Brooklyn Paramount Theatre

Growing up in Brooklyn early 20s and 30s was treated to the movies and Mighty Wurlitzer. The Paramount illustrated was located at Fulton St. and DeKalb Ave. Now how about the Prospect Theater? Apparently you can't come up with a similar photo showing the Marquee etc. I have written the Bklyn Public Library to research the Brooklyn Daily Eagle or Daily News for such a shot. I am an officer for PATOS in Pgh,Pa. who have the Prospect Theater Wurlitzer completely restored and enlarged..giving regular concerts. Can you help locating a photo to publish in our Society Journal? Not the present retail mart you list. Theater was located at 4thAve and 9th St. & I went there as a boy. Thanks.

Nice site, but I'm looking for a list of concerts played at the Brooklyn Paramount in the 1950s, staged by Alan Freed. Would appreciate it if you have any links.

Yes, it was great to see the movie over here

if you walk along the side of the building, as pointed out by theater historian Cezar Del Valle, you may notice there is an original sign reading "Paramount" alongside in large, faded lettering. There is an organ room where two special older folks work upstairs they will tour you if you find them, and the Wurlitzer rises up from the ground,one of the most magnificent sounds EVER heard.

Is it true the college is moving out of this space? I have been told that the theatre is pretty intact inside. About ten years they had a rock and roll reunion concert presenting many of the acts that played here during the Alan Freed and Murray The K shows.

The writer of the Description of the fabulous 4,084-seat Brooklyn PARAMOUNT, William Gable, says: "Many argue that the gymnasium's organ is the finest in the country, if not the world. [a 4-manual, 26-rank Wurlitzer]" One could answer, tongue-in-cheek, that it is probably a favorable comparison, since there are very likely no other 'gymnasium organs' in the country! But seriously, this theatre was probably one of the very finest to have graced this country, and when one simply sees the famous photos of it in that landmark book: "The Best Remaining Seats, The Story of the Golden Age of the Movie Palace" by the late Ben M. Hall, one falls in love with the dazzling proscenium at first glance, even if he has never set foot in there! In a number of ways it was landmark styling in itself, being one of the first indoor/outdoor themes appearing in the country, and unquestionable the finest (and largest) done. Similar photos can be found in the book: "American Theatres of Today" by Messrs. Sexton and Betts in 1930.

The 'BP' is an absolute symphony in back-lit grillework --even the columns and box faces were fronted with grilles backed by textured "Lalique" glass-- so much so that a most unusual article about the entire lighting arrangement appeared in the technical journal "Transactions of the Illuminating Engineering Soc.", Vol. XXIV, 1929, pages 890 through 907, still to be found at some libraries or via the Union List of Serials. Within the test and drawings by Frank Cambria (noted designer mentioned favorably by Ben Hall in the book mentioned above which is available via Inter-Library Loan at any large library) is shown the wonderful techniques pioneered in the BP and copied (always to lesser degrees) elsewhere. Among the 5 b/w photos there, are two that have not been published elsewhere, of the Cosmetic room and the Ladies' Lounge, both off their mezzanine lavatory. The photos reveal the Lounge to be one of Rapp&Rapp's typical and lovely elliptically-shaped rooms, the mild Art Deco decor of which was said to be very popular with the patrons. It would be a thrill to be able to restore all the many thousands of lights in the auditorium and see the wonderful vista that awaits, though I very much doubt, sad to say, that anyone with that much money will step forward even for this monumental example of the finest theatre architecture that this nation has ever seen.

Perhaps the best collection of photos, aside from the sources mentioned, is the issue of "Marquee" magazine of the Theatre Hist. Soc. of Vol. 30 #3, Third Qtr., 1998 where there is the article: "Brooklyn Paramount Photo Feature" where on the cover, page 3, and on pages 10 through 18 are minimal text, but 13 large b/w photos of the BP in its prime. The Society also has a number of latter day photos in color, including the depredations brought by the university.

PHOTOS AVAILABLE:
To obtain any available Back Issue of either "Marquee" or of its ANNUALS, simply go to the web site of the THEATRE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA at:
www.HistoricTheatres.org
and notice on the sidebar of their first page the link "PUBLICATIONS: Back Issues List" and click on that and you will be taken to their listing where they also give ordering details. The "Marquee" magazine is 8-1/2x11 inches tall ('portrait') format, and the ANNUALS are also soft cover in the same size, but in the long ('landscape') format, and are anywhere from 26 to 40 pages. Should they indicate that a publication is Out Of Print, then it may still be possible to view it via Inter-Library Loan where you go to the librarian at any public or school library and ask them to locate which library has the item by using the Union List of Serials, and your library can then ask the other library to loan it to them for you to read or photocopy. [Photocopies of most THSA publications are available from University Microforms International (UMI), but their prices are exorbitant.]

Note: Most any photo in any of their publications may be had in large size by purchase; see their ARCHIVE link. You should realize that there was no color still photography in the 1920s, so few theatres were seen in color at that time except by means of hand tinted renderings or post cards, thus all the antique photos from the Society will be in black and white, but it is quite possible that the Society has later color images available; it is best to inquire of them.

Should you not be able to contact them via their web site, you may also contact their Executive Director via E-mail at: execdir@historictheatres.org
Or you may reach them via phone or snail mail at:
Theatre Historical Soc. of America
152 N. York, 2nd Floor York Theatre Bldg.
Elmhurst, ILL. 60126-2806 (they are about 15 miles west of Chicago)

Phone: 630-782-1800 or via FAX at: 630-782-1802 (Monday through Friday, 9AM--4PM, CT)

For the year 1999, the non-profit group known as Brooklyn Information & Culture published a calendar entitled "Showplaces: Brooklyn's Historic Theaters," which was filled with wonderful old photographs. Unfortunately, the one for the Brooklyn Paramount turned out to be a fake, and actually showed the Los Angeles Wiltern Theatre disguised as the Brooklyn Paramount for scenes in the movie biopic of rock-and-roll DJ Alan Freed. By the time the error was caught, the calendar had already gone on sale in a limited edition, so it never got corrected.

When I described the "box" faces as back-lit in my previous post, I did not mean to imply that the BP had actual opera boxes, but only that the fascia of the mezzanine was configured in projections reminiscent of boxes. This meant that there was an inner face of the knee wall that confronted the feet of those seated there, and an outer face on its opposite side made of the textured glass set as panels into frames, with light bulbs concealed behind the frosted-like glass. Those light bulbs, like the thousands of others in the auditorium, were in several colors and could be turned on in varying degrees to create many wonderful color moods. The BP had no box seating, since it was never to be an opera house or vaudeville theatre, though it was a 'Presentation House' which means that it did have full stage facilities capable of vaudeville and production numbers on stage; but its mainstay was always movies.

A 1949 photo of the Paramount's marquee can be seen here.

Would it be great to recreate this marquee?

The theatre's name was Paramount, not The Paramount. However, to differentiate from the Paramount in Times Square, NYC, it was always known as Brooklyn Paramount in advertising, publicity, and even on the marquee, as these photos show. All history books on theatre architecture also refer to it as Brooklyn Paramount. IMHO, the theatre should be listed as Brooklyn Paramount, and definitely not as The Paramount.

But dont we put "the" in front of names such as this? Did you say I went to Rivioli to see Around The World in 80 Days or The Rivoli?

I would say that I went to the Rivoli. "The" would not spelled with a capital "T" unless it was actually part of the theatre's name or starting a sentence ("The Rivoli was on Broadway," for example). I'm sure that there have been theatres called The Supreme, or whatever, but they're relatively few in number. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of the theatres listed at this website with "The" in front of their names are incorrectly cited.

An article about disc jockey Alan Freed in yesterday's NY Daily News (5/30/04) featured a B&W photo of the Brooklyn Paramount's marquee for one of his legendary rock-and-roll shows. Unfortunately, the photo is too blurry to make out some of the fine detail, but large electrified letters at the top of the marquee say "Gala Holiday Stage & Screen Show." I can't decipher the names of the performers, but the movie was definitely "Raw Edge," a Universal western with Rory Calhoun & Yvonne DeCarlo that was released nationally in September, 1956. I wonder what "holiday" this engagement covered? Labor Day? Thanksgiving? Maybe even Christmas?

My rememberance of the Brooklyn Paramount was plugging a song in Anita O'Day's dressing room on a small piano. This was in 1942 and O'Day was Gene Krupa's vocalist at the time. The Brooklyn Paramount featured the big bands during that era, same as the NY Paramount.

I seriously doubt that the meeting with Anita O'Day took place at the Brooklyn Paramount, which did not present "big band" shows during that period. I think that Murray has it confused with the Brooklyn Strand, which did present such shows during the early 1940s, though sporadically rather than all the time as at the New York Paramount. As far as I know, the Brooklyn Paramount did not present any stage shows except for the first few years it opened and then not until the rock-and-roll era in the 1950s.

Warren, you are absolutely correct. It was the Brooklyn Strand, not the Brooklyn Paramount. I had second thoughts after posting my comment.

In response to Warren pondering the 'Gala Holiday Stage & Screen Show' and artists involved, I found the following on the web. Hope it helps:
W.-M. 1/1-6/58 UNRECORDED: Buddy Holly and the Crickets finish the 12-day tour for Alan Freed’s "Holiday of Stars" at the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, New York. They are each billed separately along with Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, the Rays, Danny and the Juniors, Paul Anka, Lee Andrews and the Hearts, the Shepherd Sisters, Little Joe Dubs, Thurston Harris, the Teenagers, Jo Ann Campbell, the Twin Tunes, Terry Noland, Earl Warren, and Sam "the Man" Taylor.

Dave, the accompanying movie, "Raw Edge," was released in September, 1956, so I doubt that the stage program was the one that you reported. But many thanks for taking the time to search!

The 1989 film "Great Balls of Fire" about Jerry Lee Lewis includes a scene set in the Brooklyn Paramount. (Remember that incident when JLL set the piano on fire?) The Memphis Orpheum was the stand-in hall. Maybe I should say the Orpheum acted the part of the Paramount. Of course the Orpheum looks nothing like the Brooklyn Paramount, but the film was made in Memphis and the it's a big, pretty hall so in the eyes of the director, close enough. They used the Orpheum's marquee with the Orpheum name covered. There were a couple of absolutely ridiculous changes to the interior which are, mercifully, only briefly seen and were taken down after filming. The director appearantly had never been in a movie palace before: he certainly didn't know ANYTHING about basic cinema presentation. He didn't even know that the Brooklyn Paramount had had anything to do with Paramount Pictures. Clueless. CLUELESS! The whole film was awful beyond words.

By the time that Jerry Lee Lewis performed at the Brooklyn Paramount, the theatre was no longer affiliated with Paramount Pictures. In 1949, the movie company was forced to divest all of its theatres to comply with a Federal anti-trust ruling against it. A new and separately owned company called United Paramount Theatres took over all the theatres. UPT eventually merged with the American Broadcasting Company, with a gradual transition into a corporation that favored radio and TV over film exhibition.

Warren, thanks for the clarification. Do you accept personal e-mails?

I lived in downtown Brooklyn in the 1980's and I could see the top floors and roof of the theatre, at the same angle as in the post card. I would have had a perfect view of that big rooftop sign. Alas, I was only a few decades too late.

It was in the Brooklyn Paramount in 1930 that Ethel Merman really hit the big time. Obviously, Merman was alread on the way to being a star or she wouldn't have been performing in such a first rate venue, but her voice and personality filling that 4000 seat hall got her some serious attention. Can you image the Paramount orchestra, the organ and Ethel Merman belting out an Irving Berlin tune? Really, I was born 60 years too late.

A 1933 photograph of the intersection of Flatbush and DeKalb Avenues with the Paramount in the center of the photo can be seen here.

The BP's mighty Wurlitzer organ is currently unplayable due to water damage from a broken drainpipe in the building, according to a story in The New York Times of 7/18/2004 (page 29). A spokesperson for Long Island University, owner of the theatre, said that bids are now being sought to repair the damage, which is expected to cost from $50,000 to $100,000. Another accident in the 1980s put the Wurlitzer out of commission for two years.

The Alan Freed Bio film was called "American Hot Wax" released by Paramount Pictures. The poster artwork for the film shows a converted marquee of the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

See 1934 photo looking up to toward Paramount with Minsky's Theater in foreground:

Brooklyn Public Library link

Closer view of Paramount in 1934 with DeKalb Avenue trolley passing by theater:

Brooklyn Public Library link

I believe Minsky's BurlyQ Theater may have been originally Ryan's Crescent Theater.

I think Minsky's was the Werba.

Here is a link with a photo of the Wurlitzer organ and an old photo of the Paramount theater. The site has a history of the organ and some info on the theater also.


http://www.nytos.org/LIU.htm

See Werba's Brooklyn Theater page for more information about the Montauk / Crescent / Brooklyn / Minsky's Theater's history.

A full day of jazz events, including a free guided tour of the theatre, will be held on Friday, October 15, 2004. Details can be found at www.brooklyn.liu.edu/RememberingJazz/index.html

Speaking of jazz, the following link has a story about this theater:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=14905

I hope this winds up becoming a theatre again. How great to see that landmark marquee recreated.

Sadly, the photograph in the "All About Jazz" article is NOT of the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre! It's actually the Los Angeles Wiltern Theatre made up to look like the Brooklyn Paramount for the Alan Freed biopic. This is the second time I've seen this photo passed off as the Brooklyn Paramount. Disgraceful!

That article fooled me. I also found two other photos of interiors that are listed as "Paramount Theater NY". Does anyone know if these are from the Brooklyn Paramount or the Paramount in Manhattan?
http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/imageapp.php?Major=TW&Minor=B&SlideNum=71.00

http://historyproject.ucdavis.edu/imageapp.php?Major=TW&Minor=B&SlideNum=72.00

The site lists them correctly: they are both of the NY PARAMOUNT in Manhattan, not the BROOKLYN PARAMOUNT.

Several years ago, I went to the old Brooklyn Paramount with my wife because she was registering for some classes. A good friend of hers is the sports trainer. The sports medicine area, is where the dressing rooms used to be. As a matter of fact, I was led to the exact area that "Buddy Holly and His Comets" hung out back stage...
...Believe me! You could feel the vibes!!!

"J.F.Lundy" this is directed to you!
You seem to have the most knowledge out of everyone here.
I went to your profile, but it didn't say much at all.
I'd like to know if you have anything to do with the Lundy Brothers Restuarant in Sheepshead Bay?
Also, If you know of where I can go to see photo's and to find out more about the old "Mayfair Theatre" and The "Grace Theatre" in Brooklyn.
You can e-mail me directly at: SIDEWALK714@aol.com
Thanks...

Went to see an LIU basketball game here last Saturday so I could see the interior. Sad to say the oragan is gone. While the orchestra seating is gone (since 1973) most of the carvings on the walls remain. The Grand Lobby is still pretty much intact as well as the stairways to the downstairs restrooms. Next year LIU's teams will be playing in a new arena next door so the future of this building's interior is uncertain. I sugest you go there now while its still there.

Yankee Mike, I was shocked to read that the organ is "gone." Where did it go? Is it possibly being installed in the new arena? Or is it still there but no longer being played? For many years, it was maintained by one of the organ societies.

The organ is being repaired and will be reinstalled over the next year or so (it was severely damaged last year by a leaky roof). The New York Theatre Organ Society just announced that LIU has secured a contractor to begin the restoration work, whoch involves removing various components and taking thme to Connecticut for resorative work.

But where will it be installed? LIU will be using a new arena for sports next year. All the original theatre seating is long gone. Since there are only bleacher type seating in the theatre and no stage it would be unsuitable for concerts or shows. Anyone know if the organ is going to the new LIU arena.

As a callow youth of fourteen, I took my first date to the Brooklyn Paramount. I struck out. Sixteen years later, I enjoyed a better outcome when I taught my first classes (Western Civ. & American History) in the balcony of this 4,400 seat famous theater. The home of rock and roll in the 1950s, it became the site of many basketball games from the 1960s to 2005. I watched in awe as Berry Leibowitz dribbled through opposing players in 1966. Larry Newbold and Luther Green led the Blackbirds back to basketball glory in 1967. Recollecting these starry knights on dramatic nights, I wonder "Where have all the flowers gone?" Where indeed is Cliff Culoko, Ruben Roodriguez, Lou Brignone, Ron Smalls, Ron Williams, Ernie Douse, Robert Cole, Riley Clarida, Mike Hay, Juney Smith, Charles Jones, Richie Parker and other illuminaries who brought us immensejoy and so much to cheer about. Curiously, Joe Dorinson

This string of news story and comments should bring us up-to-date:
http://cinematreasures.org/news/12788_0_1_0_M/

Theres a better chance of this coming back to life then Loews Kings.

Radio City's organist Dick Leibert went to the Music Hall from this theater. Does anyone have information about his tenure here?

Dick Leibert was at RCMH from the day it opened in 1932 till somewhere in the early to mid 70's when he retired to Florida. I knew him for several years before he retired, a gracious and gentlemanly fellow, with a wicked dry sense of humor. I took many a date with me to the Music Hall, Dick would let us in at the 51st street stage door and let us watch the show from the wings of the stage....always impressed the girls, let me tell you! The last time I heard him play was at the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, NJ on both the pipe organ there and a Baldwin electronic. He did some endorsements for them I think. He took a lot of criticism in those later days for using his own set combinations and not experimenting... true, but gee he was playing for 40+ years at that point. And, the organ was in bad shape, it had suffered from several "experts" who tried their own gimmicks - one even cut some pipes up as I recall. You had to use big combinations both because so much didnt work by then, and to be heard. The organ speaks from behind grillwork, so at its best it sounds muffled. Dick always played a standard that fit the movie, I remember 'Stardust' before some space picture, and usually had a current pop tune worked up.

Even my classical organ professor (who studied with Fred Swann - that's credibility) agreed no one could do rapid finger substitutions like Dick - watching his fingers move chromatically up and down the keyboard for a tibia slide was just unbelieveable.... what technique he had. Even in the last years he practiced constantly in his dressing room on an old upright piano.

So when Communion is over in church, and I keep taking stops off the Swell to just a celeste as I move the harmony up the scale, fading out to just a 32'in the pedal - only my wife knows its really a Leibert ending before the movie starts!

Thanks for the comments about Leibert. Could you contact me at HenryABax@aol.com

A color photo of the auditorium as basketball court (and accompanying news article) can be found at www.nytimes.com/2005/03/06/nyregion/thecity/06schw.html

There is a picture here of one of the organists playing at the Brooklyn Paramount.

www.saengeramusements.com/music/rosario/rosario.htm

The caption to the Rosa Rio photo says Brooklyn Fox.

Rosa Rio also played at the Brooklyn Paramount, (mentioned farther down in the story) and she is still alive and still playing and still a delightful, gracious lady. Her published works for jazz and theatre organ can be found on eBay from time to time.

I worked as an usher at the Brooklyn Paramount from 1960 until it closed in 1962. It was a movie palace and I never wanted to see it close. The rock and roll shows they had were wonderful and fun.

Does anyone have a complete list of the rock-and-roll shows at the Brooklyn Paramount? I don't think there were many, but they seem to be the most cherished memory of the theatre.

The Brooklyn Paramount is larger and more sumptuous than the Kings, mainly because of its location in downtown Brooklyn, which was the equivalent of a major city in those days. The Brooklyn Paramount was also the first theatre built in the project that Loew's took over from Paramount and became known as the "Loew's Wonder Theatres." That's how Rapp & Rapp became architects of the Kings. They had already been scheduled for it by Paramount...The Brooklyn Paramount now seems to have an edge over the Kings in restoration to a theatre, since it's in better physical condition and better served by public transportation. (Copied from Warren's post on Loew's Kings page.)

I'm looking to assist in the Paramount Restoration. I am already involved in the Kings. Now, I already placed a page on my website about the Kings Restoration. Is there anybody or group out there that was formed to restore the Paramount. By the way, having been born in 1961 I, sadly, don't remember the Paramount. However, as a theater major and returning college student, I see the good that can come from two additional performance venues in Brooklyn. By the way, I was born in what is now East Flatbush.

Friends of the Brooklyn Paramount, unite!

I am the writer of a New York Nostalgia Index online. I got a little chuckle from saps, but what was written above is right. Does anyone know of anybody who I can E-Mail, maybe the Brooklyn Historical Society?

I would be interested in being on a committee to save either or both theatres.

Since the PARAMOUNT is privately owned by LIU, may I suggest that it would be prudent to first determine in a gentle way what their position is on the theatre's future, since previous comments indicate that they are interested in keeping it as one of their properties, and may be willing to return portions of it to a partial theatrical use. It would be premature and perhaps offensive to them to start an outside effort about their property without their consent and involvement. IF at a later date they seem to oppose any restoration of the auditorium, then it MIGHT be feasible to start a petition drive or other influence upon them, but not before all courteous dialogue with them has been exhausted. Remember that the best way to create an enemy is to step upon his rights, and schools also have property rights. One can appeal to their civic spirit in the interests of the community, but one cannot dismiss them as unconcerned if they do not immediately see your wishes as the plans they 'must' adopt. IF you have a large amount of money to offer them to purchase the building and they accept, fine, but do not presume to tell them that they must sell or otherwise handle their property in the way outsiders dictate.

In this regard it might be possible to form an INFORMAL (non-incorporated) group to approach LIU administration to express your devotion to the FORMER theatre, and your wish to help them reprogram the space in a way harmonious to its decor and potential. Since any degree of restoration is going to be costly, they will see your assistance best as as funds raiser. If you can form a credible group to pledge to rent the auditorium for some events once stage and seating are restored, then you may give them a realistic gleam of hope in an otherwise confusing time. Make it clear that you realize that the regents or board of directors of the university expect them to make the most profitable use of the property (always refer to it by the name they use, not as the 'Brooklyn Paramount') and that you seek to help them find a profitable use harmonious with BOTH university needs and community needs. Universities are usually quite sensitive to local views and needs, but always remember that this is NOT a tax funded institution, but a private one not required to expose all their financial resources and options with the public, so never imply that you expect them to show you their books.

It might prove helpful to remember that this is but one of their 'campuses' and that therefore it need not contain educational programs perhaps better suited to other sites. How much of a problem is classroom space for them? If it is not critical in the former Paramount, then perhaps they could devote it to community and university events requiring a large seating area. Where do they hold graduations now and is it as noteworthy as the restored Paramount would be? They do have a performing arts program; what is the nature of the facility they now use and is that adequate compared with the former theatre? Can you find someone who will donate his time to act as an unpaid consultant in the adaptation of the theatrical aspects of the building to new uses? The more of their research you can do for them before they enter into serious decisions, the better your chances that they will listen to your ideas and take on your approach to the structure. Be ready to have YOUR lawyer draw up a MODEL demising agreement to separate the former theatre portions of the building from the upper floors of offices should LIU decide that that would be a good agreement. Such might also forsee removing the cafeteria from the lobby and other uses now in the balconies. These would presume that you have a viable plan or client to take control of those former theatre spaces at a proft or at least not a loss to the university, assuming they wish to divest themselves of the former theatre portions. You might include a back-out clause allowing them to retake control of the entire structure if the client/operator you propose actually fails within a stated period of time. In this way they will not be seen to be taking all the risk from the insurance, upkeep and profit standpoints.

Should you get the impression that they are open to a possible purchase plan or demising agreement for the theatre portion, then it is time to incorporate so as to collect funds in an open and legal way and then to take a copy of that incorporation certificate to show to them. But first of all is the quiet and kindly expression of deep interest in their property AS WELL AS your equally deep interest in the welfare of the university so valuable to the community since 1926, almost the year the BP opened!
Best Wishes to all.

Friends of the LIU gymnasium, unite!

Also, if someone does want to make an appointment to approach a university official, be sure to coordinate it here on this site and anywhere else devotees of the BP might meet, so that there are not many people making appointments, which could be perceived as a furtive assualt on LIU's legal options to direct their property in the public eye, or simply as misguided individuals speaking of that which they do not know. Likewise, if you determine to make an appointment, take only one other person along with you, if anyone, since more might appear to them to be an intimidation tactic. If you have formed a group, certainly bring along a LIST of their names and addresses to display the fact that you are not alone in this endeavor of good will, but DO NOT make it look like a petition, which and can be very unsettling to administrators and likely to turn them off completely. Save any petition drives for much later in the 'game.'

If you can first establish a contact on a lower level who has access to the current thinking of those in charge, then you can find out from this person whom to contact and what is a propitious time. Don't waste your time talking off the ear of the janitor or bldg. super who may sympathize but have no power to contact or influence the president's office where the decision will likely be made. In all these cases you must be careful not to waste their time by too many meetings or contacts; they are, in reality, a business, and time is money to them too.

Remember, short of legal condemnation of the property by the government under eminent domain laws, there is no way to force them to relinquish their property to others, and I do NOT advocate the currently fashionable misuse of this law to take private property for other private use! That might take the theatre, but leave a permanent ugly stain on its name.

I will approach the person involved with the Loew's Kings tomorrow via E-Mail. I'm one of those people that need to get up the gut first. Maybe we can get him on.

We may need someone who lives near LIU to approach them. They may not only want to approach the heads of the college, but, if there is one, the theater department. I live on Long Island, so I'm not close enough.

If indeed LIU plans to vacate the building for a newer gym facility the prospect of returning the Paramount to its former theatrical hey day would be a massive effort. The expense and the constuctive undertaking would be over whelming. At best creating a very simple utilitarian auditorium constructed from scratch may be more reasonable for lectures, community arts concerts and dramas and maybe showings of classic films, student films, etc.

LIU is not vacating the building. It is just closing down the portion of the theatre auditiorium that was used for the gymnasium/basketball court. It also has offices, classrooms, and other facilities in the building. As far as I know, no decision has been made about what to do with the auditorium, but returning it to theatrical use is a possiblity. That expense would not be as "overwhelming" as that required for the ex-Loew's King, since LIU has done good maintenance of the building.

The Greatest of all of Allan Freed's Rock n' Roll shows was held at the Brooklyn Paramount in 1957.......In it were Little Richard & His Band, Fats Domino & His Band, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Joanne Campbell, The Platters etc etc......Little Richard closed the show by coming out in Pastel Pajamas and taring off the sleeves and throwing them to the audience....Nobody, but nobody could follow Little Richard in those days....Joe From Florida---sasheegm----

About 6 months ago, Little Richard hopped on the piano at B.B. King's on Times Squre, in his white tuxedo with the black sparkle collar and matching pants.

At 72, nobody can follow Little Richard Petterman.

Thanks Bruce: He is the un-crowned King of R&R....To bad his life was so screwed up back then......Recorded "The Girl Can't Help It"-1956/57 off of Fox Movie Channel last week---Beautiful digital copy for my collection-------Remember taking my wife to the Westbury Theater in the round for a R&R revival show back around 1970 or so.......Chubby Checker was top billed, and 2nd billed was Chuck Berry------Berry brought down the house and had about 5 encores----Then poor Chubby took the stage and people were leaving....Chuck Berry was hard to follow if you were Chubby Checker in 1970....Dumb Producers....Only Richard could do that.....and now the two of them are touring together---Chuck Berry and Little Richard---they appeared in Melbourne Fla last month to a sold out house at the King Center for the performing Arts.....Joe From Florida---sasheegm

Hello to all. I am new to this chatforum, but I thought I might be able to shed some light on the situation at the "Former Brooklyn Paramount." In the fall of 2005, I will be attending the school (LIU) as a scholarship student recommended by the president of the university. My role at the university will be to serve as the Organist In Residence and Care Taker of the Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ which remains in that facility. Although I cannot be certain of the future use of the facitility, I am sure that I will try very hard to encourage the university into returing the space back into a venue for performing arts.


Michael Xavier Lundy
Dickinson Theatre Organ Society

House Organist/Publicity Chairman/Open House Program Coordinator/Board of Directors
P.O. Box 7263
Wilmington, Delaware 19803-0263
DTOS Phone (302)995-2603
DTOS Website www.geocities.com/dtoskimball

John Dickinson High School (Wilmington, Delaware)
Home of The World's 4th Largest Theatre Pipe Organ (Kimball 3/66)

If Mr. Lundy and anyone else can foster the restoration of the fabulous BROOKLYN PARAMOUNT, I applaud them, since this is possibly Rapp & Rapp's most spectacular work if taken just by its proscenium alone! One look at pages 150-151 in Ben Hall's landmark book "The Best Remaining Seats, The Story of the Golden Age of the Movie Palace" will convince anyone of the dazzling artistry never elsewhere duplicated. I wonder how much of that proscenium and its lighting still remain? I guess it is too much to expect anyone to have saved that wonderful Grand Drape, and it would cost hundreds of thousands to reproduce today, if anyone could really do it.

It's funny because as I read this I am filling in for someone in another office that is right next door to the former Brooklyn Paramount. This area is much improved over a few years ago and I don't think people would be afraid anymore to come down here.

I believe the proscenium is still there but the stage is completely gone as is the entire orchestra section.

My father worked as an usher at the Brooklyn Paramount in the 1950's.
His birthday is coming up, and I'd like to put some pictures together for him. I've searched on the internet, but I've only found a couple of print-worthy photos. Do you know where I can find some more, either on the web, or to purchase? One final question. I did print out a photo, that was in color, or the marquee. It's the smaller of the signage, and it has Brooklyn in block white letters, and it almost looks like palm trees in neon next to it. Underneath it says "Stage and Screen Show: Alan Freed in Person." Since I have not seen another photo with these "Palm trees (or whatnot)", I wondering if this was part of the Brooklyn Paramount.

All help is greatly appreciated.

The photo showing palm trees on the marquee is NOT of the Brooklyn Paramount. It is a photo of a Los Angeles theatre made up to look like the Brooklyn Paramount for scenes in the Alan Freed biopic. See entries above for more about this. Please DON'T buy this photo expecting it to be the REAL Brooklyn Paramount. A few years ago, a Brooklyn conservation group made that mistake and used it in their annual calendar!

The theatre on the photo with palm trees and Alan Freed on the marquee lettering is actually the Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles.

Thanks for the info on the "LA" picture!

As mentioned in above posts, the Theatre Historical Society of America has numerous photos, and you may contact their Ex. Director, Richard Sklenar, via his E-mail address or via snail mail at the address on their web page: www.historictheatres.org See their link: ARCHIVE for details about access and pricing.

The Applebee's across the Street from the Paramount has a display wall of all the theatres that used to be in the area. They too use the picture from LA. That picture has been identified so much as the real Paramount that it's almost become truth.

Yes, and the sad thing is that it comes from the photo collection of a Brooklyn theatre "expert" who should know better.

Do they have a picture of the Kings in that Applebee's?

No it was just the theatres in Downtown Brooklyn like The Albee, Fox and Duffield.

Warren, who is that theatre expert? I can only think of one and he wouldn't make that mistake!
As far as the Brooklyn FOX, from what I hear, the building's only major tenant is making plans to leave and the storefronts are already empty. I also understand that in the basement, there you'll find some of the 'tile work' from the men's room of the FOX. Reason: They tore down the FOX, but kept the original foundation. Now, they just might tare down the existing building and put up a nicer & newer building.

To: Robert R. You forgot the 'Loew's Melba' and 'Loew's Metropolitan' (originally a department store) not to mention The Strand, The Majestic (Now BAM's HARVEY) RKO Orpheum and a few others.

I don't think Loew's Metropolitan was ever a department store.

saps;
I have added details on the Loew's Metropolitan page.

Saps: I spent a lot of time with the architect hired by the last owners of the Loew's Metropolitan as they prepared to correct the sight lines for the multiplex. While doing her research, she could not find the 'original blueprints' filed by Thomas Lamb. By the way, Lamb signed his name bigger than any signer of the Constitution.

She literally haunted the Municipal Archives till they discovered the blueprints under 'revisions'. The Loew's Met was originally built around 1914, but at that time it was positively a department store!

Loew's Metropolitan occupied the site of a department store, but it was not a conversion. The department store was totally demolished, and then the theatre was built on the underlying ground.

That may be, but all the blueprints were missing when the search was made under 'new' construction and were later found under an earlier date, referencing the original construction.

Christmas of 1960 Murray the K had his annual holiday show here starring Brenda Lee and 15 other acts. On screen was Rory Calhoun in "Thunder in Carolina".

During the week of October 16, 1932, the New York and Brooklyn Paramount Theatres were presenting the same first-run movie but, of course, different stage shows. On screen was Paramount's "The Big Broadcast," a musical comedy with Stuart Erwin and Leila Hyams that featured "guest appearances" by Bing Crosby, Burns & Allen, Kate Smith, the Boswell Sisters, the Mills Brothers, Cab Calloway, and Arthur Tracy, among others. On stage at the New York Paramount was a revue enitled "Mardi Gras," with 12 scenes and 150 performers plus orchestra. The Brooklyn Paramount had a more conventional vaudeville program, topped by Borrah Minevitch & His Harmonica Rascals and singer Frances Langford, with Charles Previn (cousin of Andre) conducting the BP's orchestra.

robertr
murray the k never played the brooklyn paramount
he played the brooklyn fox
go to alan freed.com
and see all the rock and roll shows at the B.p
i think you wouled like it

myrtleave

Hi, I have the ad from the NY Times 12/29/60 it's billed as Clay Cole & Murray the K's Holiday Show. I can send it to you if you would like to see it.

TO: RobertR
I would love to see the NY Times ad that billed the show as 'Clay Cole & Murray the K's Holiday Show' please send it to thats.brooklyn@verizon.net
Bruce1

ROBERTR
I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE AD
AND I APOLOGIZE FOR SAYING MURRAY THE K
NEVER PLAYED THE B,P,
PLEASE SEND IT TO
BIGFRANK2112@comcast.net

Sure I have it at work and will send it out to you in the morning. No need to apologize thats what this site is all about sharing info.

Rob

Even stranger
I now found an ad dated 4/1/59 with Alan Freed hosting a show at the Fox.

1959 the Paramount advertised itself as the only theatre in Brooklyn to see PERCEPTO...........Vincent Price in "The Tingler" also "The Warrior and the Slave Girl".

Robertr
i got the e.mail
but i could not open it

I just got curious...I heard about the Alan Freed Shows at the Paramount. I am too young to remember them (born 1961). I was wondering if anyone on this site ever been to one.

In 1947 the Paramount was showing a re-release of Cecil B DeMilles "Cleopatra" and advertising it "on our giant MAGNASCOPE screen. The second feature was the Technicolor "Tropic Zone" starring Ronald Reagan and Rhonda Fleming. No stage show was advertised.

Here are two small photo's of the Brooklyn Paramount with an Alan Freed show being held there. The movie on the marquee in the right photo, "Foxfire" with Jane Russell came out in 1955.
http://www.mp3rockabilly.com/af2upBroklynOut.jpg

This is a March 1958 tour date for the Alan Freed show. I wasn't aware that the Loews Paradise Theater in the Bronx had these shows also.

MARCH 1958

ALAN FREED'S BIG BEAT SHOW
FEATURING: Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon, The Diamonds, Billy Ford, Danny & The Juniors, The Chantels, Larry Williams, Screaming Jay Hawkins, The Pastels, Jo-Ann Campbell, Ed Townsend, Alan Freed Orchestra with Sam "The Man" Taylor
28 - Brooklyn Paramount Theatre - Brooklyn, NY (2 shows)
29 - Brooklyn Paramount Theatre - Brooklyn, NY (3 shows)
30 - State Theater - Hartford, CT
31 - Loews Paradise Theater - Bronx, NY

Thanx guys

The March 1958 itinerary suggests that these shows were not popular enough to draw crowds for more than a day or two. These were probably held during Easter holiday week.

These shows traveled across the U.S. and into Canada. This is the tour schedule for Alan Freed in the month of September 1957. The Paramount appears to have the most shows.

"ALAN FREED's "BIGGEST SHOW OF STARS FOR 1957"
Featuring: Paul Williams, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, The Spaniels, Johnnie & Joe, The Bobettes, Paul Anka, The Drifters, Frankie Lymon, Lavern Baker, Everly Brothers, Jimmy Bowen, Clyde McPhatter, Sam "The Man" Taylor".

1-5 - Brooklyn Paramount Theater - New York, NY
6 - Syria Mosque - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
7 - The Mosque - Richmond, Virginia
8 - Carr's Beach Ballroom - Annapolis, Maryland
9 - Municipal Auditorium - Norfolk, Virginia
10 - Akron Armory - Akron, Ohio
11 - Cincinnati Gardens - Cincinnati, Ohio
12 - Veteran's Memorial Arena - Columbus, Ohio
13 - Sports Arena - Hershey, Pennsylvania
14 - Maple Leaf Gardens - Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
15 - Forum - Montreal, Quebec (Canada)
16 - Onondaga Memorial Auditorium - Rochester, New York
17 - War Memorial Auditorium - Rochester, New York
18 - Coliseum - Baltimore, Maryland
19 - Memorial Auditorium - Raleigh, North Carolina
20 - Memorial Coliseum - Winston Salem, North Carolina
21 - Coliseum - Charlotte, North Carolina
22 - Municipal Auditorium - Atlanta, Georgia
28 - Municipal Auditorium - Tulsa, Oklahoma
29 - Municipal Auditorium - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
30 - City Auditorium - Wichita Falls, Texas

Here is the ad for the Clay Cole-Murray the K show at the Paramount
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/ClayCole.jpg

http://www.russellmojo.com/images/The_Duke_at_the_Brooklyn_Paramount.jpg

A painting of the Paramount

Here is some history that many people may not be familiar with. The Paramount Theater was one of the targets of George Metesky aka "The Mad Bomber".

"He planted more than 30 pipe bombs which would be found in phone booths, public libraries, transit stations, and movie theaters. His special method with movie theaters was to slit a seat, tuck in the bomb, and leave by an emergency exit.

On December 2, 1956, the Mad Bomber carried out the act that would galvanize the police into effective action at last. For an evening movie, the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn was filled with holiday shoppers taking a break. It was almost 8PM, when the explosion ripped through the theater. Six people were injured, three of them seriously.

George Metesky, a former Consolidated Edison worker was judged acutely paranoid and committed to an insane asylum, where Dr. Brussel visited him occasionally until the Mad Bomber’s release in 1974. Metesky returned to his home in Waterbury, Connecticut and lived to the ripe old age of 90, dying in 1994".

Beauty & The Beast in 1959: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/129-2922_IMG.jpg

He was/is a beauty!

Here is a great ad from when "The Ten Commandments" played exclusive in Brooklyn here.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/fa3baa55.jpg

The C/O for this building is dated October 9, 1929. It is listed as a new building. The owner was Allied Owners Corp. The architect was Rapp and Rapp which you already knew. The old address was 47-67 Debevoise Pl. The seat count is listed as 1983-orchestra, 411-mezzanine, 1730-balcony for a total of 4124 seats.

Lostmemory, please check your sources to see if Allied Owners Corp. is also credited for the Valencia Theatre in Jamaica, Queens, NY. I think that Allied was a holding company co-owned by Paramout-Publix, Loew's Inc., and perhaps others. Allied declared bankruptcy circa 1934-35, at which time its theatre holdings were sold off individually and purchased by the circuits that were running them at the time.

Of all the documents I have looked at so far, the Valencia is the most illegible. Have you ever seen a paper that was written on with ink and someone spilled water on it? Thats what the 1929 document looks like. If I had to guess at the date, I would say August 30, 1929. Total seating given as 3564. The legible portion of the owners name reads, first word is "All" the second word is "ners" and the last word is "Corp". I believe the owner was Allied Owners Corp. On the same line under owners name after Allied Owners Corp is a comma and the name Henry A. Mark. Thats what it looks like to me anyway. I wish I could be 100% accurate with this info Warren, but this is the best that I can do with the documents that I'm working with.

Warren....I found a 1929 C/O for the Loew's Kings theater. It also lists the Allied Owners Corp as the property owner.

Yes, that would figure, as Allied Owners Corp. included some of the theatres that are known today as the "Loew's Wonder Theatres." This project of large palaces was started by Paramount, but taken over by Loew's while the first two theatres, the Brooklyn Paramount and the Jamaica Valencia were under construction. Paramount apparently became a "silent partner" in Allied Owners, or at least until the company was declared bankrupt in the Depression and the theatres were sold off individually to those who were running them at the time...The C/O date for the Valencia is again a bit after the fact, as the theatre opened on January 12, 1929. However, it would be about right for the Kings, which opened in September. I'm curious to know what similar info is given for the Bronx Paradise and the Loew's Jersey City, which were also part of the original Paramount project. Is this stuff accessible on the Internet, or does one have to visit municipal archives to find it?

July 4th of 1961 the Murray the K show played here with Jackie Wilson headlining, plus 15 other acts. On the screen was "Posse From hell"
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/wildincountry.jpg

L.I.U. should consider starting a project to restore the auditorium of the Brooklyn Paramount. As a university, it would be doing Brooklyn and future generations a great cultural service. It was a stunning theatre, and the organ has a beautiful sound.

They would have to find a new place for their basketball team to practice and play in order to follow through on your recommendation, ERD, but I would love to see it happen. It is a beautiful space right now, when one shuts out of one's mind the architectural detailing that was lost at court level. To see the entire room restored would be miraculous. I don't think much, if anything, survives of the lobby. Is the mezzanine intact?

If L.I.U. restored the auditorium, it would be part of developing an excellent music & theatre department. It would make the university stand out. I am sure they have many gifted people who could write grants. An area for a gym could be found close to the campus.

L.I.U Basketball has already found a new home. They've built a new facility not too far from the Paramount. Bring on the restoration!

R.H.... Any idea what the plans are for the Paramount auditorium? This might actually be an exciting bit of news, although I'm nervous that this could easily go the other way and spell a complete gutting of what's left of the old theater.

EdSolero-I don't know what LIU's plans are, but I'll let you know if I hear or read anything.

EdSolero, ERD and R.H - I suspect that the cost of any significant restoration of that magnificent auditorium at this point would be so huge that nobody would want to touch it. I was a member of the New York Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society and was on the organ crew from 1969-71 while I attended Pratt Institute about 15 blocks or so away down DeKalb Avenue.

At that point the original conversion was less than 5 years old. Basically what they had done was to extend a new basketball court floor into the theatre at the level of the original stage until it met the upward slope of the auditorium floor at a point behind the lip of the balcony. From that point to the back wall the room was essentially left untouched on the main floor and the loge (mezzanine), including all the seats and lighting. I remember all of the side pillars separating the side aisles from the seats had curved fronts on the auditorium side that were what appeared to be frosted glass held in by gilded lattice frames. Each of these used to be filled with coloured lamps and was hinged to open so the bulbs could be changed. They were part of the "Wilfred Color Organ" that dazzled the patrons by changing the auditorium's colour during the shows. The fromt of the balcony and mezzanine were also faced with color-organ lighting, and it was all still there.

From that point forward the walls were torn out from the new floor level to about 10 feet up, along with the choral staircases and ornamental pillars in front of the organ drapes, and replaced with plain facing and padding. The basketball court was set side-to-side with the boards and hoops in the organ arches. The proscenium grand drapery was gone and the stage house had been filled in with offices and classrooms. What had been the stage was stripped bare and filled with retractable bleachers. Classrooms also filled in the top third of the balcony, faced with a cinderblock wall from the balcony floor up to the ceiling. (I was never in those rooms, but I assume the projection booth and all the ornamental walls and ceilings were taken out for this.) The remainder of the balcony, its walls and ceiling were intact but had been stripped of all the loose decoration. Ben Hall told me that the lighting fixtures for the colour organ were all still there but all the bulbs had been removed and, of course, the original board was gone, too. I had never seen it when it was operating as a theatre but it looked as if the original parts of the room still had their original finishes and that the new walls had been finished to roughly match the mottled gold colour. I also remember that at some point in that time all of the remaining original ornamental lighting sconces were removed and replaced with less fragile fixtures.

The original orchestra lift was at that point still intact (they had simply built the new floor out over it), as were the blower room and some other spaces in the basement, but understage was completely modernized. The organ console was on its original lift and a plug had been fitted into the new floor that could be removed so the console could be raised. At its top level, originally stage level, the top of the 6-inch ornamental lip on the lift was just level with the floor so you had to step down into it.

I have not set foot in the place since then, but people who have been there over the years have related sad tales of major structural alterations, and some recent pictures I have seen seem to bear this out. It appears that the entire mezzanine has been torn out to the walls, as has the front third of the balcony, although it looks like the side pillars remain. I may be wrong about this next part, but it looks like the floor has been raised a bit, too. It's still a magnificent space, and the Wurlitzer sounds even better with the extra flat walls to reflect its might, but to restore it to anything even close to wnat it was would be a VERY expensive undertaking, I think.

Geoffrey... Thanks for all that detail. I wish my memory were half as good!!! I need to get down there and take a look around. Last time I was there (many moons ago), I was so impressed with the ceiling and the proscenium arch and that the balcony was still there, I didn't really take time to look closely at the alterations. What a shame there couldn't have been more of an effort to preserve the interior while installing the courts, but I suppose the University could have just as easily gutted the entire space and installed a conventional gymnasium and all would have been lost.

So... I guess that means that whatever remains might be ripped out now that a new gymnasium has been built. I wonder if there are plans to somehow move the organ to the new facitlity of will it be sold off to restored theater in the mid-west?

I don't think that we should jump to the conclusion that the university was being magnanimous in "preserving" any part of the theatre. I am sure that to them it is and always was a strictly dollars and cents issue: this is a large space that we can buy for much less than building a new facility in 1961, and they determined to remove/rework any area and ornament that might interfere with their use of the space for their purposes, and not to remove anything more simply because such unneeded work would have cost them more. Why remove such as the great grilled ceiling when no basketball or student could reach it? After that, it was at best a case of benign neglect. For these reasons, I highly doubt that they will move the organ to the new building, and if a bid comes along to sell it, I am sure that that is what they will do. They are there to make a profit, not to preserve theatres and organs.

Excellent point well taken, Jim, however depressing a dose of reality it might be. The TV ads for LIU from the last couple of years contain a wonderful (albeit brief) shot taken from the floor looking straight up at a player attempting to dunk a shot in the basket against the background of that magnificent grilled ceiling. I'll have to see if I can get in there with my camera one of these weekends. Are they still playing games there? I tried recently to get in one Saturday, but the gym was closed. The security guy told me that the team would be practicing that Monday and I might be able to get in, but of course I had to be at work.

I agree with Jim, but what a shame that profit should be the major priority of a university. With foresight, intelligence and creative minds the Paramount might have been incorporated into the university in a different way. Other universities have done it. At one time L.I.U. got major donations. Perhaps they could have worked out some plan then.

While I agree with Jim Rankin's comments in general, I must say that my recollection from my days there and from speaking to people connected with the organ in the years since is that the University has always been very supportive of the organ. The New York Chapter of ATOS looked after the organ for decades (see the link posted above by LostMemories on Sept.7, 2004) and, as far as I know, still does. While I wouldn't go so far as to say that profit is LIU's priority, I can understand their need to be accountable for funds spent and the re-fit appeared to be exactly as Jim suggests - as much alteration as was necessary and no more.

I recall that during my time there, any time the crew wanted to work on the organ with the console up, all we had to do was call the University contact and they would have the plug removed for us - as long as we didn't conflict with any scheduled use of the gym. (Because the University was a union venue, we were not allowed to remove the plug ourselves. And the console was always brought up to floor level by the same crew, lest some wayward gymnast plummet into the basement.) I recall many evenings and weekends leading up to the 1970 ATOS Convention when I was busy redecorating the console and the crew was up working in the chambers, and there would be a basketball practice or gymnastic workouts going on at the same time. The Chapter was also allowed to hold concerts there on a fairly regular basis.

A comment posted above by PeterApruzzese on Feb 7, 2005 tells of plans to rebuild the organ after extensive water damage. Does anyone know what has happened in the intervening nine months?

I think if you read the Cinema Treasures Book they may have moved the organ to another theater outside the state.

However, while I don't remember the Paramount, I know the effect it had on Brooklyn, especially in Popular music (Thanx Mister Freed), and I think it may be worthwile to get a grass roots effort started to rebuild it. I will take on the idea of rebuilding in any theater from Staten Island to Montauk.

This is a 1962 photo of the Brooklyn Paramount.

Newspaper article with photos

And here are some present day photos of the building

What a shame. If you click on the article link, you'll see in the 3rd photo how much of the original theater remained when the orchestra was first converted to the hardwood court. Sadly, the present day photos reveal how much as been stripped from the room. I wonder what they'll do with the space now? Will it be completely gutted and converted to office/classroom space?

Let's not be crybabies! Someone on this page should be able to something

Clay Cole. The Brooklyn Paramount did host THE CLAY COLE CHRISTMAS SHOW WITH MURRAY THE K in 1960, produced by SID BERNSTEIN.
I am writing the book about THE CLAY COLE SHOW - with lots of stories about Brooklyn Paramount - anyone have photos, memories, gossip, trivia, stories, I'd love to hear them. Did I meet you? Even better. You send send any reminisces to TheClayColeShow@yahoo.com
Thanks - and MERRY CHRISTMAS 2005, Clay Cole

"Psycho" with a featurette called "Carnival in Quebec"\
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/Symphony.jpg

Fascinating. I completely missed this development. I went through the building in the 90's. Looked to me like the lobby was mostly intact. The removed balcony section could be replaced. When the Sioux City Orpheum was un-twinned they had to replace the front balcony section. I imagine the stage would probably be expanded and re-fitted in a restoration anyway. So loss of the old one not a big deal in my book. Decoration lost around the b-ball court could be recast. Plenty of movie palaces in the process of being restored over the last thirty years have replaced decoration destroyed by water damage or remodeling. I got the impression that those classrooms in the balcony were basically perched up there within the auditorium shell with access from some old passageway. So my guess is that the back of the house hasn't been destroyed. But I didn't go up to verify. All of that is to say that restoration doesn't appear to be a ridiculous notion. The biggest obstacle in my book, at least given the the impression I have of the structural issues, is finding a viable use for the restored auditorium. Does LIU need 4,000 seats for it's preforming arts functions? I don't know the answer to that question. There was certainly a large arts complex were I went to school: U. of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. But I don't know how LIU's siuation compares.

Does anyone know if there are any real plans for this theater? There is a lot of cultural development going on just a few blocks away centered on the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Majestic theater and Mark Morris Dance Theater studios. A new library is also scheduled for construction. Could this be included as part of that district?

The theatre and surrounding massive office building are still owned by Long Island University, so one would have to consult them as to the future of the former theatre space, which, one must remember, it has not been since 1961. So don't expect anyone there to remember it as the Brooklyn Paramount. It is still to them their old gymnasium/classroom space. I suggest a New Yorker approach them in writing to get a preferably written response; but don't hold your breath waiting for a response, since they are a private business that is NOT responsible to you. No one can demand that they respond, or do this or that with their own property. Gentle, respectful inquiries and encouragement to preserve what is left of the theatre are the best that any outsiders can do.

I'm currently working on researching the brooklyn Paramount for a Professor who is writting a book on the theater. if anyone has any relevant information, photos, memorabilia, etc., please e-mail me.
Thanks,
Jerk615@aol.com

The best repository of information is the Theatre Historical Society in the Chicago area; contact their Ex. Dir. via the E-mail address given on their site at: www.historictheatres.org Look on the page there: Archive for details.

Of course you will already have contacted Long Island Univresity, the owner of the former theatre for what they have, but a historic source you may not be aware of is the well illustrated magazine article "Theatre Lighting, Its Tragedies, Its Virtues -- The Brooklyn Paramount" by Frank Cambria in The Illuminating Engineering Society's journal TRANSACTIONS of Nov., 1929 (24:810--907) to be found in larger libraries or the Library of Congress.

Please keep bus up to date on the progress of the book, which I am sure many of us will buy.

Thanks for the response Jim, I will let you all know how the book is coming.
-Scott

It's interesting to note that this theatre is now a gym and that the Wurlitzer is still being used. I can't imagine how it must look so if anyone can tell us, please do.

Patsy... if you scroll up a ways there are some images of the current gymnasium configuration posted here (or linked via other websites). Check out SNWEB's post of Nov 28th 2005 for two links with some interesting photos from immediately after the conversion as well as the present day. You'll see how with each passing year, more and more of the ornamentation and theatrical features were stripped away. A good deal of the upper walls and ceiling grill and plaster work still remain, but the school's basketball team has moved on to new facilities, leaving the future of the space currently up in the air.

Ed: Those photos with the 11/28/05 post were amazing to look at and thanks for bringing them to my attention. Can you tell me anything about the Wurlitzer and how it played into the games? And if the last game was recently played in that space what will happen to the former Paramount Theatre AND Wurlitzer? I can't imagine going to a game and not looking around to see what once was, but I'm sure there were many who didn't really give it much thought as they were there to see a basketball game and their team win!

But to turn a Rapp and Rapp theatre into a gym is really going over the line, imo. C.W. and George L. would certainly be surprised if they were here to today to see what had become of their theatre!

Ed: Can you direct me to any old photos of the Paramount interior...lobby, proscenium, balcony, etc. as it looked when it was a theatre and NOT a gym?

I went to www.liu.edu site and tried to find photos of the gym/theatre, but couldn't though I did find that the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University on the north shore was the former Post estate!

"For the true movie palace buff it is difficult, even today, to refer to the Brooklyn Paramount as the basketball court of Long Island University. There s still enough of the original grandeur visible to see why audiences in 1928 considered it the most beautiful motion picture theatre in the world. It opened on November 23,1928, with Nancy Carroll in Manhattan Cocktail as "Paramount-Publix's Gift to Brooklyn" and closed its doors to movie-goers on August 21, 1962, with John Wayne in Hatari. The Brooklyn Paramount was the capstone in the career of the noted architects, Rapp & Rapp, and for sheer opulence it outshone anything they ever designed. The great latticed ceiling and arches along the side walls were originally festooned with artificial foliage; the arches concealed the lights of the Wilfred Color Organ, a lighting system that subtly changed the color of the whole theatre to suit the mood of the moment. Chorus girls pranced down the golden staircases from the organ grilles to the stage. The 4,500 seats (making it the second largest theatre in New York when it opened) were upholstered in random tones that ranged from plum to scarlet. Below the stupendous grand drapery of the proscenium arch hung a midnight-blue velvet curtain embroidered with pheasants in polychrome satin." This really says it all in regards to this former theatre that, imo, should have stayed a theatre!

"The Brooklyn Paramount was the capstone in the career of the noted architects, Rapp & Rapp, and for sheer opulence it outshone anything they ever designed." This sentence warrants repeating so thus this post in regards to the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre.

I hope LIU considers restoring the Paramount to it's former glory now that they will not be having basketball in there. I had been in the building a couple of times and even in it's current status it is still a grand place.
And Wow looking back in the posts and seeing Clay Coles name. I know i was only 8 in 1964 but I do remember his TV show. :)

Patsy... I can't recall seeing any good photos of the theater's interior at all. However, here is a link that was posted last year with a photo and some info about the organ:

http://www.nytos.org/LIU.htm

Patsy puts quotation marks around the wonderful description but forgot to list the source! You know: Speaker, Title, Date, etc. Come on Patsy; I know you can do it. Any more of the description that can be copied?

As to views of the original interior, do look up the article I listed above where there are 4 views in b&w, of course, one of which is not seen elsewhere. That elsewhere includes the Theatre Historical Society's MARQUEE magazine of 3rd Qtr. 1998 (Vol 30 #3) wherein there are 11 photos (including a gorgeous two-page spread) as well as the cover, all vintage b&w. This can be obtained for a few dollars under the BACK ISSUES link on their site: www.historictheatres.org They also have color snap shots of the interior pre- and post gymnasium conversion, not published. All these can be made for you as photo prints for a fee; see their link there: ARCHIVE. Send them a photocopy of the view you want from the magazines and the appropriate fees as listed on their ARCHIVE page, and in a few weeks you will have a photo print worthy of framing. I know; I have an 8x10 of that glorious proscenium! I sometimes use a magnifier and put it and the photo close to my nose and then slowly back it away, and the sensation is as though one is right in the room. Of course, once you get a photo, nothing prevents you from blowing it up to mural size if you really want to be able to 'walk into' it!

Patsy: Ed Solero's post above mine came in while mine was being written, so now I know where you got the quote from: that organ page. Let us all hope that the organ --and what remains of the theatre-- survives this transition to new use or new ownership! Any 'angels' out there who care to fund a multi-million dollar restoration?!!!!

While I'm on the subject of one of my very favorite theatres, the B.P., let me excerpt a small portion of a MARQUEE article on the business practices of the B.P. which did NOT deal with business:

"In the lower lounge the architects had planned the installation of a huge fish tank to be stocked with exotic fish. There were large colored spotlights on both sides of the tank, red, blue, and amber, .... The tank was approximately ten feet in height and fifteen feet in width.... On the night before the opening of the theatre the workmen began filling the tank with water, slowly.... The water had reached perhaps three quarters of the tank's capacity , representing thousands of gallons.... Suddenly there was a tremendous crash; the glass gave way and an enormous cascade of water came pouring into the lounge, engulfing everything, including us.

"Need I say that the lounge had been completely furnished with magnificent carpeting, furniture, artworks, bric-a-brac, etc. Bedlam reigned....

"We toiled all night [to clean up.] Everyone was exhausted. We could not remove the soaked carpet, but managed to bail out most of the water.... It tooks weeks to restore the lounge to its intended beautiful state, minus the fish tank. Architects make mistakes too." ---by Ben Rosenberg on page 26 of MARQUEE of 3rd Qtr. 1999 (Vol 31#3)

Let me speculate here that it was not the architects' fault at all. An architect is also an engineer and can easily calculate the strength of glass and framework needed for so much water, unless all details were up to a negligent contractor, as this would have legally been a 'furnishing' and thefore not part of an architect's contract. Likely what happened was that those lamps warmed the glass just as the workmen put in the hose from the nearest cold water spigot. Cold water on warm glass would have created so much thermal stress that failure of the glass was a forgone conclusion to any engineer, and no doubt none were present that night. Large aquariums were successful in many other theatres, so the concept was not at fault; the installation was. One wonders what replaced so large a furnishing.

"Breathtaking" is the only word to describe it:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bklynpara1.jpg

I remember the beautiful multi colored lights in the auditorium. Yes,
the Brooklyn Paramount was absolutely stunning. The lose of this and other movie palace masterpieces of architectural design is very sad as one retrospectively looks back. In reality, to restore this theatre would be staggering in price- most of the theatre would have to be reproduced since so much of the original interior is gone. Of course if someone thinks they can do it-more power to them!

The photo Warren links to is the one I spoke of in my post above. Looking at it there again, I couldn't help but wonder at the enormous job of replacing the light bulbs!! There must have been THOUSANDS of them in there!! This would have been one of those cases where by the time a man got done replacing bulbs at one end of the theatre, it was time to start again at the other!

Warren: That b/w photo was certainly breathtaking and to think it was made into a............gym? Unbelievable!

Hey Patsy look at it this way. At least they didn't demolish the place. Unlike the Kings that has suffered from weather beating and vandalism the BP is still in good shape. An effort should be spearheaded to restore this historic place and turn it in to a cultural center for live shows and concets and maybe even premier movie openings. A lot has been done over the last 10 years to rebuild the area so why not include the BP. Unlike the Kings the BP is in a major transportation hub of subway and bus lines as well as a short walk from the Atlantice Ave LIRR terminal.

Rocker: Great idea and I'd even make a trip to NYC to see it! If you are in the NYC area, have you seen this theatre/gym? The experience to see a basketball game with such surroundings would have been unique to say the least!

If I'm not mistaken, the wonderful historical descriptions of the organ and the theatre on the New York Theatre Organ Society web page (the ones that Patsy quotes and EdSolero links to above) were written by the late Ben Hall in 1970. I was an NYTOS member and a junior at Pratt Institute at the time and had the pleasure of working with Ben on the 1970 ATOS Convention souvenir booklet that he was putting together. He wrote similar pieces about each of the organs and theatres being used for the convention and asked me if I would design and produce the booklet and create illustrations of each of the consoles - he wanted to do something different from the usual photographs. It appears as if the NYTOS webmaster felt - rightly so IMHO - that Ben's words could not be improved upon. (In any case, they own the copyright on the booklet.)

I was also charged with redecorating the console of the Wurlitzer for the same convention (someone had sprayed the entire case with gold monochrome gold paint and the desire was to have it look something like it did up to the mid-sixties - a mottled glazed background with gilded ormolu). Talk about a learning curve!

In my post of November 9, 2004, I describe what the theatre looked like in those days. The sound of that instrument in the room was breathtaking. The University wanted the organ used during the basketball games and back then my friend Jim Leaffe played most of them. He was a classical organ student with a love for the theatre organ and had a unique modern jazz style. The fact that he was the same age as the students and was playing hits of the day made him very popular. He was very proud of the fact that he was the only member of the Seneca tribe to become a theatre organist! He even recorded the instrument, an amazing album called "Blue Heron". Look for it on eBay.

I remember a number of NYTOS-sponsored concerts on the organ, which was restored and taken care of by an all-volunteer crew led by Bob Walker. Over the years, Bob gave the instrument the TLC and fastidious attention it deserved. Without his dedication I doubt that the instrument would have been kept in as excellent condition as it was.

One of the most touching moments occurred during Don Baker's homecoming concert in February (I think) 1971. It was his first time playing the organ since he had been on staff shortly after it had opened. The concert was the first NYTOS event since Ben Hall's murder the previous December, and we asked Don if he would play a tribute to Ben, which he readily agreed to. The number we asked him to play was one of Ben's favourites, the theme from the "Little Orphan Annie" radio program. Trouble was, Don didn't know it! I stood beside him just before the concert and whistled the melody to him, twice, as he memorized it with his eyes closed. About five selections into the concert he explained the tribute and then played the most beautifully subdued, almost reverent, arrangement of what is really a pretty bouncy tune. There wasn't a dry eye in the place by the time he finished. That one is on record, too, on a Don Baker album called "Homecoming", which features excerpts of this concert.

Hi Patsy, The last time I was at the BP/LIU was almost 10 years ago. The first time I was in the building was back in the mid to late 70's. When I walked in the doors it still looked like I was walking in to a theatre. I looked in the main orchestra area and was surprised that it was the athiletic center for LIU. I had thought they still used the theatre for production. From what I could see at that time the suspended cieling was still there. The walls were almost untouched. The stage looked like it had been gutted out and I did not see any type of fly rigging above the stage. It looked very bare. When I took a walk to the back of the house and up a grand stair way I walked up to where the balcony seats used to be and the area was sectioned off and they turned it in to class rooms. As I was saying in the previous post the last time i was in there it was in good enough shape that it could be renovated and restored to it's former glory. To bad that Con Ed bought out the o;d Brooklyn Fox. I never got to see the inside but from what I recall as a kid passing by it was huge on the out side then poof it was just a hole in the ground.

Geoffrey... I had no idea that Ben Hall had been murdered in 1970. I had to look it up on the internet to double check! Not to doubt the veracity of your comments, but, very recently I had posted some images from a Radio City Music Hall souvenir booklet on the RCMH page from 1978 and that booklet has an introduction about the Hall that was written by Ben Hall! Obviously it was written before his death, but the publishers of the booklet must have updated some of the comments without providing any disclosure of their alterations. In one passage Hall seemingly talks about the great showplace having survived "into the 1970's" and refers to it still being in operations "more than forty years" after its 1932 opening!

Unless, of course, the editors of the magazine had channelled Hall from beyond the grave!

Ed - Judging from the two copies in my collection (and many from previous years before Hall's version), it appears that the Music Hall updated their souvenir booklet every time there were major changes in personnel. Ben Hall originally wrote it in the mid-sixties, when the phrase you refer to was "more than thirty years". The bulk of the later versions (I know of at least two) used Ben's original text, with names changed and a paragraph altered or added here and there and many changes to the photos and captions, including new covers. The added writing does have a similar "turn of phrase" in a couple of spots, so they might well have been channeling him!

I'll never forget the last time I saw Ben, which was at the very first of Virgil Fox's "Heavy Organ" Bach and light shows at the Fillmore East in early December of that year. Every organist in town was there, it seemed - certainly the ones who appreciated a good show - and Virgil did not disappoint. The place was sold out and the lines stretched around the block. His spotlit rhinestone-studded heels were the hit of the performance! Ben and I had a few brief words on the way to our respective seats in different parts of the balcony and arranged to get together in early January to discuss a revised version of "The Best Remaining Seats" that his publisher had apparently asked him to work on for its tenth anniversary in 1971. He wanted to talk to me about designing and producing it, and start going through his files with him to select photos from the thousands he had accumulated since the book first came out. As you can imagine, this was pretty heady stuff to a 20-year-old graphic design student with a love of theatre organs and movie palaces! Alas, two weeks later he was gone and that was that. I got "the call" the day before I left to go home for Christmas - those were NOT happy holidays that year!

If this has been reported before, please forgive me. I don't have time to read all of the previous posts to find out...In 1960, Sid Bernstein presented an Easter Week stage show at the BP that ran for 10 days starting on April 15th. Dinah Washington and Brook Benton topped the bill, which also included Maynard Ferguson & His Band, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet, comedian Leo DeLyon, Dion & the Belmonts, and the Cha Cha Tap Dancers. Radio's William B. Williams served as emcee. The screen attraction was Paramount's Technicolored "Heller With A Gun," starring Sophia Loren, Anthony Quinn, and Steve Forrest.

Wasn't that film called "Heller in Pink Tights"? Unless there were alternate titles. The film was directed by the great George Cuckor, though this was certainly one of his lesser efforts, and featured former child star Margaret O'Brien ("Meet Me in St. Louis") all grown up.

Yes, Ed, you're correct. The movie was based on a novel by Louis L'Amour entitled "Heller With a Gun." But prior to release, producer Carlo Ponti, who just happened to be Loren's husband, insisted on changing the title to suit her character. In the novel, the title character was the one played in the movie by Steve Forrest. The property had been on Paramount's shelf for years, and was originally intended for Alan Ladd.

This grainy newspaper image gives a rare view of a lecture hall that retained a portion of the right wall of the balcony:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/paralecture.jpg

Yes Warren that is exactly what i saw when i went snooping around that day. I really do hope the LIU considers restoring the theatre.

I was surprised to discover that LIU bought the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre & Office Building in August, 1950, a full twelve years before the theatre finally closed. The purchase price was not disclosed, but the property's assessed value at the time was $2.78 million. LIU decided to first concentrate on converting the eleven-story office building to academic use, and granted a ten-year lease to Paramount Theatre Corporation to continue operating the theatre. In 1960, the lease was extended year-by-year until 1962, when LIU finally came up with a plan and financial funding to utilize the space. The last film shown was "Hatari," which ended at 11:55 PM, on Tuesday, August 21, 1962. There were about 300 patrons in the 4,144-seat theatre, according to a report in the NYT.

Here is a NY Times story from the day before the theatre closed.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Theatres/e7adb7e7.jpg

The article cites the Paramount's 4144 seating capacity as being "second only to Radio City" in NYC. What about the Loew's Capitol on Broadway? Had they already curtained off large chunks of seating for the Capitol's conversion to Cinerama by the summer of 1962?

The Capitol's seating capacity had been substantially reduced by 1962 for Cinerama. I don't know the exact number, but I doubt that it had more than 2,000 seats. More seats existed behind draperies, but they were never used. But we all know that the Capitol was originally much larger than the Brooklyn Parmaount, by more than 1,000 seats.

Thanks Warren. I thought so, but I wasn't sure if that retrofit had been complete by summer '62. I suppose any further discussion of this fact should continue on the Capitol's page, but it's incredible that more than half of the Capitol's original seating was concealed behind draperies.

The Capitol had been reduced in seating capacity several times after its 1919 opening and prior to the MacNamara modernization, so I don't think that thousands of seats were draped off by the end. The 1957 FDYB, which was the last of that series of annuals to list seating capacities, says 4,448, but I'm not sure that's correct as FDYB was notorious for not always updating its listings. You might find more accurate figures by checking weekly Variety's boxoffice reports for the Capitol for that period in time. Variety always listed the theatre's seating capacity along with the grosses.

A story from the day after the closing
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Theatres/LastCurtain.jpg

Another shot
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Theatres/ParamountTheatreBrooklyn.jpg

Nice one. What a roof sign!

What a theater! What a building!

Located on the downtown side of Fort Greene Park (and Brooklyn Hospital where I made my own earthly debut way too many years ago), the Brooklyn Paramount on that corner, across Flatbush Ave. Extension and Junior's Restaurant with its sinful luscious cheese cake), was a landmark. Still is.

The Brooklyn Paramount was also the site, I believe, of a number of Alan Freed Rock 'n' Roll shows at Easter and Christmas. (Freed, one of the best deejays Cleveland ever sent us, was convicted in '60 by a Senate sub-committee for payola practices - which were standard practice in the industry at that time! - and fired from his nighttime spot at WINS radio. He died penniless in Florida in '65. Meanwhile, his stage shows were taken over by Murray the K Kaufmann, also the self-proclaimed "5th Beatle," now also deceased.)

Recall seeing "The Blob" there in 1958. There was even a 45 of the title tune released by the 5 Blobs on Columbia. Don't remember ever hearing it on 1010 WINS, but I still have a mint DJ copy of it!

I was there on Sunday and I spent about two hours wandering around inside and out. I had dinner at Junior's across the street then wandered over.

1. The first thing on the exterior you notice is that the fire escapes are all removed. Then you can see the stagehouse it was small, but had flyspace. On the inside you can see the stage was not that deep I'd say about 20 feet! I find this really surprising, so it must have been built mainly for movies.

2. The original plasterwork, procenuim, and ceilings are all still there, and in remarkable condition.

3. LIU has removed the mezzanine, most of the balcony seating, and has retained the lobby as a restaurant.

4. They have tried to utilize as much of the space as possible. The mezzanine level doors to the old boxes are now small offices. The stagehouse flyspace area has been floored in and that space used up. The stage entrance and associated rooms are now the LIU securuty department.

5. The balcony has been walled into the existing space and converted to classrooms retaining some of the the original upper balcony seating area.

6. The stairways to the upper areas of the theatre have been removed and the connected office building is now used to get upstairs.

7. The lobby is in great shape, and the grand staircase to the mezzanine is still there.

The space is remarkable, but I think it is very unlikely it will ever be restored. The stage is too tiny for todays use, and the abutting buildings seem to prevent any expansion.

I then drove up Flatbush to look at the Kings, how depressing!

Perhaps the back wall of the stage was moved forward when the college converted some of the space into a basketball court. I would imagine that the original stage was deeper than twenty feet. Many elaborate stage shows were presented there in the early years, some of them transfers from the NY Paramount...With the exterior fire escapes removed, I doubt that the BP could be turned into a performing arts center that was a full "restoration" of the original. How would people be able to exit the upstairs seating in case of emergency? I suppose the management could sell tickets only for the orchestra, and keep the upstairs closed, but that would severely limit the grossing potential. I suppose also that new exterior fire escapes could be built, but at what cost, and would they be able to conform to current laws about such things?

Just looking at the photo Warren posted in Feb of this year. Looks like the Brooklyn Paramount along with the Chi Paradise were the two most beautiful movie palaces ever built in the US. From the black and white photos I've seen of them to have actually been in them in their glory days almost seems like too much.

I still have hope.

Here's a color shot of the marquee c.1948 featuring "The Paleface," starring Bob Hope and Jane Russell:

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46008

That is a great one! I just wish the rail car was not in the way.

I'm posting nice movie material that are also mostly for sale.
http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n94/irajoel/

you can also view my entire inventory at
www.cinemagebooks.com
I have over 5,000 items including many books in non-film such as
gay and lesbian, African American, posters, graphic design, fiction, poetry and much more.
posted by ij on Jul 23, 2006 at 1:52pm

The above post is by "Irajoel" who is just polluting this theatre's page as he has many others here. It is a pity that he cares nothing for the theatres but only for his own profit. Others speaking here have some nobility of purpose, but not such huckstrers! To patronize such greedy and brazen merchants is to do a DISservice to us all. If only there were a way to block such spammers!

Just a wild thought: is "Cinema Treasures" a fancy acronym for "eBay?"

Nah. Didn't think so.

I'm not buying anything from ij's collection, but I thought there were several interesting items that I enjoyed looking at.

Ij has some items that are certainly appropriate to share on the individual theater pages - including some vintage photos of the Times Square area that he's posted on a few pages. However, as far as hawking his wares, he should definitely restrain from posting on each theater page and add a link to his site using the feature provided by CT for that very purpose.

See the destruction of the temple on the giant Magnascope Screen!(April, 1950):
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bp4650.jpg

In August, 1947, Bill Floyd performed at "the mighty Organ" every day, at all shows!:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bporgan.jpg

Porgy & Bess in 1959
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/PorgyBessatParamount.jpg

RobertR... that ad is for the B'klyn Fox, not the Paramount.

Damn thanks :)

Hello:

I wanted to let everyone know that the Brooklyn Paramount Organ has been repaired and will be played on Saturday, October 28th. There will be a mini-concert by myself, a brief meeting of the New York Theatre Organ Society (NYTOS) and then Open Console.

I know many of you are aware that this organ suffered major damages as a result of the roof collapsing in on two of the chambers, but I am glad to see that the repairs have been made and that the organ is sounding once again. Please check the NYTOS website (www.nytos.org) for more information regarding the activity on October 28th.

-Michael


Michael Xavier Lundy, House Organist
St. George Theatre - Staten Island, NY

Thanks for posting the information, Michael. I shall endeavor to be there! I don't know if I've heard a theater organ played in person since Radio City Music Hall stopped its original program of films and stage shows in the late '70's!

Pretty cool. Glad to know that someone is looking after the organ while the future of the building is debated.

I can't play but would consider it a thrill to hit one key and hear a note echo through the auditorium. I wonder if the alterations to the auditorium over the years (like the classrooms in the balcony) have diminished the sound of the organ at all. Seems like they should fundamentally alter the acoustics.

I haven spoken with the Provost of the Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus about that, and I believe other people have at least thrown the idea of some kind of theatre restoration for the old Paramount out on the the table. It seems that there really is no interest on the university's side to restore the facility back into an actual theatre. Now, I have to toss this out to the list. The Paramount Theatre was converted into a gymnasium/athletic center and re-named "Schwartz Athletic Center."

There is now a brand new athletic center complete with gymnasium and swimming pool around the corner from the building that the Parmount is in that was built for that campus. Also, another theatre, the Krumble Theatre for the Performing Arts was built. Kind of ironic...


Michael Xavier Lundy, House Organist
St. Geroge Theatre, Staten Island, New York

Today marks the 78th anniversary of the grand opening of the Brooklyn Paramount. The first booking was Paramount's "Manhattan Cocktail" and a spectacular stage revue, "Stars," produced by the legendary John Murray Anderson. Here are two newspaper ads:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/paraking.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/paratail.jpg

I neglected to mention that "Manhattan Cocktail" also opened on the same day (November 24th, 1928) at the Paramount Theatre in Times Square, New York City. The Manhattan flagship, of course, had a different stage presentation, in this case Boris Petroff's Publix revue, "Miniatures of 1929," with Singer's Midgets as headliners.

A friend of mine who lives on Long Island brought this theatre to my attention, again and I've been trying to find interior photos that I recall seeing of the gym which also showed the proscenium overhead, but I can't find them now. If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it.

SNWEB: Would love to revisit the photos posted on Nov. 28, '05.

MichaelAnthony: Your post of Nov. 29, 04 was most interesting to read and I hope you can tell us more about your visit!

After reading the many posts about this theatre turned gym I would like to think that this gym will now be returned to the grand theatre that it once was. Can anyone give us some updated information about this 'hopeful' idea?

http://www.saengeramusements.com/music/rosario/rosario.htm

This is a wonderful link to Rosa Rio who used to play the organ at the Brooklyn Paramount and the link says that she lives in FL and plays the organ at the Tampa Theatre now. Also, this Sunday Jan. 7th is the 80th anniversary open house for the Tampa Theatre. If anyone is near Tampa, they should most definitely GO! I went to the 75th anniversary at the Fox in Atlanta and it was a very memorable day!

I hope it will too Patsy. But it will be a long road back if it does. Not an impossible road, but certainly a long one.

Some recent photos of the Bkln Paramount:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettyblade/235617391/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettyblade/235617389/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettyblade/235617387/in/photostream/

dave-bronx: Thank you thank you thank you as I just knew that some CT member would have photos to share with us! The first one almost took my breathe away when I could finally see the theatre part high above the gym part. I hope and pray that returning this space back to the beautiful theatre it once was....is DO-ABLE! Thank you again for the photos!!!

The second photo shows a group of people standing on the gym floor. I wonder if they are there for a basketball game or to see the "theatre"? If I had ever gone to a game in that GYM, I would have had to tape my mouth shut for I would have been very vocal about what L.I.U did and not be so much concerned about the outcome of any game going on!

You're welcome, Patsy; however they are not my photos, I was speeding around the web and found them.

Well, I'm glad you found them as I tried to locate these photos on the web and had no luck...guess I didn't know where to look! If you find others that show this theatre within the gym, please post them.

Big news !!!! The universiy quitely has meet on 2 occasions with Hugh Hardey, the world reknowned theatrical architect who restored the Radio City Music Hall. The university is considering the restoration of the theater in conjunction with the installation as part of and intergral to the project a world class student center which it desparetly needs. Hugh Hardey is confident this can be done while not hurting the integrity of the theater itself. The univerrsity will soon be seeking out initial seed money to fund the architect for schematic drawings, so they may then have the tools by which to seek out the larger donations for a project of this magnitude. Understand this project can and will not move forward without the student center incorporated into it. But know it will move forward.
In the not to distant future,there should be more news along with university info for donations. Keep the faith !!!!!

Big news !!!! The universiy quitely has meet on 2 occasions with Hugh Hardey, the world reknowned theatrical architect who restored the Radio City Music Hall. The university is considering the restoration of the theater in conjunction with the installation as part of and intergral to the project a world class student center which it desparetly needs. Hugh Hardey is confident this can be done while not hurting the integrity of the theater itself. The univerrsity will soon be seeking out initial seed money to fund the architect for schematic drawings, so they may then have the tools by which to seek out the larger donations for a project of this magnitude. Understand this project can and will not move forward without the student center incorporated into it. But know it will move forward.
In the not to distant future,there should be more news along with university info for donations. Keep the faith !!!!!

As one of my favorite theatres in the past, it is wonderful to hear that the theatre may be restored! Hoping L.I.U. will follow through.
I am sure a student center could be incorporated into the design.

ERD: A student center would be nice, but returning it to a theatre again would be even nicer as so much of it is still there except for the seats, of course.

To all, the going at the university is getting tough and I cant suuggest stongly enough that letters be written in mass to the universlty provost Provost Gale Stevens Haynes, who is reluctant to use the space at the Paramount for anything but a student center. This would be a terrible blow to the theater,equally as bad as the gym. While the university definitly needs and has a legitimate need for a new studnet center, it is clear that both could well be incorporated into the exisiting building, not one or the other. So write, write, write !!!! let her know how we feel, and the support for the restoration and student center. All letters will help greatly to continue to butt her resistance

The word "reluctant" is an interesting choice as the university Provost should realize the importance of this former theatre that could be used by the university for performances. I plan to write Gale Stevens Haynes and do hope that other CT members will choose to do so also.

I think they just built a new performing arts facility unfortunately. I would certainly rather have the theatre serve as as a student center, along the same lines as the gym, than have it demolished.

Oh. My. God.
Brooklyn Paramount Rock 'n' Roll Reunion Concert scheduled for Sunday, April 1, 2007. Two shows: 2:30pm and 7:30pm. Tickets $40. to $100.
I can hardly believe it.
http://www.ticketweb.com/user?region=nyc&query=schedule&venue=parabklyn

This is good news as it shows that the powers to be at the college are thinking about turning this space back into a theatre and never again a GYMNASIUM!

I am not sure it is a sign of any current attitudes. They have done this jazz showcase before:

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/27/41/27_41jazzparamount.html

http://www.brooklyn.liunet.edu/CampusNews&Events/Jazz_conference.html

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=3976

This is a rock 'n' roll show hosted by Cousin Bruce Morrow, with about a dozen acts on the bill. I hope it's not a one-time thing like that jazz conference back in 2004.

They did one of these rock and roll shows there about 6-8 years ago.

WINS 1010 DJ Alan Freed held his R'n'R shows here in the late '50s. After being slammed hard in the Senate Sub-Committee Hearings on Payola and losing his job in 1960, successor Murray the K took over, sometimes alternating venues at the nearby Brooklyn Fox through 1963 or so (pre-Beatles era).

Will be neat to see some of those names up on a theater marquee again, including Cousin Brucie's (last heard doing a radio voiceover in "Brooklyn Lobsters" with Danny Aiello in '05).

The April Fool's Day concert is apparently just using the gymnasium/basketball space without any renovations. According to a full-page ad in yesterday's NY Daily News, all of the $40 tickets are for "bleacher seats." I wonder what sort of chairs are used for the higher-priced locations? At the afternoon performance, they sell for $50, $75 and $100, but in the evening, there are only higher-priced tickets at $50 and $100, suggesting that the same section selling for $75 in the afternoon is $25 more at night.

A gym would have bleacher seats, but to turn this space back into a theatre space the original or theatre like seats need to be purchased or brought back.

Here's a golden memory from Easter Week in April, 1955: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bkpara455.jpg
The remaining three of downtown's "Big Four" were presenting the following: Brooklyn Fox, "Battle Cry" and "Beauty and the Bull" (color short); Loew's Metropolitan, "Romeo and Juliet" (portrayed by Laurence Harvey & Susan Shentall), and "The Cowboy" (feature documentary in color); and RKO Albee, "Untamed" (Tyrone Power & Susan Hayward) and "The Stranger's Hand." To accommodate crowds expected for the film version of Leon Uris's best-seller, the Fox also opened its doors at 9:30 AM. I would guess that Loew's Met registered one of the lowest grosses in its history that week.

Alan Freed returned to the BP with another presentation for the holiday period including Labor Day (September 5, 1955). It was advertised as "his first anniversary Rock 'n Roll Show," which suggests that the very first one was held during the Labor Day period of September, 1954. The show advertised in The New York Times on September 3, 1955 credited Tony Bennett and a cast of 40. I'm not sure if Bennett performed throughout the run. There might have been a different headliner daily. The film attraction was "Foxfire," with Jane Russell and alleged cross-dresser Jeff Chandler.

This link has some information about the first anniversary Rock 'n Roll Show, which grossed $155,000 in one week according to Variety. A photo at that same link shows the movie titled "Foxfire" on the marquee.

Tony Bennett was supposed to perform for the run of the show but couldn't due to a problem with his throat. The Cash Box, September 1955:

"Al Hibbler then took the spotlight with “They Say You’re Laughing At Me” and “Unchained Melody” and was the first artist to be called back for an encore. He obliged and finished powerfully with his unique interpretation of “Danny Boy.” Hibbler, who is now being featured at Birdland, was
called in to sub for Tony Bennett who had to leave the show when he burst a blood vessel in his throat earlier in the week".

So is anyone planning on attending the show next month and perhaps take photos?
I for one would be more than just a little interested in hearing about it.
I am afraid the ads are deceiving, some may be expecting to see the movie palace in all it's original glory and may not know what the theatre looks like now. Sort of a cruel April Fools joke if you ask me. Lets hope the shows are a major hit, encouraging a restoration of the grand ole gal.

In answer to Vito, I've been there many times. I help take care of the pipe organ from time to time so I can tell you that the theatre is a gym. No seats with a wood basketball court floor and no stage. The walls have been covered over with drywall part way up. The rest of the walls and ceiling are still there. The first mezz. has been removed. The way the conversion was done you could still make a good theatre out of it but the flyspace above the stage will now be limited. I'd love to help them convert it back though. I do want to say that I hope the show does well because it's for charity but the sound (with all that wood and nothing to hold it back)
will be echoing all over the place. For someone who with their mind
can see through all of this it would be an experiance. I know it was for me the first time I went in there.

Thanks Kong, Thanks for that info, I would not want to see the theatre in it's current condition. You sound like someone who is saddened by what has happened there, who knows maybe there will be a miracle and the folks who restored RCMH will be back some day to bring the paramount back.

Call out the riot squad! (1956): www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bpara56.jpg

The theatre and office building were put up for sale in July, 1947, with newspaper advertising like this. But it wasn't until August, 1950, that a deal was made with Long Island University. No purchase price was reported, but the property had an assessed value at the time of $2.78 million:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bpsale.jpg

A new section has been added for the April 1, 2007 concert. Tickets for the new section are $40. Those are the only seats still available for the 2:30pm show. More info is available here.

So they are going to watch a concert in a gym.
No theatres left to support the event. What a crime!

Interesting article in today's New York Daily News.

Here's the link http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/brooklyn/2007/03/28/2007-03-28_paramount_gets_to_rock_all_over-2.html

and here's the article, copyright NY Daily News.

"Paramount gets to rock all over"

BY DENISE ROMANO
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Wednesday, March 28th 2007, 5:10 PM

"Most of us...consider this the birthplace of rock 'n' roll shows."

BRUCE MORROW

The Brooklyn Paramount Theatre - which some consider to be the birthplace of rock 'n' roll concerts - will once again echo with the sweet harmonies and guitar riffs of rock royalty.

Legendary acts such as Little Anthony and the Imperials, The Drifters and the Penguins will take the stage Sunday at the ornate downtown Brooklyn theater, which is now used as a college gymnasium.

"It will be a very historic moment for me and my audience to go back there where it all started," said radio personality Bruce Morrow, better known to his listeners as Cousin Brucie.

Morrow will host the event, which is being co-sponsored by Long Island University and the Daily News.

"My belly feels good when I walk into the building," said the Sirius Satellite Radio disk jockey, who stumbled upon the theater while filming a show.

The building, at the corner of Flatbush and DeKalb Aves. and now owned by Long Island University, was built in 1928 by its namesake studio to screen talking pictures, the first theater of its kind.

Over the next 30 years, it served as a venue for such live performers as Bing Crosby and Ethel Merman.

But it did not earn its claim to fame until the 1950s.

"Most of us who are considered to be rock 'n' roll mavens consider this the birthplace of rock 'n' roll shows, and the first place where there was an interracial audience," Morrow said.

The famed deejay and concert producer Alan Freed, often credited with coining the term "rock 'n' roll" in 1951, began staging performances at the Brooklyn Paramount in the mid-50s. The 1989 movie "Great Balls of Fire!" about Jerry Lee Lewis, starring Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder, includes a scene set in the Paramount.

"It was a great mixture for all kinds of acts," Morrow said of the famed theater. "It was a melting pot. It taught people how to get along. Music is a balm; it's very soothing in all kinds of ways."

University officials said the theater's ceiling and the walls have been preserved, and the basketball hoops that now hang on the walls do not diminish the nostalgia of the space.

"You can never erase or destroy emotions," Morrow said of the golden ceiling. "Thank goodness we have something in this world that survives - and that is rock 'n' roll."

There will be two shows on Sunday, 2:30 p.m. and 7:30p.m. There are $40 bleacher seats still available for both shows, and some $100 seats are available for the 7:30 p.m. show. To buy tickets, call (866) 468-7619. All proceeds will go to scholarships for LIU students.


(I wonder if the basketball hoops are still there, since I believe the new gymnasium is open. I won't be at the show, but any first hand reports will be greatly appreciated!)

A vintage postcard view of the Paramount Theatre from 1933:
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/439115517/

Anyone see the show? How's the auditorium looking nowadays?

I should have some info on the show by the end of this week. But if your in the neighborhood on Sunday, April 29th there will be a concert on the Mighty Wurlitzer 4/26 opus 1984 organ which is the originial organ installed at the Brooklyn Paramount by Wurlitzer and is in originial condition. The concert will start at 3PM. Admission is $12.00 for nonmembers of the NYTOS org. The concert will be of course in the old Paramount auditorium which is now a gym but you can still see a lot of the old Paramount which is left and not covered over or has not been removed. Also it is OK to bring a camera. The doors are still located at the corner of Flatbush and Dekalb Ave. You can also check with www.nytos.org/ for directions and more information on this concert and others which are presented in other theaters around the area. Hope to see some of you there.

In answer to saps, I've been told that the show went well. Folding chairs to sit on but everything went off without a hitch. Even the Wurlitzer was used before the shows.
Now the bad news. I've just learned that the organ concert for April 29 has been put off for awhile. I will put up a posting here when they reschedule it. In the mean time, if you'd like to see some of these places that are still used and sometimes show silent movies with the organ as they did in the old days. Go to www.nytos.org/

From Variety May 5, 1950

GRIM TRAILER

Paramount theatre, Brooklyn, was focal point in a gruesome joke last Saturday when a man committed suicide by jumping out of a window and landing on the sidewalk in front of the house.

Picture at the theatre was D.O.A.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle's real estate section of January 1, 1928 ran this wonderful ad for "The Times Square of Brooklyn," which claimed that "As 42nd St. and Broadway is the center of New York's Theatre Distict, so Flatbush Ave. and Fulton St. is the Times Square of Brooklyn. It is the Hub of the Largest Theatre District in the world excepting only New York." A map enclosed in the ad shows 12 theatres, including two new ones still under construction. I've enlarged the map. As numbered in the map, the theatres are: 1-Orpheum; 2-New Paramount; 3-Strand; 4-Keith-Albee; 5-Werba's; 6-New Fox; 7-Majestic; 8-Academy of Music; 9-Keeney's (later Loew's Melba); 10-Casino; 11-Loew's Metropolitan; 12-Montmartre.
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bkts28.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bkts28a.jpg

In what turned out to be a prevue of coming attractions, the Brooklyn Paramount combated part of the Depression by presenting basketball games on its stage on Friday nights. A typical encounter in January, 1937, found Kate Smith's Celtics facing "King Kong" Klein's All-Stars. Dick Fishell, sports commentator for radio station WMCA, did the announcing. The game started at 9PM sharp, and was followed by that day's last complete show of "Gold Diggers of 1937" & "The Captain's Kid" (both in their first Brooklyn engagements).

I remember going to rock and roll shows at the Paramount when I was like 11 or 12, maybe younger. But I always thought they were Murray the K shows....weren't they? I remember seeing the Ronettes, the Shangra-las and maybe even the Four Seasons.....we used to get up at like 4am to get the train to the theatre and wait on line for hours.........memories!!!!!

To Mariec53, Murry the K shows were at the Brooklyn Fox about 2 blocks away. Allen Freed did shows at the Paramount.

To Kong1911....Wow....that's right....thanks so much....I forgot all about those days til I found this site.....thanks again!

kong1911 - when did Alan Freed do the shows at the Loew's Oriental, before or after the Bkln Paramount?

To Dave,

I do not remember much re: the Alan Freed shows but there is a Alan Freed web site that has just about everything about him with photos of those days. Don't have the web address handy but you can find it by doing a search.

I just hope to god the LIU don't tear this wonderful buiding down. It was bad enough when they mutilated the once-lovely interior. Ideally speaking, it would be nice to see the exterior marquee, and the auditorium restored to their original glory. If anyone has any further news on any further developments regarding this lovely theatre, pleas let me know.

Thanks.

I found out that the organ will be used this saturday from 1 to 4 PM as a mini-concert I'm told that all are welcome to come and listen. This means the auditorium only.

I made it down to the former Paramount this past weekend (alas a week too late for the organ concert). I had my camera in hand, however, the guard on duty declined my requests to be let inside the gym/former auditorium. He was nice enough about it, but he said it was his first day and he just didn't want to take the risk. Anyway, I strolled around the place and snapped some shots of the exterior.

Corner Flatbush & Dekalb
Rear view
Side view
Exit doors
Sidewall ornamentation
Sidewall ornamentation alt view
Ornamentation close up
Ornamentation detail
Smiling face
Exit door molding detail

How many ecstatic teens came pouring out of those side doors after an Allen Freed show at the Paramount in the late '50's!

Ed,
Sorry you missed the mini concert but it will happen again. Most likley early next year. As soon as I hear anything I will post it.

There are a few pictures of the interior on this site:
http://tinyurl.com/32gaxa

Interior photos of what?

Apparently, an auction and dinner dance for the National Marine Educators Association was held at the LIU gym (former Bklyn Paramount) and if you scroll down past the first couple of photos on the page provided by ken mc, you'll see a few photos of the event. The theatre itself is not the focus of any of the shots, but you can make out a glimpse of some of its remaining architectural elements in the background of one or two of the images.

Hello. I am looking for any information about personality theatre organist Bob West. During the 1930's through possibly 1950, he played theatre organ at the Paramount Brooklyn Theatre, Fox Theatre in Brooklyn, and also theatres in Chicago. We have vintage music with his photo on the cover sheets, and some other family information about him. If you remember theatre organist Bob West, or know of any sources of information or family contacts for him, or any old memorabilia, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you!

Here is an undated interior photo:
http://tinyurl.com/2v4tcr

That was after it became a gymnasium.

Some interior photographs I took in December 2007 during the visit I organised to New York for the Cinema Theatre Association(UK):
Foyer
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2136732448/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2135953577/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2136735214/
Auditorium from balcony
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2135957921/
Wurlitzer organ console
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2135964041/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2135965175/
More auditorium from orchesta level
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2136747036/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2136748394/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2136749824/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2136751002/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2135971999/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2135973429/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2136755260/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2136756402/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2136757626/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2136758744/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2136760018/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/2136761560/

Excellent photoset Ken. Those are the best shots I have ever seen of the grand lobby as it exists today.

What a magnificent set of photos, Ken! Rather heartbreaking, actually. Given all that's gone missing from the original ornamentation, it's remarkable that so much still remains. With a new gymnasium in place for the university's basketball team, I'm nervous as to what the future holds for this unique space. Thanks, once again!

Wow! Great photos! Though this theater has lost a lot it does look totally salvagable. I assume that the original lobby colors were much darker and varied. It much have been beautiful back in the day.

Hi I am a student at LIU and just so everyone knows LIU is not going to take down anything from the old gym. We use that area for school events as well as to register the incoming freshmen students on LIU day. The cafeteria will remain a cafeteria b/c it is the only one we have on campus and it is an awesome place to have lunch in. I mean the chandeliers are amazing. I know a lot of people believe that we do not care for the history that our school has but we do. No other university has the ambiance that LIU has. Also, Provost Haynes loves LIU and the history that main building has and she would never do anything to ruin or take away from the historic view. Provost Haynes should be given a lot more credit she is an amazing and inspirational women to say the least. Also, if you walk around the 3rd floor of the main building you can see that they kept all the same molding and not for nothing the bathrooms have not been changed in that building they are still theater bathrooms. LIU also has the original posters up from all the old movies they are framed and it is so awesome to look at them. I am sure if you ask for a tour of LIU by appointment they would be happy to do so the main number is 718-488-1000 I mean I would be happy to take pictures and prove it to you. Just let me know.

Hello LIUgirl.
Do you know if any old photographs of the marquee exist with any of the performers names 'up in lights'? Or do any other old photographs from the 1930's to 50's exist in an archive or library there? I am still looking for information about theatre organist Bob West, who played there many years ago!
Thanks.

Hi TRMiller

Since I will be on campus all day Monday I will be more than happy to see if I can find it for you.

Hello LIUgirl.
That would be great! Bob West was my maternal grandfather. I never met him as he abandoned his wife and four children and ran off to New York to be with some young starlet many, many years ago! In fact, I never heard grandma mention the name of the starlet so I am not sure who she was! He hung around with many of the famous actors and actresses of the era and was quite popular, so who knows who it might have been. He also played in Chicago and, I believe, Colorado. Obviously there is much more information on this side of his family that his other family, if he has one, might be interested in. So anything you might come up with just might be the thing we need to solve the mystery!
Have a safe day there in the Big Apple!
Tom

The following ad content ran in the May 10, 1946 NYC edition of the (Communist) Daily Worker. My guess - it was important to someone at this theater to support that newspaper at that time.

B'klyn Paramount Flatbush & DeKalb
Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour
"ROAD TO UTOPIA"
Extra! In Technicolor
"NAUGHTY NANETTE"

Theatres tried to cover all bases in placing ads. It's possible that the management thought that a movie entitled "Road to Utopia" would appeal to those of the Communist faith. Also, the Brooklyn Paramount might have advertised in the Daily Worker regularly, since its ad rates were probably the lowest of any newspaper in the metropolitan area. And 1946 was before the Communist "witch hunts" started.

hay TRMiller
The lady who might have that info. won't be in till classes start up again on the 22nd. So I have been going around the school blindly looking till then. Nothing yet however I was told that PBS might have done a special on it so you might want to check that out as well. As soon as classes start I will make a trip up archivist to see if she has anything keep your fingers crossed.

LIUgirl

Hi!
I appreciate your looking around. I'll check into the PBS thing and let you know. Thanks again! I appreciate all the help!
Tom

Call out the riot squad again! Here's a new direct link to a 1956 image posted above on 3/20/07: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bpara56.jpg

I seem to remember running a movie based on that 1956 image posted above. If memory serves me, I think it was in 1978, and was called "American Hot Wax." If that is the movie, and the events followed true, than it really was a great time to be around.

Yesterday's NY Daily News had a special advertising supplement about the 125th Birthday Celebration of the Brooklyn Bridge. A brief mention of the Brooklyn Paramount and its history was accompanied by a photo of the New York Paramount. Oy vey!

I am an architecture student, recently graduated from Columbia University. My final thesis project was a history of this wonderful theater. It has such an interesting story; I never knew that one building could endure so much, bankruptcy, robberies, and a bombing, while also achieving such heights of success. Then again the Brooklyn Paramount is so much more than just a building! My advisor has encouraged me to continue the project even after graduation, and honestly, I’m not ready to let it go. My ultimate goal would be to take the 60 pages of writing and photos I have already and make a small publication, exhibit or website to draw attention to the theater and its role in the community throughout its history, as well as its preservation needs.
What I think the project is lacking most acutely is a more vivid description of what it was actually like to go to this theater. I’ve done my best with newspaper articles and photographs, but I’d really like to hear any stories or memories that people who were there while it was still operational. I tried to create an oral history component earlier but, ultimately everyone I talked to gradually revealed that they had been to the Fox not the Paramount. Everyone except for my grandma, who saw Debbie Reynoulds and Jane Seymour perform in the 40s.
I would love to hear any memories or suggestions for this project! I feel guilty that I have been reading this discussion board for an entire year, taking suggestions about where to find old pictures and information without contributing anything, but to make amends I will see if I can post some pictures that my photographer friend took, and my entire project, which I self-published through LULU. If anyone is interested in Alan Freed, this book called Big Beat Heat is interesting and has good replications of marquees and photographs, including one of Little Richard backstage at the Paramount.
As a final note to LIU girl, do you happen to have the contact information for the archivist of the Brooklyn Campus? Is it still Janet Marks? I became friends with her last year doing other research, she was actually the one who showed me the old auditorium, but I lost her number and can’t find it anywhere on the website or from calling the library. You’re so lucky that your school has such a special space, and you’re right about how respectful everyone is of it. I also want to thank you guys for being so welcoming and generous by allowing other people in to see it!

This article just recently appeared in a local Brooklyn periodical "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle":

On This Day in History: August 22
Paramount’s Last Picture Show
by Brooklyn Eagle (edit@brooklyneagle.net), published online 08-22-2008

BROOKLYN — As the curtains closed over the screen on August 22, 1962, the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre at Flatbush & DeKalb Avenues was history. The last feature film at the famous movie palace was John Wayne in Hatari. Attendance on closing night in the 4,126 seat theatre was about 300. Its grand opening as the first movie theater built in America expressly for sound pictures was on November 24, 1928, with the feature Manhattan Cocktail starring Nancy Carroll and Richard Arlen.

Over 4,000 patrons came to gaze in awe at the theater’s vastness and baroque splendor; its $3 million collection of paintings, sculptures and antiques; and the assemblage of theatrical and political personalities who attended the opening. Gracing its ornate stage during its reign as the mecca of Brooklyn entertainment were such celebrities as Frank Sinatra, Liberace, Rudy Vallee, Ginger Rogers, Bing Crosby, Eddie Cantor, George Jessel, Mae West and most of the big band era orchestras. In later years the Paramount’s stage was the site of rock & roll shows such as Little Richard and Bill Haley and the Comets, emceed by popular disc jockey Alan Freed.

Long Island University took over the building and in 1950 converted the office tower to classrooms and administrative offices. When the theatre itself closed 12 years later, the grand lobby, a copy of the famous Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, became LIU’s student cafeteria; the orchestra seating area became a gymnasium where the LIU basketball team plays with spectators seated in bleachers where the balcony patrons once sat. The “Mighty Wurlitzer” pipe organ, second in size and sound only to the two in the Radio City Music Hall, has been lovingly restored by the Theatre Organ Enthusiasts group and was still played at the basketball games until recently. Now, with the opening of its new athletic center, LIU announced plans to use the space as a theater once again.

The sunburst proscenium, the side bays representing visions into the formal gardens of French royal palaces of the late 18th century, and the ornate ceiling are still visible and worth a look.

____________________________________________________________________

This story doesn't go far enough. When LIU says that it will resuse the space as a theater, what exactly does that mean? Will the seating be restored? Will the theater be refurbished? Will it be used for films, live theater, concerts or all three? What is the timetable? In my opinion, the reporter did a poor job. If you're going to announce the return of one of Brooklyn's most treasured and storied theaters you should provide actual news and not just a history lesson.

Very exciting news, but I agree the article did not give much information. More news to come I hope. Perhaps it is time for one our crack Brookyn CT reporters to go to the theatre and snoop around for more ino.:)

The 8/22/08 article in the Brooklyn Eagle is merely a rehash of previous reportage. It has absolutely nothing new to say about the future status of the theatre.

I scoured the LIU website and there was nothing new about either the athletic enter or the Paramount. Stayed tuned.

I'm officially apologizing to the reporter for my prior comments.

I just re-read the article and it now looks like the point of the article WAS a history lesson. The title of the article is "On This Day In History! Yikes! It is only towards the end that he throws in the little tidbit that LIU is making the Paramount a theater again. It was not the point of his article.

What threw me was the title that CT put over the actual article: "The Brooklyn Paramount Returns after 46 years!"

That's not what the article was about at all! It really was a history lesson! :-)

Anyway, more questions have indeed been raised than we have answers for. If any CT readers have any insight please share. It would be wonderful to have this theater back in the public realm.

Again, my apologies to the reporter.

The "Brooklyn Eagle" had better do better "research" concerning the Wurlitzer organ. Calling it second in size to the Radio City Music Hall instrument is nonsense.

The author should have said "...In New York City, this theatre organ is second in size to the Radio City Music Hall instrument." That would have been true...at least in New York City.

Here's a You Tube link, with some video from inside. Kenny Vance(of Jay & the Americans & the Planotones) at the Brooklyn Paramount with Charlie Thomas of the Drifters who had appeared there at the Rock & Roll Shows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nie864gsHfw

Here is a color version of the 1971 photo I posted on 11/4/07, along with a 1955 photo. Both are from Life Magazine:
http://tinyurl.com/5w92ym
http://tinyurl.com/6j7dxq

The caption of the color photo says "Gymnasts practicing on stage at Brooklyn's Paramount Theater, now used as a gymnasium by Long Island University." Since they are practicing IN FRONT of the proscenium, it's the first time I've seen a stage on that side of the footlights. As WGH might say, even Life can make a mistake!

Funny you should mention that. See my post from about an hour ago on this page:
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/11818/

In the color photo, the gymnasts are working out on a fake floor that was constructed above the original orchestra floor. At other times, this floor served as the basketball court. If the auditorium is ever turned back into a theatre, that fake floor will be removed since the original still remains beneath it.

My mother was a Broadway dancer, who performed in the show "Cheerio" at the Brooklyn Paramount on January 12, 1929 as she neared her 20th birthday. Here is an excerpt from her diary:

"Brooklyn Paramount ... new theatre. only open six weeks. Beautiful. Paul Ash and his marvelous orchestra was there. He is a most wonderful m. of c."

Lit Whitlock was the daughter of a prominent North Carolina attorney. His older daughter went to Sweet Briar College and he wished his younger daughter to further her education, as well. My mother wanted to become a dancer, instead, so she overcame her father's objections of heading to New York at age 18 by convincing him she could become a dance teacher (which she never did). She married an advertising executive, moved to Atlanta, where they reared five children and then restarted her career in her 60s, eventually appearing on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson almost 50 years after this diary entry. She performed the grandmother's song/dance routine from "Pippin," a role originally performed on Broadway by her close friend from the early days, Irene Ryan, of Beverly Hillbillies' fame.

Lit Whitlock Connah died five years ago in 2004 at age 95. She was a lively spirit and a wonderful human being.

James Cameron Connah (Jim)
Sandy Springs, GA

James, thanks so much for sharing memories of your mother's experience at what was then still the "new" Brooklyn Paramount. She must have been a wonderful woman, and I'm glad that she made it to the grand age of 95 with her lively spirit still intact.

I took the photos below of the former Paramount Theatre last week:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/theseos/NYC244.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/theseos/NYC243.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/theseos/NYC245.jpg

I was born in Brooklyn but we moved often: Ozone Park, Bellmore, Islip, Rosedale. I commuted on the Long Island to high school, Brooklyn Tech.
Sadly, I didn't begin to appreciate Ellington until it was too late to hear him live, but I did go to two big-band concerts at the Brooklyn Paramount, one by the Tommy Dorsey band, the other by the Glenn Miller Band (with Glenn Miller himself leading). Part of the excitement was seeing the orchestra pit slowly rise to stage level at at the beginning of the concert, with the band playing its theme song.
There was a hole-in-the-wall record store on Fulton with a loudspeaker over the front door playing over and over again Benny Goodman's 78-rpm single of Jersey Bounce, which made me a Goodman fan. I drifted away from hearing big bands after joining the Jackson Heights Jazz Club, thanks to which I had the pleasure of an impromptu trip to Laurelton where James P. Johnson was playing in a neighborhood Irish bar. We occupied all the bar seats near the piano and he played for us the rest of the evening. He had the biggest hands I've ever seen. When we shook hands my hand vanished inside the great clasp of his hand.

Is there any new news about this theater? As downtown Brooklyn continues to develop and gentrify and as BAM continues to expand it "cultural district" with the recently announced renovation of its Majestic Theatre, a newly restored Brooklyn Paramount could do very well.

It was a very sad day for Brooklyn in 1962 when "THE END" was dsiplayed on the marquee after Long Island University acquired the site:
http://www.brooklynpix.com/photoframex1.php?photo=/photo99/T/theater318.jpg&key=THEATERS 318

The Brooklyn Paramount was the first of the beautiful golden-age downtown Brooklyn theaters to go under. I remember my father taking me there in about 1958 to see the Alan Freed rock and roll show. While I was too young to have any specific memories of the show, several years ago I came across the program and the names listed as being there were quite incredible: Frankie Avalon, The Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, etc. I think I might have been there once to see a movie, a Jerry Lewis flick "Cinderfella." I saw about three movies at the Brooklyn Fox and many films at the RKO Albee and Loews Metropolitan, the 3 other beautiful golden-age theaters Downtown Brooklyn. Now, sadly, they are all long gone.

Gone as theatres, but two remain, the Met as a church that has been restored to a better condition than it was in its declining years as a cinema. Much of the Paramount still exists, though the future of the building has yet to be decided.