163rd Street & Patio Theatre

cranberry on May 13, 2008 at 10:07 pm

The Patio Theatre had about 900 seats in it. I remember working there when it had the South Florida premiere of “ The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas” It was a lot of fun meeting all of the stars.

cranberry on October 10, 2007 at 12:19 pm

I worked for Wometco Theatres in the 70’s and 80’s. I did the marquee at the 163 rd St. when it was still a single theatre. The theatre was unusual in that it had 2 sets of curtains up on the stage. One was gold and one was red. It also had the biggest screen in the state of Florida. This theatre had real showmanship. We would decorate the lobby to the theme of the movie that was playing there. I also did the marquees at the Plaza, Surf, Normandy, Byron/Carlyle, etc.

Al Alvarez on April 4, 2007 at 2:13 am

Harvey,

This marquee had a platform that you could walk on once you climbed up. It was indeed huge and wide. The Sunny Isles and Loews 167th Street along the same stretch were also large, but not quite as wide as this one and had no platform.

I do remember these three vividly as I was older then and actually managed the Sunny Isles for several years and often changed the marquee myself, a dangerous exercise on windy Florida night.

I think it was more of a sixties thing than a particular Wometco trademark.

Al Alvarez on August 13, 2005 at 12:13 pm

The Patio Theatre was added behind this site in 1970 with a separate entrance and opened with LOVERS & OTHER STRANGERS. The larger 163rd Street screen was later twinned and the three screens were marketed as a triple.