Broadway Theater

Demolished 1998?

when did this close- I live near it-

The exterior was featured in the backround of The French Connection as the Rio Piedras Theatre. This was the first Brooklyn area scene right after the opening sequence in Marsailles. Gene Hackman was dressed like Santa Claus and Roy Scheider was dressed as a hotdog vendor, they had the Oasis Bar under narcotics surveilance. Anyways the marquis of this theatre can be seen in the backround as their suspect flees down the block."Have you ever picked your feet in Poughkipsee?"

A website chronicling the history of the Broadway theatre:
http://kinema1.tripod.com/bklynstages/id2.html

Greenpoint, is that photo on the top of that page of the interior of the Broadway Theater?
Anyway, you can also get a glimpse of the Broadway Theater in the movie "Ghost". When the train that Patrick Swayze's character is on pulls into the Myrtle-Broadway station, you can get a glimpse of the theater to the left of the train. I have many times looked into the glass-less windows of the Broadway Theater while waiting for subway trains. In whatever that room was on the second floor facing the subway platform, the plaster ceiling had collapsed onto the floor.
In 1998 when they demolished the theater, I was able to see the interior of the theater for the first time. It was very ornate. For a period of time the interior of the theater was exposed. The final wall to come down was the stage wall and the proscenium arch was still intact. Some Corinthian columns also remained with the stage wall along another wall, and one last chandelier hung there waving in the wind. I wish I had my camera with me that day.
Today, the site of the theater is still vacant. A "shany-town" has sort of sprung up at the rear of the lot where the stage used to be with homeless people. You can still see the scars of the old theater on the wall that used to be shared by the theater and the building on the left. You can see where stairways went up to the balconies and different levels on the bricks on the side of the building on the left.
You can also see a photo taken in 1914 of the old Broadway Theater in it's prime in the book, "The Brooklyn Elevated" by Greller and Watson on the Myrtle Ave El page.

Should be listed as Loew's Broadway

Nice Brooklyn link above. Thanks.

After Loew's took over the theatre in 1915, I don't think that it ever made any changes in the auditorium. I have some color photos taken in the 1960s where everything still looks original, including the red velvet draperies in the tiers of boxed seats.

Warren, I would love to see photos of the Broadway Theater. Do you have any online somewhere? Also, do you know if the photo in the link above is of the Broadway Theater or one of the others in that article?

It says at the very bottom of that page about Brooklyn theatres that the photo was taken in the Brooklyn Academy of Music. At present, my color photos of the Broadway Theatre's interior are 35mm slides, and copies of the originals. I'm not sure that prints can be made without the negatives.

Ah, thanks, I missed that.
Actually, you can scan slides with a slide scanner (I have scanned many of my slides). Mine is an Epson, and it works very well.
Of course I'm not expecting you to go out and buy one (They are about $100), but if you ever had an interest to do such a thing for any of your slides, it's an easy option, and of course once it's a scan, they print just as easily as any digital photo.
But anyway, if you do ever find any interior photos of it on the net somewhere, please post the link here. I really would love to see the interior intact. (My only viewing of it was from the subway platform as it was being torn down).

This theatre should be relisted:

It was the Loew's Broadway for most of it's life.
It was demolished in mid to late 1998.

Here's a photo taken the other day of the Broadway's site and the unfortunate fate of the beautiful building. In the background is the shantytown that sort of took up residence in the former stage area.
I only wish I had my camera with me the day I was there when they were demolishing the building, the whole interior was visable from the el station platform at Myrtle-Bway.
I was sad to see it go, although it had been in shambles for years. A shame.

http://www.transitgallery.com/data/02e74f10e0327ad868d138f2b4fdd6f0/full_47_p15294.jpg

When I last visited the site about four years ago, the stage and everything behind it were still standing. It was on a Sunday, and no work was being done, but it looked like the demolition would soon be complete and a new building started. I'm shocked that the site is still vacant. Who owns it and what are the plans for it, if any?

I was to lazy to photograph it, they left the building standing as a shell for months with the interior exposed.

Apollo, I regret that too. I can still visualise the interior exposed while transferring between M and J trains at Myrtle-Bway station. I only wish i took a few photos at the time. This is another theater that I wish I could see the interior of. I looked at it in progressing stages of decay since I was a child...and now it's gone.

This originally housed plays and vaudeville as Teller's Broadway. The comedy team of Weber & Fields were reportedly silent partners in the theatre and responsible for selling it to Marcus Loew. According to an old floor plan for Teller's Broadway, the side exit doors were on Court and Stockton Streets. I don't know if those names are still in use.

Stockton is still the street that abutted the Broadway. It's the street with the bulldozer you see to the right of the theater...eh...theatersite in my photo linked above.
If there was a "Court St", it had to be that alley like road behind the "shantytown" in the photo.
The stage was in the location of the shanty town. That back wall was the last to be torn down. The procenium arch stood there exposed in all it's glory, with corintian columns and even a chandelier waving in the wind for months, while the other three side walls were removed. What I wouldn't do to have had my camera with me on the el station then to take a photo.

Why did they tear this great old theater down? It could have been put to some other use like the RKO at Gates subway station was. It was an attractive building, even if in bad shape.
Anyone know of any photos of it inside or outside, past or in later years?

Someone mentioned to me that this theater showed Spanish (Latin American) films in it's final days. When did it close for good? Was it a theater right to the end, or was it converted to a store first?

After shuttering as a movie theatre, it just stood there vacant until demolition.

The theater stood there vacant for many years. All the windows were gone, and just gaping holes allowing the weather to enter. I would often stand on the Myrtle-Bway subway platform looking into the second story windows, in the "turret", and the ceilings had completely colapsed onto the floor in many spots. Unfortunately, it, like the RKO Bushwick were left for too many years to the forces of nature, and both were probably not salvagable on the interiors. Fortunately, at least the Bushwick had it's exterior saved, even if interior gutted. The palatial Broadway wasn't so lucky.

I am guess that this is the theater that is visible from the platform waiting for the M or J train heading into Queens? If I am correct I remember going to this theater over 30 years ago. The theater was known as the Rio Piedras. I went there for a Christmas show. However as I recall, the theater was small.
I tried accessing the link to find out more about the Broadway Theater but it is wrong or missing. Anyone have any updated site?

The Broadway Theatre has been demolished. It is no longer visible except in photographs or memory.

Someone has just emailed me and just told me that the URL
I submitted for The Broadway Theatre on February 1st 2004 is no longer there..

Unfortunatly URL's come and go.
But for all of you interested in The Broadway Theatre, just do some
online searches- thats how I ran across the URL to begin with.

Another good thing is actually capturing the whole webpage...
File>Save As> Web Page, complete (*.htm .*html)> Save.
Now you have pictures and text from that website for your own usage.

When my Mother had some extra money, we would go to the Loews Broadway, which was on the corner of Broadway & Stocton St......One block from Myrtle Ave......It showed primarily 2nd run MGM features after they had played the Loews State in Manhattan & Loews Metropolitan in downtown Brooklyn.........Some of the films I saw there as a kid were "Anna"-1951 with Silvana Mangano, "King Solomon's Mines-1950 with Stewart Granger, and one weird double feature of "Bella Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla"with Sammy Petrillo(a Jerry Lewis look alike) & Duke Mitchell( a poor man's Dean Martin) plus Tarantula with John Agar & Leo G .Carroll-------I went with a couple of school chums, and when Leo G Carroll turned to the audience after injecting himself with this serum that made animals and insects larger, I almost jumped 3 rows back-----YIKES, what a kisser------One eye up in his forehead, drooping mouth----Carroll was nothing to look at to begin with, but the make-up guy did a hell of a job on him-----The Giant Spider was nothing compared to Carroll's kisser in that one-----Incidently, the Jet Pilot who eventually barbeques the giant spider was Clint Eastwood in an early role-----Joe From Florida---sasheegm----

On the day of the Wall Street Crash (October 29, 1929), Loew's Broadway was presenting Patsy Ruth Miller in "Whispering Winds":
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/134-3434_IMG.jpg

Nice to see these old programs Warren.......You do a great job finding them and sharing them with us-----Keep em' coming------Joe From Florida

This may have been the theater where Mae West played her pre-Broadway try-out of Diamond Lilin around 1928. frankie from Brooklyn

i remeber it as the loews broadway because they showed paramount films...i saw star spangled rhythm with bing crosy in 1942 there and rode home on trhe old wooden elevated myrtle av line back to ridgewood

I lived on Stockton St., directly down a few blocks from the Loew's Broadway Theatre. It was located on a corner of Broadway under the El. I would have to walk up hill to the theatre.
It was usually darkish under the marquee around the boxoffice and where the now playing pictures were posted in the frames under glass.
I recall the day I struck gold, while walking past the gated area on the Stockton St. side of the theatre where they disposed of the trash. The gate was ajar and I poked through the barrels and found some 8 x 10 glossies of movie stills that was discarded. It must have been 1958 since the glossies were of the films "The Long Hot Summer", "Cy Terror" with James Mason, "Harry Black and the Tiger", "The Big Country", etc. I still have the stills today.
You could imagine what a find it was, especially for a moviebuff like myself.
Good memories of a grand theatre.

JoeB

Hello JoeB from JoeR in Florida: My Aunt & Uncle lived on Stockton, along with my 5 Cousins..........Their name was Cosentino.....Do you recall that name or the Family?-----Two were youngre then me by one year(I'm 64, will be 65 next month) all the others were much older Two Brothers, Carmine & Joe served in WW-2..........Back to the Loews Broadway as I knew it by....I lived on Willoughby Ave between Central & Evergreen Ave's between 1946 & 1959,,,,,,I'm sure you went to some of the other old movie houses on Broadway & off it, as we all did.......My favorite itch, was the Rogers, since they showed westerns......also the Starr on Knickerbocker Ave.....The RKO-Bushwick or Madison---Rivoli----You can check my favorites-----Those stills may be worth something today, as there is a big market for Original stills---check Ebay and you will see what some are going for------Good to see another Bushwick-ite posting-----I always stay logged in to receive messages, and so I don't have to log in every time I receive one from my favorite Movie Houses----JoeR from Florida---sasheegm user id

Hello JoeR, I'm also living in Florida now and it's a beautiful day today. It's nice meeting you here.
Sorry, I don't recall the name of your Aunt & Uncle or your cousins. I lived at 178 Stockton St. I'm also in my 60s.
I do realize that the stills could be worth some money and I'm gonna take your advice and check with Ebay. Thanks.
My family and I just about lived at the Rogers Theater on Broadway.
I'm going to that site right now.

JoeB

Not too much going on at this site yet. There's still sort a shanty town built at the area where the stage used to be, at the back end of the property.

Bway, it's a shame that the site now lays dormant after demolishing the Broadway Theatre. It would have been a better idea to save the palatial theatre. What a waste!

JoeB

Yes it is. Perhaps if it had lasted a few more years it would have survived, as the area is improving. If current trends continue, it won't be long before the vacant land is built on again, probably for new homes. However, the opulent Broadway is unfortunately gone forever. I would LOVE to see a photo of the interior of this theater, but have never been able to find one.

Here's a postcard view of the exterior when the theatre first opened as Teller's Broadway, presenting plays or vaudeville. Marcus Loew took over in 1915 and changed the policy to a combination of movies and vaudeville: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bkbroadway.jpg

Nice postcard Warren-------Only part of the old theater that probably remained the same after re-modeling the front & interior was the staircase on the Stockton Street side of the theater-------I went there many times------Joe From Florida

GREAT photo....only thing is, they took some creative license.....where's the Broadway El?

This is exactly the way I remember the theater in it's final decades passing by it on J or M trains. The place was in shambles by the 90's. You could look inside those coupola windows right from the platform. My only regret is that I didn't take any photos when they were tearing it down....The last wall to go was the procenimu arch wall, and it stood exposed to the elements, a cornitian column, and even with a chandelier swinging in the wind....

Anyone know of any interior phtoos available, historic or later years?

I must correct an error that I made on 7/11/07. Marcus Loew took over the operation of the Broadway Theatre in 1914, not 1915. The exact date was June 1st, 1914, according to a report that I found today in The New York Times of 5/31/14. The same article claimed that Loew would take over the Fulton Theatre in the following week, giving him a total of seven theatres in Brooklyn.

I'm trying to find proof of the existence of a drive-in theater in Brooklyn. All I could find was one called the Broadway Drive-In, but no other information was available.

http://www.drive-ins.com/theater/nytbro2

Can anyone help me out on this? Thanks.

i lived on hart st. between broadway and stuyvesant ave. every
saturday i went to the movies at the broadway regardless of what
was playing. almost every kid in the neighborhood was there.
sometimes in the fifties the name went from the lowe's broadway
to the century broadway and then became a spanish speaking movie
house. wong's restaurant was up the block and some kids actually
took out lunch there and brought it to the movies. when things
got dull the guys would run through the balcony and the matron
would run after them. while the matron was upstairs someone would
open the side doors and let kids in. my friend's mother use to take us to the movies on a weekday night and get free dishes.
i loved that movie.

I'm not aware of any drive-in theatres in Brooklyn, NY. Perhaps the reference is to a Brooklyn elsewhere in the USA?

I have never heard of a drive-in theater located in Brooklyn, NY. A drive-in theater was proposed for Brooklyn around 1950, but the plan was rejected by the City Planning Commission because of the possibility of serious traffic congestion. If you do a search through the NY Times articles, you should be able to find an article about it dated October 12, 1950.

Thanks, Warren and Lost Memory. This is all based on a lost memory of mine: in 1960 when I was 5 years old, my family was caught in a brutal rain/wind storm on the Belt Parkway, going from Canarsie to Hoboken NJ. I thought I remembered passing a drive-in that night which was showing "I Passed for White". Must've gotten my memory wires crossed somewhere.

Bill, if you passed through Staten Island enroute to Hoboken, you could have seen a drive-in there. Also, if you used the Whitestone Bridge to the Bronx, you might have passed the Whitestone Drive-In on the Bronx side of the bridge.

Thanks, Warren. It could've been Staten Island. This was in the days before the Verrazano Bridge went up, but there must have been some other way to get there.

Did they ever show porn at this theater? Did porn ever play in any of the theaters that were located on Broadway in Brooklyn?

Here's a photo of the old Loews Broadway Theater site I took yesterday. It appears that they recently put up construction barricades on the site, so it appears they will be building something there soon. This is stockton St looking towards Broadway. The theater was once on the right:

Click here for photo

Bway, thanks for the photo. I use to live at 178 Stockton St. and attended the Broadway Theater in my youth. Good memories.
It broke my heart when the theater was demolished.

Thanks,
Joe B.

Hello Bway: My Aunt, Uncle and Cousins grew up on Stockton Street, two houses down from the Broadway in the 1920s through the 1950s........................I would imagine that all of those old tenements have been torn down as they were quite old-----but needles to say, they would frequent the Broadway quite often-------I remember when they remodeled the Loew's Broadway in the 1950s------all new carpeting was added as well as modern toilets, and a refreshment counter----It was a beautiful theater, and one of the last films I saw there was "Tarantula"-----scared the hell out of me when Leo G Carrol turned quickly towards the audience with his face all distorted----lol-----fun times & great memories-----Joe From Florida

Hi JoeB----Maybe you remember my Cousins----The Cosentino Family who lived on Stockton from the 1920s through the 1950s------They also went to the Broadway too----Just a 1/4 of a block walk------Joe From Florida

Joe, although I lived there during the 1950s I don't recall the Cosentino family. I lived down hill from the Broadway Theater between Tompkins Ave. and Throop Ave.
Do you recall the Kismet Theater which was about 5 blocks from me?

Joe B.

No Joe.....I don't remember the Kismet as I seldom went past Stockton & Broadway up that way since I lived on Willoughy between Central & Evergreen in the other direction-------My Mother grew up on Marcy ave near Troop in the 1920s------Her Father was a fish peddler in the area who would cover most of Williamsburg-----He passed away in 1948 when I was seven years old-----Do you remember when they closed the Broadway to refurbish it in the 50s--------When it was re-opened it looked like it was brand new.......................My Mother used to take me there as a kid to see all of the MGM musicals in Color-----and when I left I had a number 5 Excedrin headache as I much prefered the old Rogers with their westerns & action flicks----Joe From Florida

Joe, the Kismet Theatre was located at DeKalb and Marcy Avenues in Brooklyn and showed three movies a week. The Kismet closed in 1962 and is now a church.
I don't recall the re-opening of the Broadway Theater. I left the neighborhood in 1958.

Joe B.

I moved to Long Island in 1959 and only went back occasionally to take my Mother to Moore Street to buy Material as she was a dressmaker-------In the 60s I recall walking up to Broadway and looking at the old Rogers all boarded up with windows smashed and a poster in the small lobby blowing in the wind of a Durango Kid movie which used to be shown there almost every Saturday in the late 40s and early 50s-------It was sad for me indeed-----Take care JoeB

Joe, a lot of the old buildings in that location do still exist, so it's highly likely their old homes may still be standing. The neighborhood is also improving quite a lot lately.

Here's a new link to an early postcard view as Teller's Broadway:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bkbroadway.jpg

Here's a late view of the Broadway Theatre as a Spanish-language cinema. Note the empty space on the front of the marquee where "Loew's" has been removed: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bwaymarq.jpg

Thanks for the great picture.
Did this theater ever show porn? The titles, With Desires in my Fingers (roughly transalated from Spanish) seems odd.

WOW, another phenominal photo! Thanks for the "BWAY" photo!

Brooklyn lost a true architectural treasure when the Broadway Theatre was demolished without a whimper of protest. Here are two amazing views of the auditorium, which retained most of its turn-of-the-century decor until closure. Note the "modern" air vents in the ceiling, and water damage to some of the curtains and draperies:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/lobway01.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/lobway02.jpg

Beautiful Warren: Just as I remember it from the 1950s---Joe From Florida

I recall an article in the NY Daily News about this theater, which by then was a sorry sight. The theater was way beyond its prime. It was a sad site.
The article was about the theater's dilapidated condition. It had become a haven for drug dealers, homeless, and other assorted characters. The politician made it clear that there was no way the theater would be renovated, which the communited was hoping for.

Warren, where did you get those great pics? What year?

Because of the BMT Jamaica Line El tracks overhead you could not appreciate the impressive architectural features of the theater building highlighted in the postcard drawing. Of course the later addition of the Loew's marquee also distrupted the building view. Saw the Conqueror there with a miscast John Wayne, & Susan Hayward as the love interest (although even back then I knew that there was no attraction between them). I got to appreciate the theater's impressive details while bored by the feature. Alexander the Great with Richard Burton did a better job of holding my interest.

Saw a number of flms there from the 1940s through the 1950s---It was a great showplace----Joe From Florida

I remember when the Broadway was torn down in 1998. The last wall to remain up was the procenium arch and stage area. I still remember looking at the theater's inside, and that wall, out in the sunshine. it was all in clear view from the Myrtle-Bway subway station platform. It was a surreal sight to behold to say the least. I only wish I had my camera with me that day.
Chris

I was only in the Broadway Theater once, and don't really remember too much about it, other than the fact that it was quite fancy. I think it must have been some time in the 40's, and I agree it was a showplace.
I do however remember a lot about it from the outside. I lived over on Pilling St as a kid, and I would often go shopping with my mother on Knickerbocker Ave. We would take the Jamaica train to the Myrtle and Broadway elevated station, and get off and take the Myrtle El to Knickerbocker Ave. I remember always looking at the Broadway Theater as it towered above the station. So many memories. This was not far from the Rogers Theater down the street, which I also remember seeing the marquee from passing trains. But the two didn't compare.
One of the first DVD's I bought was the movie "Ghost", because it was filmed in the neighborhood, and you can see this theater in that movie. I am 82 now, and a big fan of old movies. I know isn't exactly an old movie, but for nostalgia, my daughter bought it for me. My daughter has slowly been helping me build my DVD collection.

So glad to have found this site.

If anyone has any memories to share, my email is whardy57@aol.com

What year did the Broadway close?