who hopes to build his magnum opus in the City by the Bay. But as technologically advanced as the organ will be, it will befit the theater's 1920s art deco styling. The console will still look like a theater organ -- ivory in color like the Castro Theater's time-honored Wurlitzer, with curved stop bolsters and vividly colored tabs.

And, as dramatically expanded as the organ's tonal palette promises to be, it will also be capable of sounding like its musical predecessor.

"The new organ will sound exactly like the Wurlitzer when we want it to, but it will go far beyond the current sonic capabilities, encompassing a large classical organ, and enabling us to create the sound of the symphony orchestra as well," David Hegarty, the Castro Theatre's principal organistsince 1978, tells Crave. "This will allow the Castro Theatre to function as major concert venue."

For a sense of what's to come, listen to this KQED clip of Hegarty playing music from "2001: Space Odyssey" on a West Virginia organ similar to the one planned for the Castro Theatre. It's hard to believe that's just one instrument at work.

About the author

Leslie Katz, Crave's senior editor, heads up a team that covers the most crushworthy (and wackiest) tech, science, and culture around. As a co-host of the now-retired CNET News Daily Podcast, she was sometimes known to channel Terry Gross and still uses her trained "podcast voice" to bully the speech recognition software on automated customer service lines. E-mail Leslie.
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