Kings Theatre

Ziegfeld Man, you sure come up with cool videos. As far as “hope” is concered, I bet you won’t hear “hope” & “change” anyhwhere to be found in the presidental election of 2012!

Thank you for the video. I will attend opening night in 2014. Have you been to any show at the Loew’s Paradise? What did you think? When I mentioned I was at Rev Ike’s 20 years ago, I meant to say only one time. I was snooping around the looby when a patron said I should come during services, everybody welcome. Well I did, but I must confess during the service I kept an imaginary silver screen showing a hollywood movie in my mind!

Thanks Ziefeld man for the video link. I loved it. I was in Rev Ike’s Church 20 years and thought it was amazing and wished more movie palaces would have the same fate rather than a parking lot or some bland office building.

Ziegfeld Man, I am glad to hear Flatbush Ave is thriving. It was not the case when I was there in the 80’s. Maybe this King’s project will be a success. Do you think they will call it Loews’s Kings or just Kings?
WilliamMcQuade, you said Chicago lost many palaces in the past. Three of the most beautiful that are close to my heart was our B&K Paradise(which I thought was so much more beautiful then the one in the Bronx), the beautiful Marbro & Granada which were located on the west and north side of Chicago . These were movie palaces in every sense of the word!!

I’m optimistic. 42nd street between Broadway and Eighth Ave. was once the hell hole that you see in “Midnight Cowboy” and “Taxi Driver.” Today it is the magnet of Times Square with fabulous theatres, hotels, restaurants, shops, and throngs of people, and it all started when Disney decided to have a presence on Broadway at the “New Amsterdam.” Along came “The Lion King” and the rest is history.

I stood outside the chained up Kings last August and envisioned opening night 2014. I walked a thriving neighborhood bristling with people, culture, and enthusiasm. If you build it, they will come.

I was in the Kings right before it closed. The lobby is as big and imposing as a train staion. The auditorium was never twinned as there was basically no balcony, The company that took over after Loew’s had the misfortune of having that dog The Exorcist Part 2 as its first booking. I believe it closed shortly thereafter. The Wonder of the Wonder theaters is that they are all still standing Having seen pictures of the way it looks now it has experienced severe water damage. I look forward to seeing it resurrected. There was a basketball court underneath the orchestra seats. I wonder what has come of this.

Not many icons left. The years from 55 thru 85 were brutal. Many of the best5 were lost . The worst tragedy was the loss of the San Francisco Fox.It was probably the most palatial palace ever built in the US.

Here’s a blog post with some recent photographs of the interior of the Kings Theatre.

View link

Tlsloews, the renovation is well under way. It is a multiyear process, but rest assured, it is happening. it is very exciting. BobbyS, the RKO Keiths Flushing deal has been approved and the results for that theater are far worse, though I am somewhat conflicted. The Keiths had sustained major damage and there was no real plan in place to save it. Again, a real plan is one that pays for the complete restoration that is also able to support itself after the work is done. Alas, what was salvaged is that the lobby will apparently be saved and restored by the developer at a cost of $8MM and it will become the entrance to the condos to be built where the auditorium now stands. Though not happy with the outcome, I believe this is still better than the complete destruction of the theater. There are still other theaters that are in better condition and CAN be saved such as the Loew’s Canal in Manhattan, the RKO Keiths Richmond Hill, the Ridgewood, The Jackson, The Brooklyn Paramount, etc. New York has an embarassment of Theater Palace riches and though we should try to save them all, the reality is that they won’t be.

BobbyS, Yes Loews is still around,just not in the theatre business,they still have their hotels one of them being the Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel here in Nashville.Any new word on the rehab of the Loews Kings anyone?

from today;s NY POST:

LONG LIVE KINGS OF FLATBUSH

Plans to turn Brooklyn’s biggest movie theater — the once-majestic Loews Kings in Flatbush — into “the next Apollo” should become reality by 2014, officials say.
Borough President Marty Markowitz is expected to announce during his State of the Borough address tonight that architects and contractors have finally begun site-preparation work on the city’s $70 million plan to restore the 82-year-old historic jewel to its former glory. The theater, which seats 3,195, closed its doors in 1978.
Construction is set to begin next year.
Markowitz â€" who has led a community effort to restore the theater â€" says in prepared remarks that when complete, the site will be “a state-of-the-art, 21st century performance venue” and “the pride of Flatbush and all of Brooklyn.”

Part of the Loews Kings' legacy is its A-list of former employees — among them Barbra Streisand and Sylvester Stallone, who worked as ushers.
It’s also where Markowitz attended high-school graduation and took his first date.
After decades of failed attempts to rejuvenate the site, the city last year tapped Houston-based ACE Theatrical Group to restore the historic theater to its original French-Renaissance-style, so that ACE could present up to 250 concerts, theatrical performances and community events annually.

That is correct. That is where I heard it. The console is beautiful and sounds fabulous. I am sure he would sell to the people who are refurbishing the Kings and perhaps a deal could be struck. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see the original wonder organ back in its home?
Lets hope they can come to terms…