Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts

Just to add, during the Depression, when the sound equipment was installed, that's when the Patchogue theater became a "movie" theater, and remained that way until closing in the 80's. Now, after it's restoration it is mostly a legitamate theater once again, although they still can show movies there (and on very rare occasions still do), but never current movies.

The original name for the Patchogue Theater was the Patchogue "Ward and Glynne" theater and opened on May 23rd 1923.
It originally had 1330 seats, although at some point it was expanded.

Ward & Glynne was a circuit that operated vaudeville/movie theatres. This one was probably called Ward & Glynne's Patchogue Theatre, ala Ward & Glynne's Astoria Theatre in Queens, which I believe was their largest, with about 2,900 seats. By the time of the opening of the Patchogue, Ward & Glynne had sold the Astoria Theatre to Loew's.

Yes, you are correct. I checked again, and "Ward & Glynne" was in front of "Patchogue" in the original name.
Just to add a bit more, when they were restoring the Patchogue theater in the late 90's, all the seats were removed and they actually had obtained the velvet seats from the Imperial Theater in Manhattan to repace the old seats. So the Imperial's seats are now a part of Ward & Glynne's palatial Patchogue theater.....just a little theater trivia...

I have a question not a comment. Can you please advise who owns the theater.

I believe the Village of Patchogue owns the theater, as they are the ones who spent all the money to refurbish it. I think they have a company though that runs the theater though. The Gateway Playhouse from Bellport used to run it when it first reopened, bu they no longer do.
I am almost certain though that the Village owns it though.

thank you Bway

the village owns it

slightly off the topic but once i scurried inside this theater with popcorn and soda in hand only to discover that i had picked the wrong theater! i had seen the same movie the week before.
the owner at the time - a dour woman with short brown hair - phoned ahead and i was able to drive -popcorn and soda carefully balanced on the seat beside me - to the correct theater and run inside.
there were 5 theaters in patchogue at this time; this one, one slightly east on the same road, another on sunrise highway (where Wendy's is now) and a drive in (which also contained an indoor theater!). Anyway it was a wonderful theater then and - having seen mickey rooney there as well as an ice skating show in the past 2 years - i can say that its STILL a great theater. long may it live!

That's a great story!
The one near Wendy's at the Sunrise and Waverly Ave was the Sunwave Theater. (Click to read more about it). The one a little further east was the Plaza Theater.
There was also the Rialto Theater on South Ocean Ave that lasted until the late 70's when it burned.
The one with the drive-in is where the Movies at Patchogue 13 is located today.

Patchogue had an astonishing amount of theaters. Here's some of the others that may be befoe many of our times, but some did last into the 50's:
Star Palace Theater
Lyceum Theater
Granada Theater

Not mentioned is that UA ran this theater for many years when it was a movie house, when it was closed by UA it was a reduced price house.

Although the main auditorium is "restored", the main lobby and facade have been renovated and updated. The facade and the lobby are not original as stated in the introduction.

I never said they were original in the introduction (I'm Chris), I just said they were "restored" meaning it was made to look like it was when it opened. The entire fascade was redone after the fire in the 50's. The front of the theater was made narrower, and another store thrown in. The marquee was made half the size of the original at that point, and the building was done in a light blue 50's style brick.
When they restored the theater to it's turn of the century appearance in the 90's, they took over the store to the left (which was originally part of the lobby when built), and restored the marquee to it's original size.

Here's a photo of the Patchogue Theater taken today:

Click here for link to photo

you were busy today/bway did you or do you work in the movie bsns

The director of this theater quit today .

really wow.
why???

he took a new jod in N.J.

That is the second marquee they have had on that theater since 1998. Originally, it was your standard type of marquee where you puit letters on it manually. A year ago they added the digital one to it.
Does the Gateway Playhouse of Bellport still run this theater?

i dont think so/

I looked at the website for the Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts. While Gateway still produces shows there it is run by a not for profit Corporation.

still shows movies on occasion

Yes, but I don't believe they are projected movies. I'm not sure though.

Does Gateway still have performances there?

Gateway will be doing "Aida" and "The Full Monty" at the Patchogue Theatre this summer also Steve Howe from the the rock group "YES" is going to be their May 20th and a B-103 Oldies Concert June 25th...

The Village of Patchogue ownes the Theatre and it is a non-for-profit corporaation. It is run by a volunteer board, has all volunteer workers with the exception of the paid house manager and ticket booth person.

Here is a small daytime photo of the Patchogue Theater.

This website has the Suffolk Theater Business Plan from April of 2001. As of March 14, 2001 the Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts had 1224 seats. This theater is number 9.2 on the list.

Thanks Lost for posting that. OF course, the renovation is now complete, and a success. I believe Gateway Playhouse of Bellport still does operate occasional shows at the Patchogue, especially when it's a play that can't fit into their smaller Gateway Playhouse in Bellport.

going to see darlene love live ....6/24...will try and get some inside shots to share..

wally1975

Gateway's "Thoroughly Modern Millie" July 5–22, "La Cage aux Folles" Aug. 23–Sept.9...They do sixty dates a year including a Christmas Show in December...

thanks patv.

wally75

Wally1975 sent me a nice image of an article about the Patchogue that appeared in Newsday recently. He would like me to post it here, so please follow the link below:

It Happened on Long Island

A nice recent photo of the theater's interior is included with the article. The place looks like a beauty.

Ed, the place is a real beauty. They did a tremendous job restoring the old theater. They had to completely recreate the lobby, as a fire in the 50's destroyed it, and it was made much smaller and nondescript when they rebuilt the lobby soon after.
At some point, the Patchogue was twinned (perhaps even triplexed), and that was at some point in the 80's. It closed around 1989 to movies (give or take a year). At somepoint, all the interior was covered over in sheetrock (I am not sure if that was after the 50's fire, or with the 80's multiplexing), but thankfully, it only covered over the interior ornamentation, not destroyed it.
In the 1996 renovation, they were able to remove the sheetrock/plywood wall covering and expose the beauty of the Patchogue Theater as a diamond in the rough. They the restored it beautifully to it's former glory.

The Patchogue Theatre is beautiful. Gateway does not own it, they just rent it. if you are looking to purchase tickets to a Gateway show that is being performed at The Patchogue Theatre you need to contact Gateway for tickets. I know all of this because I work at The Patchogue Theatre and love it.

In March, 1929, an "evil odor" drove patrons from the Patchogue and Bay Shore Theatres during a dispute between management and labor. Reading the full story may require a magnifying glass, but it's worth the effort to discover the source of the odor:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/baypatch329.jpg

I WAS AT THE THEATRE SATURDAY THE THIRD AGAIN FOR AN OLDIES SHOW..

THERE IS A NEW DISPLAY OF POSTERS NEXT TO THE BAR THAT MUST BE SEEN

IT HAS GRAND OPENING WARD AND GLYNNES 1923 AND PRUDENTIAL ADS

AS EARLY AS 1934...ALSO AN AD FOR HAROLD LLOYD...IN THE SHOWCASE THEY

HAVE AN 8 X 10 PHOTO I DON'T KNOW HOW OLD IT IS..BUT, WHEN YOU SEE

INSIDE OF THIS THEATRE IT WAS TAKEN LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY...

I TALKED TO THE MANAGER, TOLD HIM ABOUT CT, SAID HE WILL SIGN ON

BE ON THE LOOK OUT..

WALLY75

Wally, I believe that you spoke with me, I am the box office manager. We do have quite a display of posters in the lobby. We are having another oldies show on June 30, 2007. Tickets will go on sale on or about March 13, 2007. We have a great comedy show on March 23, 2007, FRIDAY NITE LAUGHS with Russ Meneve, Andrew Kennedy & Joe Devito. You can call the box office for tickets to any of our shows 631-207-1313. I hope to see you at the theatre again.

At the bottom of this page is a vintage photo of Ward & Glynne's Patchogue Theater.

Hi! I'm new to this website and am thrilled to have discovered it. My family had a summer house in Patchogue from the late 50s thru the early 70s. We spent all our summers there and it was one of the happiest times of my life. We lived in Brooklyn and it was so great to drive out on Sunrise Hgwy or Southern Ste Pkwy every Friday to "the Island". Not only did my parents have a place there but so did my aunts, uncles, grandparents and even Bklyn neighbors! Back then, when I was a kid, it was such a treat to go to the Patchogue movie theatre to see movies. We saw everything that played there in the summer, believe me! From BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI to NORTH BY
NORTHWEST to A HOLE IN THE HEAD, etc. etc. I remember a coffee shop or ice cream parlor next to the theatre, if I'm not mistaken. If we didn't go there after the movies, we went to the Bonanza Steak House for dinner. If we went to the drive-in (definitely one of my childhood highlights - esp. when we saw THE MYSTERIANS!!!!) which was one town away, I believe, we would stop at Ricky's Hamburger Stand and bring burgers and shakes to the drive in. Saw every Jerry Lewis movie at the Rialto and we always sat in the balcony. Remember when the Plaza opened - it was high-class! - we saw Hitchcock's MARNIE there and also AIRPORT. It is really amazing how you can remember the theater as well as the movie! I have extremely happy memories of the summers we spent in Patchogue and the friends I made there: Ronnie, Bob, Tony, Sharon & Ray, MaryAnn (my old girlfriend!), Joe, Eddie, Annlouise, Kathy, Billy, Patty, etc etc. And can anyone tell me if the Catholic Church is still there. I can't remember the name of the church but I think it was Our Lady....something. We attended Mass there every Sunday. Originally it was downtown on Main St. and then they built a new, much bigger church on, I think, Medford Ave (?). If anyone has any info about this, I'd sure appreciate it. Thanks!

Please note that this theatre does NOT seat 1800, it seats 1166. Also, it is a Performing Arts Theatre and is no longer a movie theatre. You can visit the website to find out about upcoming shows and to purchase tickets. The website is www.patchoguetheatre.com

I think most realize it isn't a movie theater anymore. It says "Performing Arts" right on the top. The "single screen" refers to it being one auditorium, which it is.
I assume the loss of seats was over the years. 1800 was probably the original count.

Believe it or not, there are many people who still think that it is a movie theatre. I was asked (by my boss) to post on this site the exact number of seats and that we are a Performing Arts Theatre, because so many people believe that we are still a movie theatre.

I WILL BE THERE THIS SATURDAY 6/30/07 FOR MICKEY B's

OLDIES SHOW...ALWAYS A GREAT FEELING WALKING INTO THE THEATRE...

WALLY75

Wally - make sure to stop by the box office and say, "Hi". I should have tickets on sale to his next show (which is on 9/29/07) by Saturday.

By the time that the Patchogue Theatre opened in 1923, Ward & Glynne was a company in name only. Joseph Ward had died in 1922, but Mike Glynne retained the dual identity for a number of years before changing it to Glynne Theatres. Ward & Glynne also had a "silent partner" in steel tycoon Charles M. Schwab, who provided most of the funding for the W&G theatres from his vast personal fortune. Schwab was eventually wiped out in the Depression and died broke.

Paul T. Ruehl was the architect of the Patchogue Theatre, according to an article in the Patchogue Advance of May 18, 1923. The report claimed that the Patchogue Theatre was Ruehl's very first commission on his own, but that "he had been connected with a big firm of architects and had done some big work for them." I suspect that the firm was Thomas Lamb's, which had done Ward & Glynne's Astoria Theatre, but that's only a guess. I can't find any credits for Ruehl at Cinema Treasures, but it seems possible that he also did Ward & Glynne's Bayshore Theatre after winning acclaim for the Patchogue.

I think the Alhambra Theater on Knickerbocker Ave was also a Ward & Glynne Theater, but of course, I don't know if Ruehl had anything to do with that one too.

As far as I know, Ward & Glynne built three theatres before the Patchogue-- the Century & Alhambra in Brooklyn, and the Astoria in Queens. Thomas Lamb was architect of the Alhambra and Astoria, but I 'm not sure of the architect of the Century. But I doubt it was Paul Ruehl, since the Patchogue was reported to be his very first theatre on his own. A 1923 photo of Ruehl shows him to in his late twenties or early thirties, and much younger than Thomas Lamb, who was white-haired by that time.

Do you mean the Century in Flatbush, or the Century on Monroe Ave in Bedford Stuyvesant? Or was there yet another Century in Brooklyn?

I stopped in at the Patchogue Theater today to get some information about an upcoming show. I found a young girl working in the box office. When I asked her questions about the show, she didn't seem to know much about it. I spoke with her more and found out that she is the daughter of the Mayor. Need I say more? Is this how the Village of Patchogue hires their employees? No job skills required?

Many of the shows are run by the Gateway Theater in Bellport Village, not Patchogue Village, so perhaps that's where the ignorance of it came in...

By the way, the Gateway Theater is not on this site as I believe it never showed cinema.

Ward & Glynne's Century Theatre in Brooklyn was on Nostrand Avenue in Flatbush and is listed here under its later name of Linden (#6322).

I understand that Patchogue Village owns the Theater and Gateway Theater uses it for some of their shows.

KMAN5513

DON'T FORGET SEATING INFO AND FLOOR PLAN

JUST A REMINDER

WALLY...

PS HAD A GREAT TIME AT MICKEY B'S OLDIE SHOW...BACK STAGE AREA WAS

GREAT...

This was also known as the Prudential Patchogue and probably the UA Patchogue if it lasted that long as a cinema. Prudential bought the Patchogue from Ward & Glynne and operated it for the better part of its life as a cinema. The name "Prudential" was eventually replaced by UA, the circuit's parent company.

It closed in the late 80's to movies, so I dunno when the UA name began to be used. I don't remember it ever being called "Prudential Patchogue" or "UA Patchogue", but that doesn't mean it may not have been used. It may have been called just straight "Patchogue Theater" obviously at least for many years, as obviously "Ward and Glynne" was dropped decades before it became the Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts....

A Moller theater organ opus 3550 size 2/8 was installed in the Patchogue Theater in 1923 at a cost of $4500.

Wally,
Thanks for the reminder about the seating. I have been very busy at the theatre and have not been able to get to this until now. I did forget exactly what you told me to do to get it posted. Call me at the box office on a Monday 12-6PM, you will be able to get in touch with me then. The box office phone number is (631)207-1313. Meantime, anyone interested in seeing the seating chart can visit the website: www.patchoguetheatre.com
Thanks,
Kelly

hey now ct members....check out web site above..seating put to rest..

you need to check out this theatre in person...better yet see

a show there....

I went to a public hearing the other day about development in Patchogue at it's four corners, but the hearing was held in the Patchogue Theater, so while in there, I took the opportunity to get some interior photos of the place. They did a beautiful job restoring the place. It had been cut up into a multiplex before the renovations. The only unfortunate aspect is that the front stage lighting covers the top of the procenium arch, but I guess that is necessary of course for the stage productions. Other than that, a beautiful job:

Click Here for Front Main View
Front Left View
Ceiling View
Front Right View
Right and Back View
Stage View
Stage View

Until very recently a Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ was slated to go into the theatre -- It would have been maintained by the New York Theatre Organ Society. Unfortunately, with a change in managers the impetus was lost. The guy in charge of putting it in kept getting more and more resistance till he finally gave up.

The Port Jefferson Echo June 18, 1925

"Sally of the Sawdust", D.W. Griffith's masterpiece, will be publicly shown for the first time anywhere in the world, at the Patchogue Theatre, starting Sunday, June 21, for 4 days, matinee and evening. At the evening performance, Sunday, the following notables of the moving picture world will be present in person: D.W. Griffith, Carol Dempster, W.C. Fields, Adolph Zukor, Jesse Lasky and a great number of others prominent in motion pictures.

Here is an ad from December of 1931 for the Patchogue Theater
(Prudential Playhouses):
http://apa3.olivesoftware.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=Suffolk&BaseHref=PJE/1931/12/04&PageLabelPrint=8&ForceGif=true&EntityId=Ad00822&ViewMode=GIF&FontSize=l2

Here is an ad from 4 December 1929 for the Patchogue and Rialto Prudential Theaters:
http://apa3.olivesoftware.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=Suffolk&BaseHref=PJE/1929/12/05&PageLabelPrint=11&ForceGif=true&EntityId=Ad01121&ViewMode=GIF&FontSize=l2

An ad for the Port Jefferson Theater from the same page still lists that Theater as a Glynne house:
http://apa3.olivesoftware.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=Suffolk&BaseHref=PJE/1929/12/05&PageLabelPrint=11&ForceGif=true&EntityId=Ad01126&ViewMode=GIF&FontSize=l2

Suffolk County News ad from 6 July 1923:
http://apa3.olivesoftware.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=Suffolk&BaseHref=SCN/1923/07/06&PageLabelPrint=6&ForceGif=true&EntityId=Ad00622&ViewMode=GIF&FontSize=l2

Suffolk County News ads for Unique and Palace Theaters from 6 July 1923. Palace was in Patchogue and I believe the Unique in Sayville. Does anyone have more information on these two ?

http://apa3.olivesoftware.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=Suffolk&BaseHref=SCN/1923/07/06&PageLabelPrint=8&ForceGif=true&EntityId=Ad00817&ViewMode=GIF&FontSize=l2

I could never figure out if the Palace Theater was another name for the Star Palace or if the Palace was a different theater.

JF Lundy, the Unique Theater was the former name for the Rialto Theater on South Ocean Ave in Patchogue:

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/7421/

I think that the "Palace" was probably the Star Palace that Lost linked, but am not sure.

Thanks for the information Bway !

Hi. I work for the Architect that did the Restoration and New Lobby Design for the Patchogue Theatre. The Architect is local Patchogue Architect William J. Miller of WH Design Studio - located on N. Ocean Ave. right next to the Chamber of Commerce. If anyone has any questions about all the beautiful restoration/design work that Bill did please drop us a line at: inquiries@whdesignstudio.com Our website which includes some recent pictures of the Theatre is: http://www.whdesignstudio.com We also have a few original plaster pieces (which were beyond repair) from the theatre in our office on display. Enjoy the theatre...it's an important piece of Long Island History!

This theatre has been getting great use. A lot of great things have been booked here lately.

As a triplex
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c32%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=22&ProductID=30379

I have attended shows at the Patchogue Theatre in the past few years and was present when then Mayor Keegan had his crew remove the interior subdividing walls and seats. I think that they restored the auditorium to as it was prior to the shoe boxing and I feel, in my opinion, that it was originally much more colorful when first opened. I am pleased with what they have done yet I wish they didn't have to install all those lighting bridges which obstruct ones view. The main chandelier is nice but doesn't seem to go with the adamesque interior. The NYTOS had agreed with the previous director to install a 2-10 Wurlitzer and, just as they were about to begin, a new director came onto the scene and refused to allow the installation for whatever reason. In this writer's opinion that was a bad decision on his part. The organ would have been a wonderful addition to the theatre allowing silent film and concerts, etc. Anyway, it is wonderful to have such a theatre here in Suffolk County and the village has make a comeback around it.