Roxy Theatre
153 W. 50th Street,
New York,
NY
10020
153 W. 50th Street,
New York,
NY
10020
83 people
favorited this theater
Showing 451 - 475 of 1,209 comments
Richard, thank you very much for your lengthy and informative responses. The web site has some great photos. I’ve always admired Russian culture, not sure why. My background is 100% German, but the two places that have fascinated me the most are Scotland and Russia. Go figure.
Is there a way I can confidentially give you my email? I live in Gallup, N.M. and make the occasional trip to Tucson. It might be pleasant to meet face to face.
Simon L: I don’t mean to sound ignorant, but is “D-Day the 6th of June” the name of a movie?
SimonL. Surely you didn’t mean D Day, 6th of June! That was 1944. Films you mention, i.e., King and I, Bus Stop, etc. played the Roxy in 1956. That must be the year you worked there. Am I right?
Richard
Thanx for your interest Ziggy. To answer your question, I was a dancer – all forms but mainly strenuous Russian, you know, squatting while kicking out legs, leaping and touching toes in air, that sort of thing. Retired from it only 5 years ago. Truly, dancing keeps you young and agile.
Back as a kid, when I first went to Roxy and told the interviewer I was a dancer [i wasn’t, I was only a student]she sent me backstage but I got cold feet as the men who danced with the Roxyettes were all older than I [i was only 16 so underage]and at that time didn’t know tap dancing which was a requirement. Besides being on
the short side. So I was sent to Mr. Levy who was manager of the concession stands. That’s how it started. If you’re interested, my website is www.richka.com It has many links.
Back to the Roxy. I just won a literary competition prize from Theater Historical Society for a long piece I recently wrote about The Roxy and my experiences there. It will soon be published in their quarterly magazine, MARQUEE.
Yes, now semi retired, living in Tucson, Arizona and very involved in cultural events. I’m sure all this is more than you wanted to
know. Thanx for your interest.
Richard
It would be great if someone would list the films by decade that played the Roxy and the number of weeks which was done for the San Francisco Fox, which played many of the same Fox films through the decade.IM still amazed that the Roxy which was a key flagship house in the movie industry went out with very little fanfare and the San Francisco Fox went out with a bang. The Roxy was far more successfull in its lifetime than the SF Fox but both theatres were among the best ever built. brucec
Thanks for sharing Richard. As I think I’ve said before, I’m jealous that you simply got to be there. Now that you’ve opened the issue may I ask what you did when you were a performer, and how is retirement treating you (that is, assuming you’ve retired)?
Hi Ziggy – that’s a very good question. As a 16/17 year old I guess I thought of it mainly as a job. At least better than running a hotel elevator or in a drug store or other things that teenage boys do. I think I was paid $28 a week – ushers got far less. But yes, in a way it was kinda glamourous. Like many of the other boys there at that time, I was taking classes and trying to break into show biz – auditions and such. Now, in my declining years I regret that I didn’t take the opportunity then to investigate the actual theater more as it certainly was a magnificent structure. I did occasionally wander backstage and talked with some of the dancing Roxyettes or their Escorts. Once even ran an errand for Danny Kaye who was a
headliner and also Ima Sumac, an exotic Peruvian singer of the period.
My reaction when it was torn down? I was in Europe at the time so
didn’t notice but I think would have been saddened.
Since that time of long ago I’ve performed in theaters all over the world but the Roxy is still very much fixed in my memory as first humble steps into show biz. Quite honestly, it means much more to me now than it did then.
Thanx for asking.
Richard
SimonL, and Richard Holden; did you two think that it was a privilege to work at the Roxy, or was it just a job? I mean, was there a something special about working at the Roxy, even in the years leading up to its demolition? How did you two react when you learned that the Roxy was going to be torn down?
Another memory. Besides the rotunda concesson stand there was a smaller one in the balcony foyer. Sometimes I worked there as well. The long grand staircase led up to it. Sometimes at peak periods there would be long lines of patrons waiting on this staircase. From my vantage point I could look out a small window to the rotunda below and also see the full curve of the grand staircase. There was one usher I remember who would entertain the waiting crowds with his acrobatic tricks: cartwheeling up and down the grand staircase and finishing with a full split. The waiting patrons always laughed and applauded.
The outer lobby with cashiers was corner of 50th and 7th Ave. Today that lobby is a TGIF restaurant. Somewhere I saw a photo of it including the building behind, built on the spot where the Roxy once stood.
Richard
If you have the time and inclination and go back through these amazing emails you will find one in which I mentioned the films that played there when I was an usher. I began working evenings while going to school. It was the final week of D-Day The Sixth of June with R. Taylor and Emmet Kelly the renowned clown heading the stage show. Business was poor for that run but they knew they had to prepare for big business and took on a lot of help. The King and I ran 8 weeks, then Bus Stop for 6 wks, then Giant for 9 weeks, then Anastasia for 8 weeks. all huge grossers attracting long lines to 6th Avenue during peak hours. Business slipped precipitously soon after. But what a great experience for 95 cents an hour.
I was looking at the films distributed by the major studios in the early 1960’s and production was almost half of what it once was and there didn’t seem like there was enough quality first run films to sustain both the Roxy and the Music Hall. The Studios big pictures in the 1960’s were the roadshow format which required a long run which the Roxy and Music Hall weren’t able sustain. The Studios wanted the Roadshow to provide income over a period of time for there balance sheets. The Roxy did have some major hits in the late 1950’s like Peyton Place and Imitation of Life but it seems the theatre never recovered from the major flop “Windjammer”. Simon I would like you to talk a little more about the films that played the Roxy when you worked there. It seems 1956 and 1957 were good years for the Roxy and in a few short years the theatre was torn down.The Roxy was the second biggest grossing theatre in the world when it was open and was second only to the Music Hall.brucec
As long as people are sharing memories, what did the areas the I never see photos of look like? I specifically mean the lobby that led from the box offices to the rotunda, the balcony staircase, the lounges and such?
It’s wonderful hearing first-hand accounts from people who were actually there.
Thank you very much!
Simon and Warren, thank you for your answers. I enjoyed hearing about the amount of work required to keep this place running smoothly. I especially like the comment “Because the loge seated only 1,000 patrons….” The loge at the Roxy seated twice the number of an entire average theatre today, but because of the Roxy’s size it could be said with a straight face that its loge seated ONLY 1,000 people! Whew!!
Communication from the ushers to the various house managers was constant from all sections of the theater. This was relayed to the lobby from the doormen to the managers to the cashiers by phone. Every usher kept track of the flow and knew exactly how many (or few) seats there were in his charge. Ushers reported to managers by telephone every five minutes during busy times and we also used hand signals to give both numbers and locations. As far as the loge was concerned, patrons would often change their minds once they had purchased a regular admissions ticket, if the wait for orchestra seats appeared to be too long. Because the loge only seated 1,000 patrons, it would fill up quickly during pressure business.
Hello Simon L. You’re also welcome for the photos. I had heard that patrons could exchange tickets for seats in the loges, but I had never before known why. I wondered why people couldn’t make up their minds at the box office instead of exchanging tickets in the theatre. How did people keep track of what seats were available in the loges? Was there some kind of communication between the box office and the desk where tickets where exchanged?
I also reall expecting more of a third dimension effect as implied by the advertising. I think all of course in all I was more impressed with Cinerama and 3-D.
One would have to consider the fact that the Roxy was the first to show CinemaScope, therefore never having seen a movie screen of that size in other than special venues, I believe the effect was more impressive. By the time RCMH installed Scope we had already gotten used to the idea having experienced it in many other theatres. I saw “The Robe” there but honestly do no recall if the curve made that much of an impression on me. Funny thing is I was more impressed with the stereophonic sound, in particular the rich music in a movie theatre and the wonderful thunder and lightning crashes in the surround track.
While I didn’t get a chance to see CinemaScope at the Roxy, I have seen pictures of the screen, which was indeed within the proscenium, so no seats would have been cut off as with the Capitol’s Cinerama. That may not have been the case with Cinemiracle at the Roxy. In that case, since the screen was deeply curved for three projector projection, my bet would be that it was extended beyond the proscenium for effect.
According to Warren’s comment above the screen was 68' x 24' which would have made it almost exactly the width of the Music Hall screen (70' x 35'). The Roxy’s screen was slightly curved however, which may have made for a more impressive picture, and which would have met the Fox CinemaScope standards. Because a curved screen at the Hall would have involved taking up too many fly lines, the Hall stayed with a flat screen, and thus couldn’t show any of the first Fox CinemaScope product. It was a year later when MGM ran “Knights of the Roundtable” at the Hall that the first CinemaScope picture was shown there. MGM said they didn’t care if the screen was curved or not.
Unquestionably the Roxy. The screen, unlike RCMH, was curved and the sound much better as well. The only time the Roxy removed seats (the entire loge was closed)was for Windjammer in Cinemiracle.
Fo those who saw Cinemascope in the mid 50s at both the Roxy and Music Hall which was the more impressive presentation?
Also when the Roxy was showing this format was it entirely in the proscenium and were any seat sections cut off like they did at the Capitol when it became a road show house?
To Ziggy, what a treat it is for this Roxy usher (1956 – 57) to see these rare photos. For your amusement, may I share this: There was a small desk placed on the first landing to the (rocking chair)loge where a cashier would sit and exchange tickets for those who wanted to sit in the loge after already purchasing a regular priced ticket. This happened frequently when the patrons saw too many people waiting for orchestra seats. One more thing: It’s hard to believe that the huge crowd waiting in line were there for a Ritz Brothers film in 1937. Perhaps a stage headliner was the draw. I’d love to see a photo of the rotunda from the lobby to the orchestra entrance. Not even in “The Best Remaining Seats.” Thanks again
Hi Richard, You’re welcome for the photos. I was happy to find them myself. Since I never had the good fortune to see the Roxy, photographs are the only way I can experience it (until someone discovers how to time travel). I’m jealous of you because you actually got to see this place live and in person.
Ziggy – thanx – at last a picture of the Roxy rotunda that includes the concession stand where I worked as a teenager, age 16. It was 1950-1952. Of course the concession stand is not there yet, as you say the photo was taken just after the theater was built – in 1928? But many years later, when I came along, it was just to the right of that staircase, which led to the manager’s office. Further to the right can be seen the entrance to the restrooms below.
Have wanted for a long time to see a picture of that area of the rotunda. Brings back many youthful memories.
Thanx.
Richard
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Here’s a view of the rotunda ceiling.
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This link takes you to a photo of the staircase to the loges, where it opened into the rotunda