Visual Arts Theatre

This theater was where the Roundabout Theater performed its plays for a number of years. Then it reopened as a Triplex before being twinned with one theater having a fairly large screen.

This was originally RKO 23 ST, did Walter Reade also have it at one time? They might have been the ones to triplex it. I know Cineplex remodeled it and made it a twin shortly before the merger with Loews. They gave this theatre up to Clearview shortly after.

RKO built this theatre as a replacement for its previous 23rd Street Theatre, which faced on Eighth Avenue and was originally an old music hall or opera house that RKO converted and modernized for movies. That RKO 23rd Street was destroyed in a fire, if I recall correctly. The new RKO 23rd Street was never successful and was converted into a playhouse by the Roundabout Theater, which eventually moved elsewhere.

After the Roundabout days, Walter Reade triplexed it as the 23rd St West...Cineplex kept the name until they redid it and twinned it...It was a grotty but fun neigborhood house...saw The Fourth War with Roy Scheider in 1989 there

Cineplex Odeon reopened this house as the Chelsea West in December of 1996 (to answer your question, Robert, this was a Walter Reade house - that is, until they were bought out by Cineplex Odeon in 1987). One of the first features shown post-renovation in December of 1996 was 'The People Vs. Larry Flynt' and, as touted in an ad in the Times, management was serving free coffee to folks who attended the morning show during the first few days of its run. A fresh, hot cup of brew and a porn king/First Amendment martyr? Not a connection I'd automatically make, but hey... :-)

Great theater where I saw "The Mumnmy" in 1999 after attending my friends Dave and Joe's Brooklyn College Art Show somewhere deep in Chelsea. Also saw "The truth about Cats and Dogs" there with my wife in 1997.

A minor correction to the initial description above - the Chelsea Cinemas and Chelsea West Cinemas actually operate as an 11-plex... the nine screens @ the Chelsea, plus the two @ the Chelsea West.

On Thursday nights at 7pm, the theatre runs classic movies hosted by drag queens Hedda Lettuce or Nedda Iceberg for only six dollars.
Some enthusiasts even dress up as their favorite characters in the movie playing. Theatre patrons are also encouraged to shout out any favorite lines or sing along to favorite songs in musicals. There are also up three chances to win Theatre tickets if your number is called. I also believe that the Rocky Horror Picture is sometimes shown at midnight. Overall it is a wonderful theatre to visit on a Thursday night.

You're thinking of the Chelsea Cinemas (the nineplex on the southeast corner of 8th and 23rd), Divinity, not the Chelsea West, the twin almost diagonally across 23rd.

per the thursday night classic movies- are the prints any good? anone know?

I've been to some of the Thursday Night Classics and the prints are pretty good, but they don't know how to project the films. The masking is off and you sit there watching the top of people's heads cropped off. I'm not an expert on projection but from what I understand new cinemas have trouble dealing with some of the aspect ratios. The projection was off for both "Now Voyager" and "Niagara."

I actually did submit a suggestion, the 1976 "A Star Is Born" with Barbra. I received two comp tickets for use at any Clearview Cinemas, good only Monday through Thursday. They did take up my suggestion and it was supposed to play this month. But I rechecked the web site and something else was substituted, so I assume they couldn't get a print.

Getting back to the Chelsea West Cinemas, I remember when that opened it or reopened it in the mid 1980s. I think it was closed or being used for something else (live theatre) in the early-to-mid 1980s. I lived in the Village from '82 to '87 and vaguely remember when it opened and going there to see "The Color of Money," "Hoosers," and "At Close Range."

Hardbop...
Prior to the introduction of CinemaScope in '53 just about every movie was shot in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. In order to show a film like that today properly you have to install a 1.33:1 lens. These lenses cost money and I don't think any theatre manager is going to put up the dough to buy one. And besides, even if they had one in possession I doubt that any of the teenagers they've hired to run the equipment would know how to or care to install it.

This theater opened in 1963 and disappointed a community who had anxiously awaited the replacement to the old RKO on 23rd & 8th.

The theater opened..... searchlights, red carpet and the 3 Stooges (Joe DeRita vintage, in tuxes)getting out of a limo.... in early 1963 with Orson Welles' THE TRIAL, I believe. This crushed me, family and friends who were used to seeing weekly double features.... Rodan, House on Haunted Hill, Audie Murphy westerns, etc. at the old, majestic RKO. We still had to trek up the the RKO 58th St to see the "normal" RKO programming.

After about 6 months of protests, the theater switched to the "normal" fare in the summer of 1963. I remember being away in New Jersey when I saw the ad in the Daily News and I couldn't wait to get home to AIP's beach and horror flics. The classics.

In 1965 RKO reverted back to its original concept and THE PAWNBROKER played there for what seemed like years. Then the 1st run of CARRY ON CLEO (single feature) debuted while also playing at one other RKO theater.....you guessed it....the 58th St! By now, we would just go up to 42nd Street and find the RKO-Loew's programming at cheaper prices.

The theater eventually returned to the normal RKO fare.

Here it is during it's art period in 1964.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Macbeth.jpg

Whats up with the programming at this theatre! YUCK!

During its Roundabout live theater days, I went to this theater to see a revival of an old play called "Clarence" starring the lovely and charming actress, Barbara Britton, with whom I was quite friendly for years before she passed away. I saw her several times on Broadway. You may remember her as Robert Stack's co-star in the first 3-D movie, "Bwana Devil."

Ah yes, I recall seeing 'Summer and Smoke' here in the mid 70s.

Attended a screening of a film at this theatre yesterday! Quite an experience! There was alot of scratching on the walls, I asked the usher and was told not to worry it was not rats , just squrills in the walls! There were 3 people present at thye show! Also the seats are the mosrt uncomfortable in the city! No wonder people stay home and for 10.50! Also 25 MINUTES of ads and previews!

NYC issued a C/O to a new building at this address on August 6, 1963. Seating given at that time was 553 and 358.

I worked for the Roundabout Theatre in the 70's in this building. The theatre originally had a lower seating section in the front, and a more steeply raked seating section that was raised behind it. One entered the theatre from the lobby into the aisle that separated these two seating sections. The theatre had built a stage floor over the entire front seating section, from scaffolding. Theatre patrons sat in the raked seating section, and the stage was huge, covering the entire lower seating section. A grid of pipes was suspended from the ceiling to hang stage lighting and other scenic effects. The large stage, and the flexibility of the production space made it a wonderful venue not only for theatre, but also for dance.

All the controls for the theatre's lights and sound were located in the projection booth, which at that time no longer held any projection equipment. I do remember once during a show my co-workers and I were talking loudly and laughing in the booth, and a patron knocked on the booth door to tell us to shut up!

The Roundabout Theatre Company at that time was financially shaky, and when I worked there, my co-workers and I were asked to work several weeks without pay, and were promised payment in full once the theatre had sold it's next year's subscriptions. That proved to be a broken promise, but by that time, many of us were owed a large sum of money, and felt that we should hang on to recover it. Other workers cut their loses and quit.

At one point, the theatre company rented the theatre to a charity who wanted to stage a benefit performance. Jacqueline Onassis was the benefit chair. The performance night was a Friday, and coincided with a payday where we were --- yet again -- not paid.

By that time, so many people had quit that I found myself in the position of Head Electrician. When management yet again failed to come up with our paychecks, I went to the office and told them that I would disconnect the stage lighting power, and since I was the only one who knew how to hook it up, the benefit would not go on.

They paid me in full, and the benefit went on. However, that was my last day working for the Roundabout Theatre Company!

This is stiill one of my favorite theaters in New York. I grew up in north New Jersey, and in the 80's my local theaters carded for R rated movies. When Halloween 5 came out, this theater let me in without asking if I was 17, which I wasn't to be for a few months. Now that I live in New York City, I try to go here as much possible.

The Wild Bunch
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/c77056e6.jpg

I'm somewhat intrigued by the idea that a movie chain would inherit a triplex in the 1980's and convert it to a twin in the '90's! I wonder what was behind that decision. They probably gained seats with the remodeling.

Just to get my facts straight, did RKO ever twin this? Or did it go directly from single screen to live theater, only to be triplexed when Walter Reade took over after Roundabout left? And what was the triplex configuration? Lost Memory's post of April 21, 2006 implies a true balcony level, but on April 22nd, GWaterman describes a raked stadium style "loge" section at the rear of the auditorium.

Remember this is when Cineplex was remodeling and upgrading older theatres. A lot of their theatres were remodeled during this time.

anyone who conceals their identity behind a pseudonym has zero credibility with me; was a comment written by crank case Warren. Therefore the following people have no credibilty by Warren's definition. Happy commenting fellas and ladies.

Life's too short
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longislandmovies
br91975
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Theaterat
Lost Memory
hardbop
shoeshoe14
Divinity
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TheaterBuff1
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Moviemanforever
norelco
hdtv267
DuPageDude
ziggy
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ANTKNEE
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ovetheoldtheaters
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Organized
Movie Place NYC
hotwaterbottle
GrindHouseGod
legsdiamond

The above list of posters has no relevancy to the Chelsea West page.

What is relevant is that in about the same time period Cineplex Odeon was turning this 3 screener into a very nice 2 screener, they renovated the Beekman (since demolished) in New York, and in Washington D.C. the Cinema (since closed & gutted) and Uptown. They didn't renovate the Avalon in D.C, which after Loews departed, was saved & renovated by neighbors. I miss Cineplex Odeon.

Whats in a name? From the American Heritage® Dictionary

war·ren NOUN:

1a-An area where rabbits live in burrows.
1b-A colony of rabbits.

2-An enclosure for small game animals.

3a-An overcrowded living area.

And my favorite is:

3b-A mazelike place where one may easily become lost.


LOL

"Lost Memory's post of April 21, 2006 implies a true balcony level, but on April 22nd, GWaterman describes a raked stadium style "loge" section at the rear of the auditorium."

It was definately a raked stadium-style loge, but please understand that when I worked there it was 1977-78. Many things could have changed since that time.

My exact comment was:

"NYC issued a C/O to a new building at this address on August 6, 1963. Seating given at that time was 553 and 358".

However you interpret that information is up to you. I don't want anyone to believe that I implied or gave any particular balcony style. I am only stating what is on the c/o for this building in 1963.

I worked for Roundabout briefly and frequented the place after the Cineplex redux.

It was built with a stadium style Loge that was over the lobby and restrooms. The main floor was separated by a cross aisle, which is how you entered. From the numbers quoted above it's apparent that the main floor was 558 and the loge 358. This is the same layout as the Beekman, Sutton, Plaza, Coronet, and the Ziegfeld. I can't remember any Manhattan movie theatre (after the 70s plex boom) that had a real overhanging balcony except the Regency.

In the 80s, Cineplex closed off the balcony, walled-off the other side of the cross aisle, and split the main level right down the middle. All three screens had working curtains and the nice curvy "old movie theatre" feel of the lobby was retained. After that I used to go on Sunday matinees, stopping at a nearby chicken place for fresh steak fries and corn on the cob. I sat in the last row quietly nibbling during the film. I was very careful not to make noise or a mess, and took everything back out with me, leaving nothing for anyone to clean up.

Anyone remember Cineplex's debut in Manhattan, when all their directory ads had REAL BUTTER in huge letters at the top? It was the very same Odell's Anhydrous Butterfat used back in the old "Buttercup" days, but they made it sound like an innovation. A couple years later they quietly switched to something cheaper that tasted like motor oil.

I had already moved to LA by the time they took down the divider downstairs, which must make a nice size theatre. I think the reason might be that they already had enough crackerboxes across the street in the 9-plex, and a larger capacity house would be good for more popular films. With today's larger seats I imagine the breakdown might be something like 250-300 upstairs and 400-450 downstairs.

Could someone post pictures (maybe on CinemaTour) of the way it looks inside now? I'm really curious about the main foor and the lobby.

I haven't posted on this site in a while. I lived in the co-op down the street from the theater, watched every brick go in, then lamented the programming for years, pining for the old RKO on 8th avenue.

A friend from Chelsea, Kenny,recently found these images. Enjoy

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=RKO23rd1963marquee.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=RKO23rd1963seating2.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch2

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=RKO23rd1963seating.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch3

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=RKO23rd1963lounge.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch4

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=RKO23rd1963snackbar.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch5

The lounge in image 4 would be to the left of the snack bar. The view in image 5 is taken from a row of glass entrance doors.

The marquee shows the inaugural booking, The Trial. Man, were we bummed. IMDB lists the NYC premiere in Feb, 1963. And as I stated earlier the 3 Stooges appeared opening night in a limo. Jerry K

I remember using real butter at Cineplex Odeon. Post Garth Drabinsky we shifted to buttery flavored chemical and started charging extra for it, a stupid customer service fiasco that the local press rightfully had a field day but wrongly at the employees expense.

The Toronto boys couldn't care less.

Cineplex Odeon did that on the West Coast, the managers got bonuses for the ones that sold the most of that stuff. On a busy intermissions the staff would charge that extra .10 cents-.25cents, depending on size of corn and not put the extra stuff on the corn.

I made my first trip back here in 10 years a couple of weeks ago when I caught INFAMOUS, which was playing in both theatres. Last time I was here, in October of 1996, I remember it was a rainy Saturday and the film FLY AWAY FROM HOME was playing. So, every family in Manhattan with kids was in line and it was a mob scene in front of the theatre. I remember waiting in a long line in the rain waiting to buy a ticket/get in. I think FLY AWAY FROM HOME was playing exclusively at the Chelsea Theatre at that point and the combination of the day and the weather caused the place to be mobbed. That same day I made it a double-bill catching LOVE IS ALL THERE IS there, which, in addition to taking place on City Island, featured a then unknown Angelina Jolie in the cast.

Until I caught INFAMOUS, I hadn't been back since. This was the first time I'd been back since they reduced the screens from three to two and they did a nice job, though I don't think thre were 10 people in the theatre the day I caught INFAMOUS.

I've viewed films here when it was a single theatre, then a triplex, then a duplex.

While I really like the Chelsea West as a theater, the people they have running the place are incompetent and apathetic. At the 5:10 showing of BABEL on 1/19, they left the house lights on for the first 15 minutes of the film after repeated complaints from the audience. I saw CASINO ROYALE there about a month ago, and the image was out of focus. Which theater in Manhattan is the best for the overall experience: great sound, great projection, comfortable seats...?

Here is the Chelsea West at night.

Heres an answer to Badlands for the poor projection. Last year the theatre went to a Limited service type on projectionist contract at that theatre. Limited Service is a part-time operator. So thats the problem with the house.

I drive by there most nights and it always looks cloded! Half the neon is burnt out, and the current attraction is never on the marquee! Is this the next to close?

Saw "Little Children" there at a matinee on Wednesday of this week. Nasty brain damaged workers that were rude and lazy worked the concession and box office. Once inside theatre 2 , I was so uncomfortable! The straight back chairs and serious lack of leg room left me twisted in my seat for over 2 hours. So uncomfortable. No wonder it was empty!

Like the Ziegfeld, the Chelsea West is closed until Spiderman 3 opens.

There doesn't seem to be a CT listing for the currently operating Clearview Chelsea at 260 West 23rd Street. I wonder why? The latest issue of New York Magazine rates the eight-screen Clearview Chelsea as #1 among NYC's first-run cinemas. It received a rating of 79 points out of a possible 100. Its main weaknesses were found to be not enough women's toilets and too many ads and trailers before features. The Ziegfeld Theatre rated #2 with 78 points, followed by the AMC Loews Kips Bay with 77 points, Regal Battery Park Stadium with 75 points, and the AMC Magic Johnson with 73 points.

"not enough women's toilets" and "too many ads and trailers before the features" thats the problem with all theatres. New York Magazine should tell us something new, thoses problems have been around for ages. I prefer the AMC Loews Lincoln Square complex over 4 of these plexes. I do like the Ziegfeld Theatre for the most part except the seats. I've had screening prints come from the Clearview Chelsea complex that were poorly handled. And the other three complexes are just fair in presentations.

Here's a shot of the groundbreaking for the theater. Probably in early 1961. Sign states that opening was scheduled for Easter 1962, they missed it by about 9 months.

Taken from 35mm MovieTone, probably played in RKO theaters hyping the new theater.

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=RKO23groundbreaking.jpg

Most of the time this theatre looks closed! The marquee seldom works properly and it looks so depressing! Also one of the most uncomfortable places around.

In January 1997, I saw "People vs. Larry Flynt" in the smaller auditorium (former loge) after the theater reopened as a two screener. 13 rows of tall chairs in sections of 7, 14, 7, total of 364. Estimated screen for scope at 35 to 40 feet wide. Orange red curtain used. Film projected in SDDS but no surround sound appeared to have been used then.

In the same month, I saw "Evita" in the large auditorium. 21 rows of 6, 16, 6 seats, total of 588 seats. Screen size 50 feet wide, curved, by 20 feet tall. Curtain not used. Dolby Digital There were 4 speakers in the back, but they didn't use the 10 speakers on the side walls at that time.

Shouldn't the description and former names be updated on this house?

How this lasts out of all the old great theaters in NY......

It's the size and the location.

It had a great remodel late in the Cineplex Odeon days when it became a twin and, although a bit dog eared these days, the still booming gay Chelsea crowd keeps it going.

Now that the Beekman is gone, Woody Allen likes his premieres here.

By the way, previous names were RKO 23rd St, Roundabout, 23rd St West Triplex, as a single, legit and triple, respectively.

I can remember every movie I ever saw and where I saw it but one. It was here when the theater was a triplex. I came in from Long Island with a friend and I even got a great parking spot right in front. It was for an exclusive engagement of a Scandinavian fantasy film with a falcon that seemed to be a family movie until a scene where a bunch of guys were in a sauna and all comically jumped out into the snow and started making snow angels, with full frontal male nudity. The audience was like WTF? This was about 1985 and my friend is no help, he doesn't even remember going to the theater.

Years later, I saw "Evita" here when it was a twin and they had a sign in the box office saying they used strobe lights. I don't know about anywhere else, but in NY especially during Broadway shows, they have signs when strobe lights are used in case anyone is epileptic. Before the movie, they had a trailer for "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and it was a thunder storm with glimpses of the T-Rex with surround effects and the strobe flashed during the lightening. It's the only place I saw that trailer and it really had nothing to do with the actual movie when it opened.

They used that same type of effect for the trailer at Cineplex's Universal City complex back then it was a DTS special feature.

The theatre originally opened as the RK0 23rd Street, a name that should be included in the "aka."

I am told that they will be closed for good as of 2/10/2008

Where did you hear this from, NYCJosh? Did the person you spoke with give you any particular reason for the closing?

Not closed for good but closed for better. The School of Visual Arts will be taking over the theater and turning it into a two-screen arts center with the best projection in town including 70, 35, 16 and D-Cinema. 52 foot and 38 foot screens with proper masking and variable speed projection. Even better news coming soon. Stay tuned.

That's a relief; thanks for the initial notice, NYCJosh, and thanks for the details, filmgene. When I saw NYCJosh's post this morning, the 'more needless luxury housing' spectre immediately popped up in my mind, but the actuality is much, much better. Again, thanks to both of you guys...

The Grand opening ad for the Chelsea West has the same design and slogon as Carrefour Dorion 8 near Montreal. The ad can be found on page 3 of this document at http://movie-theatre.org/canada/qc/valleyfield.pdf

Here a short list of some of the movies that were shown at the Chelsea and the Chelsea West at the same time

5/25/01- Pearl Harbor
5/3/02- Spider-Man
6/30/04- Spider-Man 2
11/5/04- Sideways
5/26/06- X-Men: The Last Stand
6/28/06- Superman Returns
3/9/07- 300
5/4/07- Spider-Man 3
5/25/07- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

I heard that the Chelsea West was to close on 2/10/2008 and I feel real sad about it right now. In that case, I hope someone will like my short list and comment on it. I also hope that you feel would feel the same way I do.

Thank You :<

I don't think that the main name in the introduction is stated correctly. I've never seen Clearview use an apostrophe as part of its name in advertising or promotion for any of its theatres. For example, I've seen Clearview Ziegfeld, and Ziegfeld, a Clearview Cinema, but NEVER Clearview's Ziegfeld.

I had the same initial thought: Here come's a luxury condo with big box retail at the base. Relieved to hear about SVA's plans.

A complete list of movies that were shown at the CHELSEA WEST from 2002 to today.

3/15/02- Resident Evil
3/29/02- Death to Smoochy
4/12/02- Human Nature
4/19/02- Murder by Numbers
5/3/02- Spider-Man
5/14/02- Windtalkers
7/3/02- Like Mike
8/2/02- The Master of Disguise
8/7/02- Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams
8/16/02- The Adventures of Pluto Nash
8/16/02- Blue Crush
8/30/02- FearDotCom
9/6/02- Swimfan
9/20/02- Trapped
10/11/02- The Transporter
11/15/02- Half Past Dead
11/22/02- Die Another Day
12/13/02- Drumline
12/20/02- Two Weeks Notice
1/17/03- A Guy Thing
1/17/03- The Hours
1/31/03- Biker Boyz
TBA 2003- Chicago
3/14/03- Agent Cody Banks
3/28/03- Head of State
4/18/03- Malibu's Most Wanted
5/2/03- X2: X-Men United
5/30/03- Wrong Turn
6/20/03- From Justin to Kelly
7/2/03- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
7/18/03- Bad Boys II
9/5/03- The Order
9/19/03- Secondhand Lions
9/19/03- Underworld
10/17/03- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
10/24/03- Scary Movie 3
11/5/03- The Matrix Revolutions
11/21/03- Gothika
12/5/03- Honey
12/12/03- Stuck on You
12/25/03- Cold Mountain
2/25/04- The Passion of the Christ
3/19/04- Taking Lives
4/2/04- Hellboy
4/30/04- Envy
5/28/04- The Day After Tomorrow
6/18/04- Saved!
6/30/04- Spider-Man 2
7/30/04- Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
8/13/04- Alien vs Predator
8/27/04- Suspect Zero
9/3/04- Wicker Park
9/10/04- Resident Evil: Apocalypse
9/24/04- Shaun of the Dead
10/1/04- Shark Tale
11/5/04- Sideways
11/12/04- After the Sunset
12/22/04- The Phantom of the Opera
1/14/05- Elektra
1/14/05- Racing Stripes
3/24/05- Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
4/29/05- House of D
5/6/05- Kingdom of heaven
6/3/05- Lords of Dogtown
6/15/05- Batman Begins
7/8/05- Dark Water
7/22/05- The Devil's Rejects
7/29/05- Stealth
8/12/05- Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
9/2/05- Underclassman
9/9/05- The Man
9/23/05- Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
10/7/05- Waiting...
10/21/05- Doom
10/28/05- Saw II
11/18/03- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
12/14/05- King Kong
1/6/06- Hostel
1/27/06- Big Momma's House 2
2/3/06- When A Stranger Calls
2/17/06- Freedomland
2/24/06- Madea's Family Reunion
3/17/06- V for Vendetta
4/14/06- Scary Movie 4
4/28/06- Akeelah and the Bee
4/28/06- RV
5/12/06- Just My Luck
5/26/06- X-Men: The Last Stand
6/16/06- The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
6/28/06- Superman Returns
7/21/06- Monster House
7/28/06- Miami Vice
8/4/06- The Descent
8/18/06- The Illusionist
8/25/06- Invincible
9/29/06- The Guardian
10/13/06- Infamous
10/20/06- The Prestige
11/10/06- Babel
11/17/06- Casino Royale
12/22/06- Night at the Museum
1/5/07- Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
1/26/07- Smokin' Aces
2/16/07- Ghost Rider
3/2/07- Wild Hogs
3/9/07- 300
3/16/07- Premonition
4/13/07- Pathfinder
5/4/07- Spider-Man 3
5/25/07- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
6/15/07- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
6/29/07- Live Free or Die Hard
7/27/07- No Reservations
7/27/07- Rescue Dawn
8/17/07- The Last Legion
8/17/07- Superbad
8/24/07- Resurrecting the Champ
8/31/07- Halloween
9/21/07- Good Luck Chuck
11/2/07- Martian Child
11/16/07- Beowulf
11/16/07- Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
12/7/07- The Golden Compass
12/14/07- I Am Legend
1/11/08- The Bucket List
1/18/08- Mad Money
1/25/08- Untraceable

It is shocking this theater has lasted this long...always an under performing theater.

For a while in the nineties the Chelsea Nine and the 23rd St West produced some of the highest grosses in the city presenting the Angelika and Lincoln Plaza a serious challenge for exclusives.

The Chelsea nine was the highest grossing Manhattan house for a short time until Lincoln Square came along.

Since distributors preferred the nine-plex to the triplex, it was redone to a twin and renamed Chelsea West so that it would have the largest and best auditorium in the area and become more interchangeable with its bigger brother.

I suspect that the short lifespan of new movies and an attendance drain from the West 34th street has lead to this latest eminent switch away from mainstream film.

This neighborhood and theatre are still pretty much better off now than ever in their history and the SVA is making a smart investment.

The Chelse 9 did have some of the best numbers in the city but i have never seen a hugh gross from the twin.

Once the nine-plex opened, this one woke up, although it was almost always given left overs. I remember exceptional grosses when they played the right film.

For example, Spike Lee had a fit over the limited seating at Chelsea for JUNGLE FEVER so MALCOLM X opened at triplex to exceptional numbers. I also recall a solid week of sell-outs for a four-wall rental of an African film called SANKOFA.

The product was also compromised by the decision to include Loews 19th Street into the same zone, effectively keeping many titles out of Chelsea.

Of course, now with the Regal Union Square Stadium 14 and AMC Loews 19th Street East 6 in the same zone, Chelsea gets most of the top product.

The zones have fallen apart and except for 42nd street, product splitting is slowly disappearing.

I have to wonder, Al, if AMC might cut the Village 7 and 19th Street East 6 loose at the first opportune moment. The quality of the bookings at those two theatres had been sliding since the Union Square Stadium 14 opened in November of 1998, but seemingly more so (especially at the Village 7) since the AMC-Loews merger. (The number of move-overs booked into the Village 7 have increased dramatically in recent time.)

The 19th Street East has no stadium seating and seemed abandoned even during the Loews days.

The Village even without stadium seating has a better chance for a future with specialty films as it is far superior to most surviving area theatres.

does anyone know if the theatre closed, it off Clearview's web site

The theater is closed for the moment. The School of Visual Arts has become the new operator. Renovations will take place for the next few months, although selected events will continue to occur in the space during the Spring and Summer. It will remain a twin, but will be upgraded technically and in the area of design. A formal opening will be announced.

Will the SVA operate the Chelsea West as a traditional cinema or as one more geared towards special events and programming?

The Visual Arts Theater will be a showcase and laboratory for the arts represented by the School including Film and the Moving Image. It will not be a commercial first-run theater in any regard. However, its full-time calendar of special events will include classic films and a whole universe of film-related events which will be open to the public.

In 1963 This Italian film followed the opening run of Orson Welles' The Trial.

A list of box office hits that were shown at the CHELSEA WEST from 2002 to 2007

5/3/02- Spider-Man ($403.7m)
11/22/02- Die Another Day ($160.9m)
TBA 2003- Chicago (170.6m)
5/2/03- X2: X-Men United ($214.9m)
7/2/03- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ($150.3m)
7/18/03- Bad Boys II ($138.6m)
10/24/03- Scary Movie 3 ($110m)
11/5/03- The Matrix Revolutions ($139.3m)
5/28/04- The Day After Tomorrow ($186.7m)
6/30/04- Spider-Man 2 ($373.5m)
10/1/04- Shark Tale ($160.8m)
6/15/05- Batman Begins ($205.3m)
11/18/05- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ($290m)
12/14/05- King Kong ($218m)
5/26/06- X-Men: The Last Stand ($234.3m)
6/28/06- Superman Returns ($200m)
11/17/06- Casino Royale ($167.4m)
12/22/06- Night at the Museum ($250.8m)
2/16/07- Ghost Rider ($115.8m)
3/2/07- Wild Hogs ($168.2m)
3/9/07- 300 ($210.6m)
5/4/07- Spider-Man 3 ($336.5m)
5/25/07- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End ($309.4m)
6/15/07- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer ($131.9m)
6/29/07- Live Free or Die Hard ($134.5m)
8/17/07- Superbad ($121.4m)
12/14/07- I Am Legend ($255.2m)

R.I.P. CHELSEA WEST 1963-2008

What are the figures after the film titles? USA gross receipts? World gross receipts? Rentals earned by distributors? And what is the source of this information? Trade papers? Motion Picture Association of America? And even though these movies are "blockbusters," how well did they actually do at the Chelsea West? Sharing the movies with other cinemas in Manhattan, the Chelsea West might have done less than others due to its location, which seems to have been a major factor in its demise.

It looks like it will be R.I.P. for the Chelsea 9 cinemas as well. An article appeared in last week's Real Deal (NY Real Estate industry trade paper) that the Chelsea Cinemas are in contract to be sold. The new owner will most likely demolish them and replace it with a hotel. That would leave Chelsea with NO neighborhood movie theaters showing current releases. The Chelsea West will live on as the in house cinema venue for the SVA and the old porno palace, The Elgin, will live on as the delightful dance space, The Joyce Theater.

Little by little its all over so sad :(

Don't be so sure, Luis. The Cineplex Odeon lease was for something like 99 years so the lot may sell but the cinema operation will probably stay as long as Clearview (or whoever eventually buys Clearview) finds it profitable.

Al, it sure sounds like from the news (repeated below) posted on the Chelsea 9 page by Luis, that Clearview must have sold their interest, too:
Chelsea Cinema Shocker.......

According to this weeks issue of The Real Deal, the real estate industry's bible, Chelsea Cinemas is in contract to be sold and will most likely be torn down for a hotel leaving Chelsea without a nabe theater.
___________________________________________________________________

The quote is as follows: "Chelsea Cinemas could close soon. A hotelier is in contract to buy the nine-screen cinema, according to Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of the retail leasing and sales division at Prudential Douglas Elliman, who is working with the hotelier.

Consolo would not reveal the identity of the developer or the asking price for the space, which is owned by Mutual Redevelopment Houses Inc. She said her client is interested in building a boutique hotel of up to 10 stories, hoping to capitalize on the gallery-going crowd.

Yes, just because Clearview had a 99 year lease, it doesn't mean that that lease can't be bought out for the right price. It appears that they got that "right" price. Besides, as has been evident for a several, the theater business is not on an upward trend and Clearview (being owned by Comcast) is probably not well run. The only Clearview theater that I worry about is The Ziegfeld. None of the others really rate.

Louis, Clearview's parent is Cablevision which owns Madison Square Garden, Radio City, etc. Comcast owns no theaters.

Howard, you're absolutely right! I meant Cablevision which is run by the Dolts, er, I mean Dolans. All of the other comments remain the same. I have no beef with Comcast.

That is worrisome.

It is possible that Clearview, failing to find a buyer for the chain, is willing to drop individual sites no matter how strategic. Although I never expect any new building to last 99 years (or many theatres to survive rent reviews under current prices), I did think Chelsea 9 had a few more profitable years left.

I agree Al. Clearview Cinemas is not really a going concern. Cablevision has a lot more pressing issues and businesses to take of and they are defintiely not "growing" this business. As a result, I believe that they will in fact continue to find a buyer for Clearview or slowly close individual theaters as opportunities arise. Again, my only concern is for The Ziegfeld. None of the other theaters will be missed.

Luis, Perhaps you mean YOU won't miss those in Manhattan other than the Ziegfeld. Most of Clearview theaters are not in Manhattan and many are historic theaters. Many of those theaters would be missed by their communities. For that matter, in Manhattan, many people will miss the Chelsea and the others. They are not devoid of repeat customers.

Hi Howard, yes I did mean their Manhattan operations, I was not aware that they owned any historic theaters elsewhere. Second, I should have been clearer. When I think of a cinema treasure, I think of a true movie palace, not the bland boxy multiplexes. It is about the building, the architecture, the attention to detail, the atmosphere in which you saw a film. By that measure, with the exception of the Ziegfeld, Clearview in Manhattan falls short and that is why I wouldn't miss them. Of course, I would miss the convenience, but a "Cinema Treasure" is about a lot more than convenience (for me).

Since Cablevision saved my beloved Waverly, albeit in a new mutation, I have some respect for them. Clearview started out with many older theatres they thought they could salvage as specialty houses. Unfortunately, that audience has embraced DVDs even more than others.

Thanks for your comment Al. I just googled the below:

"The IFC Center is owned by the IFC network, (IFC Films), which is a subsidiary of Rainbow Media (AMC channel, MSG), which is a subsidiary of Cablevision—which owns the Knicks and the Clearview Cinemas chain that let the Waverly lapse into disrepair in the first place. Cablevision held on to the lease."

So yes, the Waverly has not just been saved, but actually vastly improved. This is a rarity! It happens to be one of my favorite Manhattan Cinemas, but it is no longer part of The Clearview chain and that's my point. A sale here, a transfer there. Soon, no Clearview.

I think Clearview was ready to shut it down altogether but IFC took it as a much needed outlet for their smaller films. There was some talk of that whole corner coming down at one point.

I have just heard from an unimpeachable real estate source that the rumor about the Chelsea 9 being replaced by a hotel is absolutely false. Not only did The Real Deal get the main story wrong, but several facts quoted therein were bogus as well. No guarantee that this will never happen, but it is certainly not happening now.

...

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117983379.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Text of Variety article (by Dade Hayes) posted April 2, 2008:


One of the boldest moves in Gotham exhibition this decade is taking shape along a quiet stretch of West 23rd Street.


The Clearview Chelsea West Cinemas, a somewhat unlikely center of gravity for the film biz in recent years, has been acquired by the School of Visual Arts. The school, which signed a 26-year lease to operate the site, is renaming it the Visual Arts Theater and renovating inside and out under the guidance of noted designer Milton Glaser.

Tonight's premiere of "Cook County" in the Gen Art Film Festival, will mark the end of the 1963 theater's days as a commercial house. After several months of rehab, a new repertory/special event venue will hope to satiate the screen-starved Manhattan industry.

"It's great. There's nowhere to go but up in terms of repertory cinema in New York," said Kent Jones, a contributing editor at Film Comment and assistant programmer at the Film Society at Lincoln Center. "When I got to town (a generation ago) there were dozens of them."

SVA's goals are different from those of IFC, which turned the old Waverly into a largely firstrun site that opened in 2005. But they are also notably more ambitious than those of NYU, which bought the former Art Theater on Eighth Street and turned it into classrooms and smaller screening rooms that seldom offer public shows.

"Some people were disappointed when we didn't close a deal for the Gramercy Theater, which is now the Blender Theater at Gramercy, because that's closer to the core of our campus" on the eastern end of 23rd Street, said SVA spokesman Michael Grant. "But in terms of the physical space it seems to me that it works out even better."

The 20,000-square-foot Visual Arts will maintain two auditoriums that currently seat 350 and 550. They will be upgraded with digital and 3-D projection gear as well as 35mm and even 70mm projectors.

Though it may not have quite the national profile of NYU or Columbia, SVA has spent aggressively in recent years to advertise itself, boosting undergrad enrollment this decade by 25% and the graduate ranks by 45%. Notable film alums include "Zodiac" DP Harris Savides, thesp Jared Leto and animator Bill Plympton.

The new theater gives SVA a presence in a fashionable downtown nabe favored by party planners and film bizzers largely due to logistics.

"I always liked doing red carpets there because there's not a lot of foot traffic and the two screens are on one level," said Donna Dickman, VP of publicity for Focus Features, which has preemed star-studded films such as "Evening" and "Broken Flowers" at the site. "In L.A., everyone drives, so there are a lot of feasible places to have big premieres. But here, you need subway access and easy logistics, which that place definitely has."

Industry screenings will still definitely happen at the Visual Arts. SVA has also been in talks with the major guilds as well as Women in Film, the Cinematheque Francaise, the Museum of the Moving Image and the National Board of Review about partnerships.

For Clearview, a Cablevision subsid since 1998, the loss of the Chelsea West is minimal given the continuation of ops across Eighth Avenue of the Chelsea, a sister multiplex. The two sites had always been booked as a unit, so distribs often didn't know where on 23rd Street they would be playing until opening day.

The Chelsea West has the 60s aesthetic of Clearview's flagship Ziegfeld uptown, and indeed began its life as a single-screen house with a balcony and a large capacity.

Grant wasn't able to speculate about the exact nature of programming, noting only that tie-ins were set with the Museum of the Moving Image. Gene Stavis, an SVA faculty member and onetime American rep for French film biggie Henri Langlois, will be the director of the theater.

International fests and series will definitely be a possibility, with spotlights on Iran, Turkey, Canada, Israel and France already under consideration.

saps, if I go to work there, are you coming over to visit? ;)

Just let me know when! Glad to hear you're in New York.

The intro should be corrected to reflect that Walter Reade, not Cineplex Odeon, tripled this theatre.

Gene Stavis told me the revised seating was going to be 480 for the main theater and 280 for theater 2. That was last year while they were still under construction.

If you are still wondering Bob T., that movie you described was called Ronja: The Robber's Daughter. It played for a week or two in May 1986.

Inside the Visual Arts.

http://orphanfilmsymposium.blogspot.com/2009/08/inside-visual-arts-theater.html