It looks like it will be R.I.P. for the Chelsea 9 cinemas as well. An article appeared in last week’s Real Deal (NY Real Estate industry trade paper) that the Chelsea Cinemas are in contract to be sold. The new owner will most likely demolish them and replace it with a hotel. That would leave Chelsea with NO neighborhood movie theaters showing current releases. The Chelsea West will live on as the in house cinema venue for the SVA and the old porno palace, The Elgin, will live on as the delightful dance space, The Joyce Theater.
It’s sad to hear of the Ridgewood’s closing. However, per many of the postings above and interior pictures that have been posted, the loss, architecturally speaking, won’t be that great. The loss of the Jackson Triplex, however would be more disturbing because I believe that many more details are still in place at that theater.
That said, it is a sad day when the longest continually operated movie theater in the country closes for good. Does anyone know what theater will now claim that mantle?
My all time best movie experience was during the exclusive engagement of Dreamgirls in Dec ‘06. The price: $25. It was Sold Out! The crowd was electric. The curtains closed and then opened. Everyone was hooting and hollering and clapping. (There were no commercials and no previews I might add.) It was an incredible experience. People applauded with enthusiasm after every blockbuster musical number. I will never forget that experience and it happened……at The Ziegfeld! p.s. it was worth every dollar!
It was just announced that this theater will recieve an approximate $3MM renovation and reopen this summer as a concert and entertainment venue. Another rescued theater!
I know that i’m an eternal optimist, but for some reason I feel that something really is going to happen this time. Though I’ve criticized Markowitz in the past for not doing enough, I do honestly believe that he wants this to happen and that he has an emotional attachment to the place. Maybe he’s waited this long so that the renovation is well under way by the time he leaves office and he can point to it as a big achievement. Rumour has it he wants to run for mayor. Due to term limits he can no longer be Borough President.
Here is what the article in Friday’s issue of The Real Deal (New York’s Real Estate Industry Bible) says about The Kings. I’m almost afraid to get my hopes up, BUT THEY ARE!
Loew’s Kings Theater in Flatbush could finally be redeveloped
By Saray Ryley
Loew’s Kings Theater, for decades an unsightly behemoth on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood, could finally be redeveloped soon, nearly two years after the city first tried to find a developer.
The city this week issued a request for proposals to refurbish the ornate 1929 movie house — where Borough President Marty Markowitz got his first kiss and Barbra Streisand worked the doors — into a headliner venue, following a preliminary search for developers. The restoration won’t be cheap: the estimated cost is $70 million.
The city issued a request for expressions of interest back in September 2006, and had said little about the theater since, leading some to believe it had been forgotten.
“We went back and did a condition study to give us a better handle on what it’s going to take to renovate,” said Janel Patterson, a city Economic Development Corporation spokeswoman, adding that a marketing consultant was hired to determine the most lucrative use of such a costly conversion. “That’s what took us two years.”
Already one of the city’s largest entertainment venues with 2,295 water-worn seats, the winning developer would gain adjacent city property on East 22nd Street to expand Loew’s front stage and back stage to accommodate live performances, and several city-owned parcels now leased to a private parking lot operator, which the developer could use to create decked parking. The existing structure is 63,000 square feet, including 5,000 square feet of retail space, but valuable air rights could yield a much larger complex.
The property is not landmarked, but the city’s RFP requires the theater to be renovated.
The winning developer would be expected to restore most of Loew’s surviving features, from its ornate curved ceilings to the whimsical mural of marching knights adorning the men’s room, all in classic movie house styling. Those features have suffered significant wear since the venue was shuttered in 1979.
The city suggests renovations could be funded with historic rehabilitation tax credits and the sale of naming rights could help fund the $70 million restoration.
Two serious attempts to redevelop the theater have failed since the city acquired it in the early 1980s.
I don’t want to agree with Warren, but I’m afraid he’s probably right. I do believe that Markowitz has it in his power to provide needed seed money to get this project off the ground. His term, I believe is up in 2010 and I think he will want to leave some kind of legacy to the borough. Since he had his first date with his wife at The Kings, I think this project would be his sentimental favorite. Let’s hope so. The King’s is truly one of this country’s architectural treasures and needs to be restored to its original glory.
I have to say that what surprises me is that this is happening so soon after they renovated the theater. I can’t believe that Chelsea is going to be without a single movie theater; though it’s not a far walk to 19th St, the Union Square or the 34th St. Two theater buildings will remain: The Chelsea West will be totally renovated and redesigned to meet the needs of its new owner (the School of Visual Arts) and The Joyce Theater (the former porn palace – The Elgin) back when Chelsea was a slum. Progress marches on!
According to this weeks issue of The Real Deal, the real estate industry’s bible, Chelsea Cinemas is in contract to be sold and will most likely be torn down for a hotel leaving Chelsea without a nabe theater.
The quote is as follows: “Chelsea Cinemas could close soon. A hotelier is in contract to buy the nine-screen cinema, according to Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of the retail leasing and sales division at Prudential Douglas Elliman, who is working with the hotelier.
Consolo would not reveal the identity of the developer or the asking price for the space, which is owned by Mutual Redevelopment Houses Inc. She said her client is interested in building a boutique hotel of up to 10 stories, hoping to capitalize on the gallery-going crowd.
This would leave area residents with three options for nearby theaters. The Regal Union Square (which I think is the worst multiplex in Manhattan), the Loews 19th Street and the Loews 34th St.
The Chelsea Cinemas was not a palace in any form of the word, and until the recent renovations, I would have called it a dump. The renovations, however, did make it more more enjoyable to see a movie here and if I still lived in the neighborhood I would miss it, but I always preferred Loews 34th St and the theaters of 42nd St.
I agree with Warren if for no other reason that if Edward Durell Stone had actually designed these two spectacular theaters we would have seen him commissioned to design others around the country and, alas, he was not. This leads me too believe that he did not actually design these theaters, but instead was one of many contributors of which he was the most well known.
Yeah, Palladium is just a cooler name. Alas, none of the college students at NYU would remember Palladium’s days as New York’s premier disco in the late 80’s/early 90’s, let alone its prior days as a concert venue. You would probably get a blank stare if you mention The Academy of Music.
I’m also very sorry that I never got to see this theater. It appears from the photos posted on this thread that this truly was a spectacular theater. I love that chandelier! To think that The Center, The Roxy,The Capitol and Radio City were all within a block of each other is truly incredible.
Thanks LI, that makes me happy. I think New York has the best chance of keeping the Paris as an active movie house when it’s in the hands of a billionaire who has lots of other money and doesn’t need another source of major cash.
I kind of have the same thoughts about the Fisher family owning the Ziegfeld. I would hope that they realize what a treasure that theater is and would not sell it or gut it just for profit. I understand that it is under a long term land lease, but I’m not sure how long it is for. I guess that is for discussion on The Ziegfeld’s page. I would just hope that it is landmarked before that lease is up.
So is this theater still operated by Solow? The site of the Paris has to be one of the most valuable retail sites in the city; especially now that the Plaza has been redone. The Solow Tower gets some of the highest office rents in the city and it is obvious that Solow (if in fact he still runs the Paris) he is not totally focussed on money. Anybody else who held the Paris probably would have sold out to retail a long time ago. Hopefully, The Paris will be around for decades to come. Like many comments above, I agree that this small house shows that you don’t have to be big to be a palace. This intimate theater is about understated elegance and it is a pleasure to see a film in.
Wow Ken, thanks for the excerpt. It was pretty interesting.
When I was in Rio with my friends two years ago we stayed in a condo a block from the boy bar in Copacabana which is also right next to Ipanema. We never made it to Cinelandia nor can I say we knew much about it. Even if we had, I don’t think we would have done much exploring there. Crime is Rio is quite prevalent and you have to be very careful where you go and when. The description in your excerpt made it sound very dicey.
In Rio, Cars do not stop at traffic lights after 10PM. ATM’s stop working after 8PM to cut down on robberies. We were told to always take cabs after dark and to never take the subway at any time. Being from New York, I usually take those admonitions with a grain of salt, but I didn’t here. I actually saw two people robbed on the beach.
Be that as it may, I have to say we had a fantastic time. The Christ Statue, the cable car to Sugar Loaf Mountain, the beautiful beaches and the fantstic food were incredble. And it was so inexpensive! I would absolutely go back, but I wouldn’t let my guard down. Thanks again!
I was in Rio two years ago and went to the Boy Bar with some friends. I did not realize that it was a theater even though it did have a stage up front. That sounds silly, but I mean that it just looked like a big space with a stage. I don’t recall seeing any original or remaining ornamentation from its time as a theater.
Being a club, the prominent feature in what was the orchestra section would be a huge rectangular bar. The dance floor (which was not as big as the bar) was between the bar and the stage. There was no balcony (as I recall).
If I ever go back to Rio (It was a lot of fun) I’ll look with a closer eye.
I can also confirm that The Saint’s dome had been sold well before the destruction. After the official 2 day “Closing Party”, the Dome was sold off by the owner. Several months later, the Saint reopened periodically for special event parties sans the dome. It closed for good (I believe) in 1991 (could be 1990). It wasn’t the same without the dome, but it was still an incredible place! The Commodore deserved better.
I remember The Saint had a huge (at least 8 foot tall) golden winged Angel as you were climbing the steps to get to the orchestra section where the dance floor was. It was very impresive.
Attached below is a review of The Palladium discoteque which opened in the academy of Music in 1985. It’s an amazing article that describes the state of the theater before the conversion and a proper critique.
AN APPRAISAL; THE PALLADIUM: AN ARCHITECTURALLY DRAMATIC NEW DISCOTHEQUE
By PAUL GOLDBERGER
Published: May 20, 1985
Arata Isozaki is at once a great eminence of Japanese architecture and a source of some of its freshest thinking. And all sides of Mr. Isozaki are visible in the Palladium, the expansive new discotheque on East 14th Street that opened last week.
It is Mr. Isozaki’s first
American design to reach completion, and one of the most remarkable pieces of interior architecture in New York.
It is rare that a celebrated architect designs a discotheque at all, let alone decides to let this kind of project serve as his debut in a country in which he is beginning to achieve a major reputation. It is rather as if Philip Johnson were to go to Japan to design not a skyscraper, but a geisha house.
But if the match of architect and building project seems strange at first, the results at the Palladium bear out the wisdom of this unusual marriage. This is a spectacular interior, full of light and movement and genuine spatial drama.
Contrast With Studio 54
Yet it could not be further from the flashing lights and glitter of a place like Studio 54, the discotheque created by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, the impresarios who are also behind the conception of the Palladium, at 126 East 14th Street. This is actually a discotheque deserving to be considered in serious architectural terms.
Mr. Rubell and Mr. Schrager are nothing if not pulse-takers of the moment, and they have correctly divined that architecture has a chic in the 1980’s that it did not have in the 70’s.
They also knew that Mr. Isozaki’s architecture, which imbues simple geometric forms with a kind of primal energy, has been getting more and more attention in architectural circles, and that he had been chosen to design the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. This is certain to be one of the most talked-about museums in the country when it is finished next year.
Structure Within a Shell
What more natural match, then, than themselves and Mr. Isozaki to create the discotheque that would be for this decade what Studio 54 was for the last? It could almost be dismissed as a cynical exploitation of architecture’s current trendiness – if the results were not so truly excellent.
The Palladium has been built within the shell of the old Academy of Music, a movie palace of faded grandeur that has presided, like a glum but self-assured dowager, since 1926 over the block of 14th Street east of Union Square.
The old theater had never been sliced into smaller parts, like so many great movie houses of its era, but neither had it been well cared for. By the time the owners of the Palladium took it over, it had fallen into a state of deep, almost sordid, dinginess.
But the theater’s ornate architecture was essentially intact, and that set the theme for the design. The Academy of Music’s original architecture was not gutted, and neither was it cleaned up to any substantial degree. Instead, it was allowed to remain, rich and crumbling, as a background for a structure Mr. Isozaki designed to be set within it.
Mr. Isozaki’s new structure is set at what was the loge level of the old theater; the orchestra level and the old stage have been entirely covered up with new construction.
The new structure is a great grid of horizontal and vertical pieces mounting up for several stories, with a proscenium-like arch leaping across their middle. Within it is the main dance floor; behind it, most of the original mezzanine and balcony remain, permitting visitors to climb up and look down on the activity within the Isozaki structure.
The old auditorium is so vast that it can contain this foreign object, as big as a building, without seeming to blink an eye. Indeed, making this unusual juxtaposition work is the central point of Mr. Isozaki’s design – he is setting up an architectural dialogue in which an old container and a new thing contained within it are completely different, yet each maintains its integrity.
The Romance of Decay
The old movie palace is mysterious and ornate, seeming to hold within it the romance of generations; it has been left in its crumbling state to enhance this romantic, slightly eerie quality.
Mr. Isozaki’s insertion is crisp, hard and direct, revealing all. It is not hard to see that Mr. Isozaki is not merely juxtaposing two kinds of architecture, or old objects and new – he is really using each portion of this building as part of a much broader metaphor, exploring softness and hardness, decay and renewal, warmth and coolness, even mystery and revelation.
If all of this suggests that the Palladium is as solemn as a church, it is not so at all – it is in fact quite exuberant, with spectacular lighting effects, a fine palette of colors and altogether remarkable works of art.
The consortium of artists enlisted to participate in this venture is as much of the moment as the architect. It includes Francesco Clemente, who has painted a set of somewhat melancholy, but nicely colored, frescoes over a portion of the vaulted ceiling in one of the old theater’s vestibules; Kenny Scharf, who has turned the lower lounge into an almost magical arrray of decorations, comic-book icons, fake fur and mirrors and toys that suggest a perverse version of a Warner LeRoy restaurant, and Keith Haring, who has designed a huge graffiti mural for the rear wall of the stage.
But most startling of all may be the use of video screens as part of the art and architecture.
This is not the first time video has become part of a discotheque, of course, but it is surely the first time two huge banks of 25 television monitors each have been set within huge frames that are raised and lowered, like pieces of a stage set. The frames are designed in the shape of a Rolls-Royce grille, which may or may not be a comment on the leanings of the discotheque crowd in the 1980’s.
But whatever it means, the visual power of this array of television sets is undeniable – particularly given the use of advanced video technology that permits an image either to be seen in small size on each screen or in vast size, with all the monitors joined together to make an immense image that is as large as the one seen on a movie screen.
All of this goes on within Mr. Iso-zaki’s gridded structure, the inside of which is filled with softly glowing lights and is, in effect, the focus of all activity. But there are subsidiary spaces as well in the Palladium, including a ‘'back room’‘ that carries the metaphor of the building one step farther.
The back room has been made even dingier than it was when Mr. Rubell and Mr. Schrager found it, and instead of the ornament of the main theater, there is an exposed steel girder cutting across it; inside, in deliberate contrast, is elegant furniture and tuxedoed waiters.
A Single Classical Column
That is a bit coy. But the architectural sequence Mr. Isozaki devised for the entrance to the whole place is anything but. The exterior and the outer vestibule have been left in their raw state, making a startling contrast within the doors to a white lobby, in which a single classical column, enclosed by new walls, stands high up straight ahead.
Beyond this stark entrance, deliberately neutral, the space opens up to a vast lobby, 120 feet long with undulating green walls and green columns on a purple and turquoise carpet, with a low ceiling to create a sense of compression. The colors here, as elsewhere, were selected with the help of Andree Putman, the gifted Parisian interior designer who collaborated with Mr. Isozaki on numerous details of the Palladium design.
A grand double staircase, the sleekest, most high-tech element in the place, climbs upward from here to the level of the discotheque itself.
Its floor, and the floor of a huge landing, are made up of 2,400 round lights set in round glass block. To walk up it is to walk on light, and it is a magical feeling – the stair contains within it both the hardness of the new Isozaki structure and, thanks to the light, the softness of the old theater, merging them all into a unified whole.
While I’m never happy to see a theater close, I make a big exception in this case! The Greenwich Twin (where I remember seeing Bullets Over Broadway….“Don’t Speak!”…..) was demolished and replaced by an Equinox Gym. One day, the man who is now my partner was having a protein drink at the ground level cafe when he spotted me passing by outside. He followed me down the street and introduced himself to me. We have been together ever since and will celebrate 4 years together in May. We are also engaged to be married! So, I’m very happy that this particular theater is gone! :–)
WOW! Thanks, shoeshoe14! That brought back a rush a fabulous memories. It really was an incredible place and was my absolute favorite disco (and I got around to most of them in my day!) Just like I lament the fact that today’s youth will never truly know what it was like to attend movies regularly in the wide array of palaces that we had in our youth, I also lament the fact that they will not have the elaborate discos that we had as well (many of the most prominent in former movie palaces like The Palladium, Studio 54, Xenon’s, Club USA and, of course, The Saint!
The clubs kept these theaters open a few years longer than they might otherwise have been. Unfortunately, only Studio 54 was spared the wrecking ball and arguably, it was the least worthy of this elite group of theaters. Nonetheless, I’m greateful that we still have it and has been returned to the public as a legitimate Broadway House.
On another note: The introduction to this page should include The Commodore’s history as palying home to The Saint for over 10 years. As the link provided by shoeshoe14 shows, The Saint was an incredible club that was both historic and culturally influential. It should be ackowledged.
It’s amazing the the theater’s own web site does not include any photos of the theater.
It looks like it will be R.I.P. for the Chelsea 9 cinemas as well. An article appeared in last week’s Real Deal (NY Real Estate industry trade paper) that the Chelsea Cinemas are in contract to be sold. The new owner will most likely demolish them and replace it with a hotel. That would leave Chelsea with NO neighborhood movie theaters showing current releases. The Chelsea West will live on as the in house cinema venue for the SVA and the old porno palace, The Elgin, will live on as the delightful dance space, The Joyce Theater.
It’s sad to hear of the Ridgewood’s closing. However, per many of the postings above and interior pictures that have been posted, the loss, architecturally speaking, won’t be that great. The loss of the Jackson Triplex, however would be more disturbing because I believe that many more details are still in place at that theater.
That said, it is a sad day when the longest continually operated movie theater in the country closes for good. Does anyone know what theater will now claim that mantle?
My all time best movie experience was during the exclusive engagement of Dreamgirls in Dec ‘06. The price: $25. It was Sold Out! The crowd was electric. The curtains closed and then opened. Everyone was hooting and hollering and clapping. (There were no commercials and no previews I might add.) It was an incredible experience. People applauded with enthusiasm after every blockbuster musical number. I will never forget that experience and it happened……at The Ziegfeld! p.s. it was worth every dollar!
It was just announced that this theater will recieve an approximate $3MM renovation and reopen this summer as a concert and entertainment venue. Another rescued theater!
I went last year with some friends and it was great fun! I totally recommend it!
I know that i’m an eternal optimist, but for some reason I feel that something really is going to happen this time. Though I’ve criticized Markowitz in the past for not doing enough, I do honestly believe that he wants this to happen and that he has an emotional attachment to the place. Maybe he’s waited this long so that the renovation is well under way by the time he leaves office and he can point to it as a big achievement. Rumour has it he wants to run for mayor. Due to term limits he can no longer be Borough President.
Here is what the article in Friday’s issue of The Real Deal (New York’s Real Estate Industry Bible) says about The Kings. I’m almost afraid to get my hopes up, BUT THEY ARE!
Loew’s Kings Theater in Flatbush could finally be redeveloped
By Saray Ryley
Loew’s Kings Theater, for decades an unsightly behemoth on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood, could finally be redeveloped soon, nearly two years after the city first tried to find a developer.
The city this week issued a request for proposals to refurbish the ornate 1929 movie house — where Borough President Marty Markowitz got his first kiss and Barbra Streisand worked the doors — into a headliner venue, following a preliminary search for developers. The restoration won’t be cheap: the estimated cost is $70 million.
The city issued a request for expressions of interest back in September 2006, and had said little about the theater since, leading some to believe it had been forgotten.
“We went back and did a condition study to give us a better handle on what it’s going to take to renovate,” said Janel Patterson, a city Economic Development Corporation spokeswoman, adding that a marketing consultant was hired to determine the most lucrative use of such a costly conversion. “That’s what took us two years.”
Already one of the city’s largest entertainment venues with 2,295 water-worn seats, the winning developer would gain adjacent city property on East 22nd Street to expand Loew’s front stage and back stage to accommodate live performances, and several city-owned parcels now leased to a private parking lot operator, which the developer could use to create decked parking. The existing structure is 63,000 square feet, including 5,000 square feet of retail space, but valuable air rights could yield a much larger complex.
The property is not landmarked, but the city’s RFP requires the theater to be renovated.
The winning developer would be expected to restore most of Loew’s surviving features, from its ornate curved ceilings to the whimsical mural of marching knights adorning the men’s room, all in classic movie house styling. Those features have suffered significant wear since the venue was shuttered in 1979.
The city suggests renovations could be funded with historic rehabilitation tax credits and the sale of naming rights could help fund the $70 million restoration.
Two serious attempts to redevelop the theater have failed since the city acquired it in the early 1980s.
I don’t want to agree with Warren, but I’m afraid he’s probably right. I do believe that Markowitz has it in his power to provide needed seed money to get this project off the ground. His term, I believe is up in 2010 and I think he will want to leave some kind of legacy to the borough. Since he had his first date with his wife at The Kings, I think this project would be his sentimental favorite. Let’s hope so. The King’s is truly one of this country’s architectural treasures and needs to be restored to its original glory.
I have to say that what surprises me is that this is happening so soon after they renovated the theater. I can’t believe that Chelsea is going to be without a single movie theater; though it’s not a far walk to 19th St, the Union Square or the 34th St. Two theater buildings will remain: The Chelsea West will be totally renovated and redesigned to meet the needs of its new owner (the School of Visual Arts) and The Joyce Theater (the former porn palace – The Elgin) back when Chelsea was a slum. Progress marches on!
Chelsea Cinema Shocker…….
According to this weeks issue of The Real Deal, the real estate industry’s bible, Chelsea Cinemas is in contract to be sold and will most likely be torn down for a hotel leaving Chelsea without a nabe theater.
The quote is as follows: “Chelsea Cinemas could close soon. A hotelier is in contract to buy the nine-screen cinema, according to Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of the retail leasing and sales division at Prudential Douglas Elliman, who is working with the hotelier.
Consolo would not reveal the identity of the developer or the asking price for the space, which is owned by Mutual Redevelopment Houses Inc. She said her client is interested in building a boutique hotel of up to 10 stories, hoping to capitalize on the gallery-going crowd.
This would leave area residents with three options for nearby theaters. The Regal Union Square (which I think is the worst multiplex in Manhattan), the Loews 19th Street and the Loews 34th St.
The Chelsea Cinemas was not a palace in any form of the word, and until the recent renovations, I would have called it a dump. The renovations, however, did make it more more enjoyable to see a movie here and if I still lived in the neighborhood I would miss it, but I always preferred Loews 34th St and the theaters of 42nd St.
So, this theater looks abandoned. Anyone have any word on what’s going on here?
I agree with Warren if for no other reason that if Edward Durell Stone had actually designed these two spectacular theaters we would have seen him commissioned to design others around the country and, alas, he was not. This leads me too believe that he did not actually design these theaters, but instead was one of many contributors of which he was the most well known.
Yeah, Palladium is just a cooler name. Alas, none of the college students at NYU would remember Palladium’s days as New York’s premier disco in the late 80’s/early 90’s, let alone its prior days as a concert venue. You would probably get a blank stare if you mention The Academy of Music.
I’m also very sorry that I never got to see this theater. It appears from the photos posted on this thread that this truly was a spectacular theater. I love that chandelier! To think that The Center, The Roxy,The Capitol and Radio City were all within a block of each other is truly incredible.
Thanks LI, that makes me happy. I think New York has the best chance of keeping the Paris as an active movie house when it’s in the hands of a billionaire who has lots of other money and doesn’t need another source of major cash.
I kind of have the same thoughts about the Fisher family owning the Ziegfeld. I would hope that they realize what a treasure that theater is and would not sell it or gut it just for profit. I understand that it is under a long term land lease, but I’m not sure how long it is for. I guess that is for discussion on The Ziegfeld’s page. I would just hope that it is landmarked before that lease is up.
So is this theater still operated by Solow? The site of the Paris has to be one of the most valuable retail sites in the city; especially now that the Plaza has been redone. The Solow Tower gets some of the highest office rents in the city and it is obvious that Solow (if in fact he still runs the Paris) he is not totally focussed on money. Anybody else who held the Paris probably would have sold out to retail a long time ago. Hopefully, The Paris will be around for decades to come. Like many comments above, I agree that this small house shows that you don’t have to be big to be a palace. This intimate theater is about understated elegance and it is a pleasure to see a film in.
Wow Ken, thanks for the excerpt. It was pretty interesting.
When I was in Rio with my friends two years ago we stayed in a condo a block from the boy bar in Copacabana which is also right next to Ipanema. We never made it to Cinelandia nor can I say we knew much about it. Even if we had, I don’t think we would have done much exploring there. Crime is Rio is quite prevalent and you have to be very careful where you go and when. The description in your excerpt made it sound very dicey.
In Rio, Cars do not stop at traffic lights after 10PM. ATM’s stop working after 8PM to cut down on robberies. We were told to always take cabs after dark and to never take the subway at any time. Being from New York, I usually take those admonitions with a grain of salt, but I didn’t here. I actually saw two people robbed on the beach.
Be that as it may, I have to say we had a fantastic time. The Christ Statue, the cable car to Sugar Loaf Mountain, the beautiful beaches and the fantstic food were incredble. And it was so inexpensive! I would absolutely go back, but I wouldn’t let my guard down. Thanks again!
I was in Rio two years ago and went to the Boy Bar with some friends. I did not realize that it was a theater even though it did have a stage up front. That sounds silly, but I mean that it just looked like a big space with a stage. I don’t recall seeing any original or remaining ornamentation from its time as a theater.
Being a club, the prominent feature in what was the orchestra section would be a huge rectangular bar. The dance floor (which was not as big as the bar) was between the bar and the stage. There was no balcony (as I recall).
If I ever go back to Rio (It was a lot of fun) I’ll look with a closer eye.
I can also confirm that The Saint’s dome had been sold well before the destruction. After the official 2 day “Closing Party”, the Dome was sold off by the owner. Several months later, the Saint reopened periodically for special event parties sans the dome. It closed for good (I believe) in 1991 (could be 1990). It wasn’t the same without the dome, but it was still an incredible place! The Commodore deserved better.
I remember The Saint had a huge (at least 8 foot tall) golden winged Angel as you were climbing the steps to get to the orchestra section where the dance floor was. It was very impresive.
Attached below is a review of The Palladium discoteque which opened in the academy of Music in 1985. It’s an amazing article that describes the state of the theater before the conversion and a proper critique.
AN APPRAISAL; THE PALLADIUM: AN ARCHITECTURALLY DRAMATIC NEW DISCOTHEQUE
By PAUL GOLDBERGER
Published: May 20, 1985
Arata Isozaki is at once a great eminence of Japanese architecture and a source of some of its freshest thinking. And all sides of Mr. Isozaki are visible in the Palladium, the expansive new discotheque on East 14th Street that opened last week.
It is Mr. Isozaki’s first
American design to reach completion, and one of the most remarkable pieces of interior architecture in New York.
It is rare that a celebrated architect designs a discotheque at all, let alone decides to let this kind of project serve as his debut in a country in which he is beginning to achieve a major reputation. It is rather as if Philip Johnson were to go to Japan to design not a skyscraper, but a geisha house.
But if the match of architect and building project seems strange at first, the results at the Palladium bear out the wisdom of this unusual marriage. This is a spectacular interior, full of light and movement and genuine spatial drama.
Contrast With Studio 54
Yet it could not be further from the flashing lights and glitter of a place like Studio 54, the discotheque created by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, the impresarios who are also behind the conception of the Palladium, at 126 East 14th Street. This is actually a discotheque deserving to be considered in serious architectural terms.
Mr. Rubell and Mr. Schrager are nothing if not pulse-takers of the moment, and they have correctly divined that architecture has a chic in the 1980’s that it did not have in the 70’s.
They also knew that Mr. Isozaki’s architecture, which imbues simple geometric forms with a kind of primal energy, has been getting more and more attention in architectural circles, and that he had been chosen to design the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. This is certain to be one of the most talked-about museums in the country when it is finished next year.
Structure Within a Shell
What more natural match, then, than themselves and Mr. Isozaki to create the discotheque that would be for this decade what Studio 54 was for the last? It could almost be dismissed as a cynical exploitation of architecture’s current trendiness – if the results were not so truly excellent.
The Palladium has been built within the shell of the old Academy of Music, a movie palace of faded grandeur that has presided, like a glum but self-assured dowager, since 1926 over the block of 14th Street east of Union Square.
The old theater had never been sliced into smaller parts, like so many great movie houses of its era, but neither had it been well cared for. By the time the owners of the Palladium took it over, it had fallen into a state of deep, almost sordid, dinginess.
But the theater’s ornate architecture was essentially intact, and that set the theme for the design. The Academy of Music’s original architecture was not gutted, and neither was it cleaned up to any substantial degree. Instead, it was allowed to remain, rich and crumbling, as a background for a structure Mr. Isozaki designed to be set within it.
Mr. Isozaki’s new structure is set at what was the loge level of the old theater; the orchestra level and the old stage have been entirely covered up with new construction.
The new structure is a great grid of horizontal and vertical pieces mounting up for several stories, with a proscenium-like arch leaping across their middle. Within it is the main dance floor; behind it, most of the original mezzanine and balcony remain, permitting visitors to climb up and look down on the activity within the Isozaki structure.
The old auditorium is so vast that it can contain this foreign object, as big as a building, without seeming to blink an eye. Indeed, making this unusual juxtaposition work is the central point of Mr. Isozaki’s design – he is setting up an architectural dialogue in which an old container and a new thing contained within it are completely different, yet each maintains its integrity.
The Romance of Decay
The old movie palace is mysterious and ornate, seeming to hold within it the romance of generations; it has been left in its crumbling state to enhance this romantic, slightly eerie quality.
Mr. Isozaki’s insertion is crisp, hard and direct, revealing all. It is not hard to see that Mr. Isozaki is not merely juxtaposing two kinds of architecture, or old objects and new – he is really using each portion of this building as part of a much broader metaphor, exploring softness and hardness, decay and renewal, warmth and coolness, even mystery and revelation.
If all of this suggests that the Palladium is as solemn as a church, it is not so at all – it is in fact quite exuberant, with spectacular lighting effects, a fine palette of colors and altogether remarkable works of art.
The consortium of artists enlisted to participate in this venture is as much of the moment as the architect. It includes Francesco Clemente, who has painted a set of somewhat melancholy, but nicely colored, frescoes over a portion of the vaulted ceiling in one of the old theater’s vestibules; Kenny Scharf, who has turned the lower lounge into an almost magical arrray of decorations, comic-book icons, fake fur and mirrors and toys that suggest a perverse version of a Warner LeRoy restaurant, and Keith Haring, who has designed a huge graffiti mural for the rear wall of the stage.
But most startling of all may be the use of video screens as part of the art and architecture.
This is not the first time video has become part of a discotheque, of course, but it is surely the first time two huge banks of 25 television monitors each have been set within huge frames that are raised and lowered, like pieces of a stage set. The frames are designed in the shape of a Rolls-Royce grille, which may or may not be a comment on the leanings of the discotheque crowd in the 1980’s.
But whatever it means, the visual power of this array of television sets is undeniable – particularly given the use of advanced video technology that permits an image either to be seen in small size on each screen or in vast size, with all the monitors joined together to make an immense image that is as large as the one seen on a movie screen.
All of this goes on within Mr. Iso-zaki’s gridded structure, the inside of which is filled with softly glowing lights and is, in effect, the focus of all activity. But there are subsidiary spaces as well in the Palladium, including a ‘'back room’‘ that carries the metaphor of the building one step farther.
The back room has been made even dingier than it was when Mr. Rubell and Mr. Schrager found it, and instead of the ornament of the main theater, there is an exposed steel girder cutting across it; inside, in deliberate contrast, is elegant furniture and tuxedoed waiters.
A Single Classical Column
That is a bit coy. But the architectural sequence Mr. Isozaki devised for the entrance to the whole place is anything but. The exterior and the outer vestibule have been left in their raw state, making a startling contrast within the doors to a white lobby, in which a single classical column, enclosed by new walls, stands high up straight ahead.
Beyond this stark entrance, deliberately neutral, the space opens up to a vast lobby, 120 feet long with undulating green walls and green columns on a purple and turquoise carpet, with a low ceiling to create a sense of compression. The colors here, as elsewhere, were selected with the help of Andree Putman, the gifted Parisian interior designer who collaborated with Mr. Isozaki on numerous details of the Palladium design.
A grand double staircase, the sleekest, most high-tech element in the place, climbs upward from here to the level of the discotheque itself.
Its floor, and the floor of a huge landing, are made up of 2,400 round lights set in round glass block. To walk up it is to walk on light, and it is a magical feeling – the stair contains within it both the hardness of the new Isozaki structure and, thanks to the light, the softness of the old theater, merging them all into a unified whole.
While I’m never happy to see a theater close, I make a big exception in this case! The Greenwich Twin (where I remember seeing Bullets Over Broadway….“Don’t Speak!”…..) was demolished and replaced by an Equinox Gym. One day, the man who is now my partner was having a protein drink at the ground level cafe when he spotted me passing by outside. He followed me down the street and introduced himself to me. We have been together ever since and will celebrate 4 years together in May. We are also engaged to be married! So, I’m very happy that this particular theater is gone! :–)
Yes, Warren. That too is part of the legacy. I’m one of the lucky ones.
WOW! Thanks, shoeshoe14! That brought back a rush a fabulous memories. It really was an incredible place and was my absolute favorite disco (and I got around to most of them in my day!) Just like I lament the fact that today’s youth will never truly know what it was like to attend movies regularly in the wide array of palaces that we had in our youth, I also lament the fact that they will not have the elaborate discos that we had as well (many of the most prominent in former movie palaces like The Palladium, Studio 54, Xenon’s, Club USA and, of course, The Saint!
The clubs kept these theaters open a few years longer than they might otherwise have been. Unfortunately, only Studio 54 was spared the wrecking ball and arguably, it was the least worthy of this elite group of theaters. Nonetheless, I’m greateful that we still have it and has been returned to the public as a legitimate Broadway House.
On another note: The introduction to this page should include The Commodore’s history as palying home to The Saint for over 10 years. As the link provided by shoeshoe14 shows, The Saint was an incredible club that was both historic and culturally influential. It should be ackowledged.