-rendered scenes from beloved books like “Winnie the Pooh,” are one-of-a-kind.
Guggenheim says he hopes some of the more practical items are bought by theater companies or caterers who could use them and the rest is taken by fans for sentimental value.
“People like having mementos from the shows they liked,” Guggenheim said. “They’ll own a piece of history.”
INNOVATION SHOWCASE: If you want to be inspired by the future, then the San Jose Convention Center’s South Hall is the place to be this weekend. That’s because the 39th annual Tech Challenge will be taking place inside the tent-like structure on South Market Street.
More than 400 teams — made up of about 1,500 students from fourth-graders to high-school seniors — will be showcasing the devices they created to solve a real-world engineering problem. This year’s theme was “Raise the Roof,” and the students have spent months designing and building — and re-designing and re-building — something that can pick up and place housing modules with precision. That’s also a construction challenge facing grown-up builders as they try to make more low-cost housing.
The final showcase sessions — which are staged like TV show competitions with a studio audience of fans — are open to the public. Teams of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders will test their devices Saturday, and middle-schoolers and high school students will be in the spotlight Sunday. You can get more information at www.thetech.org/tech-challenge.
ANNIVERSARY HONORS: Washington High School in Fremont is celebrating its 135th anniversary this year, tracing its roots back to 1891 when it opened as Union High School District No. 2 on Peralta Boulevard. It moved to its current location on Fremont Boulevard in 1924 and officially became Washington High in 1941, as Fremont — like much of the southern East Bay and the Santa Clara Valley — went from a farming community to a key part of Silicon Valley.
On Saturday, the Washington High School Alumni Foundation will be marking the anniversary with a noon ceremony on campus. The foundation will welcome special guest Richard Dutrow, who is believed to be the school’s oldest living alum at age 101, and induct 21 graduates into the school’s Hall of Fame, which was created in 2014.
This year’s honorees include legendary Oakland A’s closer Dennis Eckersley (Class of 1972), pizza chef extraordinaire Tony Gemignani (Class of 1992), Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan (Class of 1991), Laurel Mayer (Class of 1954), a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who also had a long career as a political science professor in Ohio. You can see the full list of inductees at the foundation’s website, www.whsaf.org.
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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 3:38 PM.