Northport Theater

If this theatre first opened in 1932, I really doubt that it started as a vaudeville house. By that time, vaudeville was all but dead and buried. Furthermore, the nation was in the grip of an economic Depression. A theatre in a small town like Northport would have had to struggle to pay for film rentals, let alone "live" performers, musicians, and stage hands.

I believe you are correct Warren. I'd been working on several LI theaters simultaneously and, your comment having inspired me to double check my research, I believe I mistakenly included that piece of info here accidentally. Though the theater did (does) have a stage, I've found no evidence that it was used for live performances upon its opening. Thanks, I will submit a revision.

this theater operated by UA for years was a .76cents house in 1976 and then became a 99 cents house for many years. a very nice local theater

Did the theater close from 1997 to 1999 after this "severe vandalism"? What happened that it had to be restored?

the theater was closed when the vandalism took place

Wow, that had to be some destruction. What did they do?

Holes in walls , seats pulled out of the floors....bway did you work in the movie bsns

Whatever became of the Larkfield Theatre in East Northport, which was probably in the vicinity of the Northport station of the LIRR?

in that theater twice as a kid the theater was old then. The theater entrance was no the parking lot side not on the street side

the theater was on larkfield road

The Larkfield Theatre is now--surprise, surprise--an office building. My Dad took me there when I was five to see "Jaws" (which I LOVED--I was a fearless kid) and I remember seeing a double-bill of "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever." I pass by it now when I go to the train station in the morning. Does anyone know the status of the Northport?

It will be saved.

is it for sale?

any info on this theater / for sale

The info is in the synopsis above.

THANK YOU

1973 the Northport played the "Sound of Music" on it's re-release.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/SoundofMusic1973.jpg

A portion of the auditorium can be seen in the background of this photo from last weekend's Newsday:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/northport.jpg

I have many fond memory's of seeing movies at the Northport Theater as young boy from 1959 to 65. I remember the popcorn machine that would dispense a bag of popcorn for a dime. As a child the theater was immense and beautiful, I remember a lot of red decor. There was always a long line to get in, on saturday afternoons. I hope this little piece of history can be saved.

what is the story with this theater in 2006

The Northport Theater for the Performing Arts re-opened to the public on March 23rd, 2006, according to a story on page B2 in the 3/24/06 issue of Newsday. The article by Jim Merritt, "Breaking a Leg in Northport," can probably be found by using the search engine at www.newsday.com.

According to the Newsday story, the present Norport Theatre was built in 1932, as a replacement for one that burned down. No dates were given for the building of the first Northport, or when the fire occurred.

A recent view of the renovated exterior: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/northport06.jpg

Nice photo Warren. The Northport appears to be a classic small town theater.

Nice photo Warren. The Northport appears to be a classic "small town" theater.

CT member Wally75 wanted me to share this photo of the Northport from 2006. I hope he'll jump on to this page and share whatever knowledge he has of the theater from its days as a local cinema.

Nice pictures! I worked at the Northport in the 80's and 90's. That vandalism incident, as I recall, happened after UA sold it. But everything in the building was in total disrepair, by then (it still had old Haywood-Wakefield seats in the 90's!) The renovation is beautiful, but the sad thing is that nobody drives through Northport to get to anywhere. It truly is off the beaten trail, and will always struggle to make a buck, as a single house.

this just in...northport may have new owners soon and yet another make over..

more live shows but with broadway union actors....

maint#1....did you know my mom dorothy?

Hi Wally-
I belive I did meet her at one of the Mgr's meetings, though I really didn't know her. Will M used to speak highly of her. I worked there when Kim S, Joe L and finally Marge S ran the place. A lot of quality people honed their management skills at the UA Northport!

The original theater was built in 1912 and burned down April 19, 1932. This theater is supposed to open again on June 28 as the "John W Engeman Theater at Northport" in honor of Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 John William Engeman, who was killed in Iraq on May 14, 2006. This is the new website.

Here is an April 23, 2007 Newsday article about this theater opening again.

I saw "Airport 1975" on a snowy winter afternoon here with some friends. Me and my friends could not get in to see "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (the main "PG" rated feature)because the co-feature was (and we could care less!),"The Heartbreak Kid" and that was rated "R". I also remember seeing the 1974 "Three Musketeers" there one summer afternoon. I think my parents took me here to see "Cabaret" and "Throughly Modern Millie" when they were new. I think the last movie I saw here was "The Addams Family". When the original "Dawn of the Dead" played here, a girl in my high school class was horrified that the audience was laughing at it. Lots of memories from this theater. One of the first 99 cent theaters in our area--which is actually a great idea!

Today's real estate section of The New York Times has an article and two color photos of the rejuvenation of the theatre:
www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/realestate/24lizo.html?

After reading the NYT story, I don't think that the "Related Website" featured in the introduction is the "official" one for this theatre, although it might have been before the current owner took over.

Hmmm....by the location ,demeanor and age of this theater...I'm surprised at how few posts there are here with stories and recollections on this decades old neighborhood theater!

I saw Poseidon Adventure here (it must have been at the very end of its run) and I was blown away. I had no idea it was about a sinking luxury liner -- based on the name I thought it was about mythological gods or something and I didn't really want to see it! Boy, was I surprised. When that ship turned over my heart was in my throat.

Saps, the twain SHALL meet! I saw "Poseidon" upon it's Spring 1974 re-release at Northport too (a matinee)! I think I have the ad in my collection.In the meantime: here, is a typical cheapie UA Northport ad from when the year was in sync with the price (77 cents in 1977, etc.--even though this is is from 1979!)
http://bp2.blogger.com/_qleC7xLAvHg/Ro_Ay732JSI/AAAAAAAAAMg/DDOK0UUilMQ/s1600-h/Cheap-UA-AD.jpg

Hey Bloop... That ad is from '79? Interesting that the "R" rated version of "Saturday Night Fever" is on the late-run double feature here. I remember that the film was re-issued in '78 at some point edited down for a "PG" rating in order to draw a wider audience. I'm a little surprised that UA was able to get a print of the original version for this engagement - though I guess with the "R" rated "Eyes of Laura Mars" on the same bill it makes sense.

I think, it was shaved down to a "PG" for the double bill with "Grease"....in 1979? I actually saw the "...Fever" / "Laura Mars..." bill at Larkfield in East Northport. I saw "Mad Monster Party" at Northport in 1969 when I was in second grade ,at a Kiddie Matinee! Northport was a great theatre and seemed well kept till the end (or at least until I stopped going altogether by 1985/86) . Like I said before; a many-generations-old neighborhood theatre like Northport should have more postings, stories and memories on here.

This photo of the Northport's interior appeared in the recent NY Times review of the current production of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE - a musical play adaptation of the classic Capra film. The play was not particularly well reviewed, but the critic did make note of the theatre's gorgeous restoration. Looking at the photo, it appears as if the original seating has been replaced with a raked "stadium style" arrangement. It also seems that the new stage takes up some of the former seating closest to where the screen was. The intro above notes that 85 seats are located in the "balcony," but it appears there is no formal balcony. Was the rear seating in the theatre always raked as it currently exists?

Northport had a traditional seating design, the orchestra sloped down from the rear to the front, on one level. There was a formal balcony, which is also where the mens's room was located.

Here's the text of the NY Times article of 6/27/07, link posted above.

NORTHPORT

ON Thursday in this harborside village, nine professional actors are scheduled to perform “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” before a full house in the renovated theater here at 250 Main Street.

The John W. Engeman Theater at Northport is the latest and most ambitious reincarnation of the space (the original opened around 1912) and an attractive new draw to this village’s bustling Main Street.

Downtown Northport, with walkable blocks of restaurants, gift and antique shops and waterfront parks, is often held up as an example of “smart growth,” but built long before that term came into vogue. Charming Victorians and colonials with wraparound porches line many of the streets and the cliffs overlooking the water, and the tracks of the Northport trolley, which once took early 20th-century theatergoers home after the show, are still visible on Main Street.

Kevin O’Neill, a former Treasury-bond trader, is behind the theater’s $2.5 million renovation, which was completed in seven months.

Mr. O’Neill is betting that suburban couples with children and busy weekends will pay $55 a ticket to see Manhattan-based professionals perform in musicals, and $45 to see them in plays, in their own backyard.

The theater is decked out with more suburban comforts than the usual city space, including a piano lounge and bar called the Green Room, which will open about two hours before a performance. The stadium-style seating (no obstructed views) features 402 seats, all with cup holders for that drink carried in from the lounge.

Thursday’s performance is sold out, and the theater has already sold 2,500 season tickets ($355 for seven shows), Mr. O’Neill said.

Mr. O’Neill, 44, expects most single and season ticket buyers to be much like himself and his wife, Patti, who live in nearby Lloyd Harbor with their four children.

“A night in Manhattan when you figure all the costs,” for tickets, parking, dinner and a baby sitter, can run $600, he said. Perhaps more important, it’s a lot of time” out of the weekend, a period when children are busy with activities. “Our goal is to expose people to theater of the caliber of Broadway that’s right here on Long Island,” he said.

There are plenty of amateur theaters on Long Island, but the John W. Engeman is one of only three that conform to the rules of the Actors Equity Association, the union for actors and stage managers. The other two, the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport and the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, are near the Hamptons.

The Northport theater is in western Suffolk County, near the Nassau border, and will be the only year-round professional theater on the Island. But it will of course be competing with Broadway, a little more than an hour away (without traffic).

The building, originally the site of a community theater used for silent movies and vaudeville-style productions, was rebuilt as a movie house in 1932 after a fire. It showed films for more than 70 years, but in 2005 it was returned to a community theater by the owner, Dennis Tannenbaum. He wanted to renovate the theater, but found “the cost became too prohibitive,” he said recently.

Mr. O’Neill came across the theater as an investor in the online marketing company theatermania.com. Mr. Tannenbaum, who used the Web site as a ticketing agent, decided against redesigning the old stage theater, Mr. O’Neill began thinking about buying it himself, he said.

On Mother’s Day last year, while Mr. O’Neill was considering the purchase, his brother-in-law, John W. Engeman, 45, a soldier in Iraq, was killed by a bomb that exploded near his Humvee. Mr. Engeman had taken part in high school theater while growing up in East Northport, and later in the Army while stationed in Germany. His death clinched the decision for the O’Neills.

“The next day we decided to buy it and name it after him,” Mr. O’Neill said. He declined to disclose the price, but Suffolk County records show that the theater sold last September for $1.2 million.

The renovation involved replacing the leaky roof and carting away 58 tons of old roofing materials. The marquee will have a replica of the steel “Northport” sign that was on the theater for decades and was a fixture on Main Street and also an enlarged copy of Mr. Engeman’s signature.

To handle auditions and programming, Mr. O’Neill brought in Richard Dolce, a 38-year-old lawyer, as artistic director. Mr. Dolce has lifelong experience in theater; his family started and has operated the Broadhollow Theater Company, with spaces in Lindenhurst, East Islip and Elmont, for 31 years.

To conform to the rules set by Actors Equity, the Northport theater needed more space and specific accommodations for actors.

Mara Brothers Commercial Construction was the contractor on the job, expanding the basement from a six-foot long boiler room and utility room to a corridor 25 feet long that houses the 12-seat orchestra pit, costume storage, and four new dressing rooms. Each one has a full bath and light-bulb-lined mirrors.

The redesign of the theater, by Hoffman Grayson Architects of Huntington, focuses on comforts for the audience, including two men’s and two women’s bathrooms (10 stalls, compared with 3 in the old theater, which had 688 seats), and a separate bathroom accessible for those with disabilities.

The new stage is 31 feet deep. Back-lighted murals of pastoral scenes, a memorable feature over the last 70 years of the theater’s movie-house history, have been added to the six already preserved on the walls inside. A steel lattice structure above the stage supports the lighting, sound system and curtain controls.

The proscenium arch around the stage was enlarged, and a crystal chandelier hangs above the seats, adding to muted light from four restored stained-glass rosette fixtures in the ceiling. The new cherry wood bar replaces a concession stand dating to the 1980s, when the building was a $1.25-a-ticket movie house for second-run films.

A black-tie dedication ceremony on June 16 was attended by about 380 local politicians and residents and Broadway performers.

Mr. Dolce said there would be summer theater classes and traditional performances for children, like “The Wizard of Oz,” starting in the fall. The goal is to encourage widespread use so that Suffolk residents identify with the theater. “We’re also trying to sell the theater itself as a place they want to go,” Mr. Dolce said.

The orchestra floor must have been raised a bit with the expansion of the basement space. It seems hard to believe that a formal balcony could have existed with the ceiling height depicted in the recent photo I posted above. Thanks for the info, saps.

The Related Websites link above is not for this theater. Here is the correct link. And the new name of this theater is, the John W. Engeman Theater at Northport.

Here's another long post, this time from the theater's website:

Theater History

Northport's first movie house was built in 1912 at 256 Main Street, but movies were only one of its uses: Its grand opening included a vaudeville show, and over the years the space was used for high school commencement ceremonies, political rallies, children's recitals and even basketball games, when space in the building was leased by the school system for use as a gymnasium. The early movies were silent films, accompanied by a pianist. Admission to evening shows was 50 cents for adults, 25 cents for children. The Northport trolley added an evening trip in 1913, so that East Northport residents could get home after the movies. Talkies didn't come to Northport until about 1930, when a local businessman leased the theater and installed new projectors.

But two years later, on April 19, 1932, the theater caught fire, after a blaze started in the adjoining Chevrolet dealership. The responding fire departments found too little water pressure in the hydrants to fight the fire, and water had to be hauled up from the harbor by the truckload. To no avail - the building was a complete loss. The following August, the village board voted major improvements in the water system.

The first plan for replacing the theater was to rebuild on the same site, but theater builder William McNeil began constructing one on the adjoining property even as the old site was being cleared for a new structure. After much to and fro, Prudential Playhouses Inc. settled on the McNeil site, at 248-250 Main Street, that is occupied by the present theater building.

The new Northport Theater, with 754 seats, was opened with speeches and great ceremony on Nov. 23, 1932. Much was made of the fact that it was of fireproof construction, with major components of its electrical system isolated in a fireproof room in the basement. Uniformed ushers were recruited from the Northport high school, to be selected by the superintendent of schools. The theater would offer "the latest and most popular pictures on the cinema screen today," a local paper noted. The initial attraction was "Sherlock Holmes," starring Clive Brook and Ernest Torrence, which had opened in New York City only a week earlier.

The building erected on site of the old theater was used for a lunch room under various ownerships, including use by the Northport U.S.O. during World War II. In the 1970s it was converted into two stores.

In 1950 the Northport Theater, still operated by Associated Prudential Theaters, underwent major alterations: Most noticeably the stainless steel marquee was added. The lobby was remodeled, new seats installed, stage curtains and wall coverings replaced and a modern air-conditioning system installed. The cost of renovations was put at $100,000 -- about as much as construction of the building had cost 18 years earlier.

As film industry economics and consumer tastes changed to favor more central theater locations, control of the Northport Theater eventually shifted to United Artists Eastern Theatres, which for years offered second-run movies at cut-rate prices. At 99 cents, later raised to $1.25, movie-going in Northport in the early 1980s was a bargain. But UA finally closed the theater in 1996, and a new owner's plans to renovate the building for a reopening in 1997 were frustrated when the interior was vandalized. The Northport Theater reopened in 1999, but failed to make adequate commercial headway.

In 2005, the theater was purchased by Dennis Tannenbaum, a resident and local businessman, who in turn sold it to long time Huntington resident and entrepreneur Kevin O’Neill and his wife, Patti, on June 30, 2006. In tribute to Patti’s brother, Chief Warrant Officer Four John William Engeman, who was killed in Iraq on May 14, 2006, the O’Neill’s decided to rename the theater the John W. Engeman Theater at Northport.

When I was in middle school in 1992 we took a field trip to see 1492 Conquest of Paradise. We walked downtown and has a private showing for the school.

As noted in a prior post, this venue is now known as "John W. Engeman Theater [at Northport]".
Its official URL is: http://www.johnwengemantheater.com

There's a commercial currently running on cable channels like News 12 that are ads for the John Engemann Theater, and it has some nice interior shots of the place.

The introduction is in SERIOUS need of an update. The main listing should be changed to the current name of John W. Engeman Theater at Northport, and the official website is now http://engemantheater.com.

THIS INTRODUCTION IS SERIOUSLY IN NEED OF AN UPDATE. The name is now John W. Engeman Theatre at Northport, with an official website of www.EngemanTheater.com. The introductory remarks also need to be corrected and updated.

It's not changed yet. Perhaps emailing the Webmasters. They probably don't read all the comments in every theater to keep up with this.

Here's a bird's eye view of the Northport:

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=qth3s78wmzz1&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&scene=9879812&encType=1

I went to the Northport Theatre, now the John Engeman theatre in memory of a fallen soldier in Iraq, to see Crazy for You. The place is quite nice. The lobby is more like a classy cocktail lounge in a NYC hotel than a cheesy, popcorn counter in a greasy old movie theatre. They actually bulldozed the interior of the theatre to start from scratch. Now 400 seats, the orchestra sweeps up in stadium formate to where the balcony used to be. All seats get a great view. They installed $400K sound system, and all the singers have rather expensive wireless mics, just like on Broadway. The "cup holders" at each seat hold the cocktail glasses quite nicely. Even the wine glasses are stemless so they fit nicely into the seats.
The actors were all equity, and the choreography was fantastic. The owners actually produce the show -- they do not simply play host to touring companies. They have their own scenic studios in Lake Ronkonkema, and the movement of scenes was silent and rapid.
I recommend this venue for a fine evening of entertainment.

Cool.