Adams Theatre

The Adams Theater has quite a history. When it was the Shubert, many big names played its stage, including Eddie Cantor, Sophie Tucker and the Marx Brothers. Most of the big bands played there in the swing era, and Jerry Lewis worked as an usher when he was a teenager.

We walked through this theater about 5 years ago, when I was working for the Loew's Jersey. It needs a lot of help. There were early signs of water damage at that time, and plaster was beginning to fall onto the seats. We were surprised to see that it still many original light fixtures, including beautiful chandeliers over the side boxes in the auditorium.

Unfortunately, the owner at that time was allowing crews from film shoots to gut the stage of all the vintage lighting. He even offered to sell us some of the light fixtures, but with the leaky roof, none of us were willing to climb above the ceiling to see how to lower the chandeliers!

It was so sad to see this great Newark showplace rotting away while they were sinking millions into the nearby Performing Arts Center.

How far is this from Newark Penn Station? Is this near the Newark Paramount?

What's left of the Adams Theater is on Branford, between Broad and Halsey Streets. The old neon sign is missing a few letters and there are some retail establishments in what was the lobby.

Managed by Mr. Pasquale for 40 years.

Beautiful recollections at this site:

http://www.virtualnewarknj.com/memories/ntheatre/rothschild01.htm

Newer photo:
http://www.oldnewark.com/busind/images/theatres/adams/adams2002js.jpg

"Newark's last two movie houses, the Paramount and the Adams went dark in 1986 when their insurance rates increased 500 percent. Newarkers seeking mainstream popular movies had to go elsewhere."

The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), Sept 26, 1996 p004

Listed as a "Florin's" theater in March 1969 when it showed 2001 (courtesy of Bill Huelbig):
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/billhuelbig/odyssey.jpg

Listed as a Negro Theater in the 1951 FDY.

Appears to be site for some exterior movie filming. In the Star Ledger dated 10/22/05, page 21 there is an article titled "Newark: The way it was" I can't find the text online at nj.com. There is a photo of a marquee and the caption states that it is on Branford Place. The photo looks a lot like that in my 3/23/05 post, except that the Adams name is removed (hopefully just for the filming?) and there is a new traffic light clearly visible in the newer photo.

The theater is being used as a recreation of 1960 Broadway (yes, THE Broadway in NYC) for the upcoming movie "Across The Universe".

Can anyone confirm if this is the Adams Theater?

The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), Oct 22, 2005 p021
Jenny's Dish. (TODAY)

Newark: The way it was

A CREW of carpenters, scenic artists and designers spent this week in Newark transforming a few blocks of the downtown into Broadway, circa 1960, for the movie "Across the Universe."

An original musical film directed by Julie Taymor, "Across the Universe" is a love story set to a score of Beatles songs that defined the decade, according to publicity materials.

She loves him, yeah, yeah, yeah?

Taymor, who directed the movies "Frida" and "Titus," and the Broadway smash "The Lion King," is working with an ensemble cast led by Evan Rachel Wood ("Thirteen"). The film combines live action with animation as it moves from Manhattan to Detroit to Vietnam and Liverpool.

Lighting cranes and trailers were parked along Branford Place and Washington Street, while vintage cars and checker cabs lined Halsey Street in preparation for the nighttime shoot.

"They're doing a good job," said John Vaughan-Bey, owner of Moorish Fragrance at 214 Halsey St.

"Downtown Newark is not like it used to be. It was really, really busy," said Vaughan-Bey, a lifelong resident who remembers what Newark was like four decades ago. "In that building across the street, there were offices and a restaurant and a bar downstairs. The other side of the street, there were law offices and two movie theaters.

"Newark was like New York. That's the way it was," he said.

Contributor: Peggy McGlone

CAPTION(S):

<p>1. A film crew works on the marquee of a movie theater on Branford Place in Newark, transforming the street into a stretch of Broadway in the '60s for "Across the Universe," a movie being shot in the city this weekend.

Display AD:

Daily News Tuesday Feb 2, 1954 Page 39 under Amusements:

Minsky's The Greatest Name in Burlesque

MARA GAYE "The Lady of Fashion"
LOTUS DUBOIS Parisian Un-Cover Girl

Continuous from 11 am

ADAMS Theatre
1 Block from
Broad & Market Sts
NEWARK

found these ads in mom's (Mara's) scrapbook :)

Lotus Dubois is my aunt. She retired from burlesque in the mid 1950s.
She just turned 80 and is still very active.

I remember going to a rock and roll/ryhthm and blues show at The Adams in July 1957.I was 13 at the time..The host was dj Tommy Smalls from WWRL in NYC..Some of the performers I saw on that unforgettable day were The Dells,Paragons,Jesters,Solitaires, Mickey and Sylvia,The Cadillacs,Keytones and some others which I can't remember right now..Anyone else out there have any info?

Hey rexb.. can you please get in touch with me?
Would very much like to speak to your aunt and also have some info that may interest her.
email me: dc@mfnos.net
Thanks
Dorothy

This theater closed as a burlesque on February 7, 1957

THE CLOSING OF BURLESQUE -- 1957 (From the Newark Evening News: February 6, 1957)

"Harold Minsky, who brought burlesque to the old Adams Theater in August 1953, said the 50 permanent employees at the theater had received one-week layoff notices. He said tomorrow night's last show, beginning at 10 o'clock, would ring down the curtain."

"Minsky estimated that Newark now is one of only 15 to 20 cities in the country where burlesque shows operate."

source: Newark, A Chronological & Documentary History, by Arnold S. Rice, 1977, page 111.

TC, Do you have any more Newspaper Movie Ads?

Hi all - I have a photograph showing the Adams/Shubert Theater, which I'm trying to date. Here is a detail: http://www.dalahus.com/images/chamber%20detail.jpg

I'm pretty sure it's in the late 1920s, namely 1928, as a search shows the Operetta "To The Queen's Taste" was staged by Shubert in Atlantic City, but no record of it being performed in Newark. The marquee shows Shubert, but if this was the 20s, then according to the listing here it would have actually been either Payton's or Keeney's... I'm so confused!

Thanks..
Steve

Apparently, I. Hirst Enterprises and the Adams Newark Theatre Co, lost a Supreme Court appeal against the City of Newark in May 1957. Anybody have any additional information?
Hirst Enterprises also owned the Globe Burlesque Theatre in Atlantic City, NJ.
Also looking for information on the 1961 70 minute film called "Scanty Panties", filmed at the Globe.
Thanks,
Frank Reighter email: fereighter@aol.com

I am the Property Manager for the Adams Theater in Newark and I understand that the owner is selling some great antiques that still exist in the theater. If anyone is interested feel free to contact me. I would hate to see some of this really neat stuff thrown to waste or have someone that doesn’t really understand the value behind some of this stuff get their hands on it. Feel free to e-mail me at belalaa@gmail.com or write back.

What is happening with this once grand showplace? Doesn't ANYBODY within the city recognize the history and significance of this theater?

To let it sit and rot away (and get stripped of artifacts) is a real shame.

They aren’t ripping it away. They are just cleaning it up because the previous owner of the building let it rot away. They are actually trying to salvage what is left of it but some stuff is considered to be antiques and they currently don’t have any use for it, so instead of throwing it away they would rather sell it to someone that would have use for it and appricaite this kind of neat stuff.

Thank you for the clarification. Are there plans to restore the theater?

In August, 1954, this celebrated its first anniversary as Minsky's Adams, which was claimed to be the largest burlesque theatre in the USA at that time. The Minsky management reported to Variety that about 950,000 tickets were sold in that first year. The star attraction of the first anniversary show was Lilli St. Cyr, with a striptease routine based on the opera, "Carmen."

Hello everyone. I ventured to Newark, NJ today and took a walk to see the old Adams. I noticed that the block where this venerable theater resides now boasts a number of Muslims businesses. Anyway, I saw that the Adams' marquee was covered with a sign for a 99 cent market. I walked over to get a closer look. I was sidetracked by a a gang of kids who were fighting. As I got closer I thought that perhaps I had hit gold and could get inside the theater. I was able to see where the box office used to be and was attempting to go in further since the door was open. Just then a man stopped me and asked me what I wanted. I asked him if I could see inside to the auditorium but he said that I would have to speak to his boss. Alas, his boss said no. I was so disappointed as I walked away and heard the gates coming down.

I know the feeling. I tried to get into the long-closed Tower Theater in Compton, CA last month. The owners of the current business that has been pasted onto the front of the theater were very suspicious. No dice.

A friend of mine made an appointment and toured the theater (contacted Belal above). He said the interior is amazing, but utterly decrepit. Chunks of ceiling plaster are literally all over the seats and floor. It's in a condition beyond any reasonable attempt at restoration, given the location.

He saw neat stuff: decorative sconces, old movie posters, stacks of movie reels, an old ticket machine, the original projectors, etc. The seats are apparently very nice. So the place is a dump, but for folks interested, there probably is some salvageable artifacts.

Sadly they wouldn't permit photography. I would kill to see that interior.

Why do you think they refuse to allow photography inside?

With Prudential Center having just opened just a few blocks away, I'd wager that much of the real estate in the area will be ripe for redevelopment in the coming few years. This would probably be a good time for shutter bugs to get themselves to downtown Newark and document what remains along the Broad Street corridor before it is all re-zoned and re-built beyond recognition.

I agree with Ed. downtown Newark has that gritty feel to it that Times Square once had. Soon it will be scrubbed clean and it will lose its real vibe. The Newark Paramount, with lots of love and cash, could become a great concert hall.

I have been saying for the past year, if they want people to come back to Newark, you need something for them to come back to. Bringing the Adams, and its companion a few blocks away, the Paramount would be a great start. Lets not find them being turned into offices or condos, like so many other great palaces have.

Ed I agree with your idea about the Paramount. But with the NJPAC nearby I wonder if the power-that-be will allow such competition. I feel that the Paramount would make a great theater to stage shows like the New Amsterdam in Times Square. It's a shame that developers don't think like we do. We are able, for the most part, to see a broader picture. They see things in dollars per square feet.

Went by today, the "ADAMS" letters that were left have been removed and new panels cover the three sides of the marquee "$1.00 DISCOUNT".

That sign has been there for a long while now:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweintraub/276592822/

When I was there last year I saw the same sign. The gates were up and I almost made it into the auditorium but some guy came by and basically told me to take a hike. From the looks of the lobby just past the front door it seems they were operating a discount store but it failed.
It was so sad to see a great beauty like the Adams reduced to a discount store.

The Adams restoration would be more probable if Newark in genereal and this neighborhood in particular were more inviting.

Cypress... Why do you feel that Newark losing its "grit" is a terrible thing? Obviously you don't live there. Who wants to live in a neighborhood filled with crime and fear? Given the choice, virtually no one.

Times Square was a cesspool that was symbolic of the city as a whole in the 70's, 80's and early 90's. Once it was cleaned up and its "Grit" removed, what happended? The Theater Boomed, hotels boomed, restaurants boomed and then, surprise!...People WANTED to live in Times Square/Hells Kitchen.

Newark could only dream of having success like this. In the early 90's New York had a murder count of 2,200 people. Today it is around 500. A big part of the reason for the decline is the city's success in getting rid of that "grit" you appear to like. Many more people are alive today because of the city's success. Yet Newark is at its high point in murders. Why would you want it to stay this way?

Hi LuisV. I guess I am misguided. What one person considers 'gritty' another considers an eyesore. I was pretty lost around that time and I found in that old Times Square something that resonated with me: neglect, abandoned, but still a diamond in the rough that needed TLC.

Hi Cypress, Do you currently live in one of Newark's gritty wards? Do you look over your shoulder when you walk down the street at night. Do you worry about being burglarized while you sleep? Are your neighborhood stores just Dollar Stores, check cashing vendors and bodegas? Oh, I forgot the store front churches! Do you have to go to a whole other neighborhood to shop at real department stores or go to a supermarket or feel comfortable sitting in a park? Who wants to live like that? I'm so grateful that New York has been able to wipe most of that away throughout the entire city to the betterment of almost all of its residents.

The cities who have been unable to do this; Detroit, Gary, East St. Louis, Cleveland, Compton, Camden sit in ruins.

I have to disagree about Cleveland - while it certainly has not erased grittiness throughout the city, it certainly has done an incredible job of preserving most of its downtown movie palace treasures, something that New York City cannot claim. It may not be what it was in the past, but it is hardly a city in ruins.

I do wish this theatre, along with the Paramount a few blocks away could be revived, but I dont know...

CWalczak, I apologize for the comment about Cleveland. I did hesitate before adding it to the list because I do know that Cleveland is in better shape than the other cities that I mentioned. I know that they have made some strides in preserving theaters in the Playhouse Square area and are trying hard to get back on its feet, but Cleveland still has major problems throughout the city as a whole. The credit crisis has hit the city incredibly hard and I believe Cleveland has one of the country's largest forclosure rates (maybe the highest for a major city).

The theater was presenting burlesque shows in the early 1950s, according to some litigation at that time.

Here is a 1981 photo of the Adams:
http://tinyurl.com/cztybz

stage door??? http://newarkbusiness.org/photos/theatres/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=27&pos=2 looking at google earth it seems like this stage door on treat place must be the Adams, which runs from halsey to treat? and the branford side is just the lobby? but what to make of the signage for victoria theater on the back in the other picture?

This is another 1981 photo.

I'm reading the autobiography of my favorite singer, Vic Damone, and he mentions having performed here early in his career while he was doing radio, records, & clubs.