Surf Theatre

A gym? Maybe someday it will become a theater again! One can only hope!

Does anyone you have any memories of the other Wometco house across the street, The Normandy? I saw SILENT MOVIE there in the seventies and it hosted the World Premiere of Jackie Mason's THE STOOLIE.

In response AlAlvarez's post above, I have a memory of the Normandy--but not a happy one. When I was visiting my grandmother in Miami Beach in the early 1950s, I went to the Normandy and had a drink from the public water fountain in the lobby and then I came down with a bad sore throat! (So from then on, I was forbidden to drink from public fountains! At the time, there was also a Polio epidemic-- so public pools were out as well. (Lucky for me, the ocean was just across the street.) Re: the Surf Theatre,. I remember seeing All About Eve there as well as The Halls of Montazuma. I also remember that on an outside wall, the Surf featured a huge 24-sheet billboard that advertised the movies.

I saw a Japanese film here about three sisters in Kyoto. It certainly looked beautiful but I don't recall the name.
Do recall 'The Whales Of August' with 'The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne' on a double bill here in the very late '80s or early '90s.

Oops...I just realized I misspelled the name of the theater across from the Surf in my post above...it was the "Normandie," not "Normandy." Sorry about that.

Stepale2, it actually switched over the years (for whatever reason) closing as the Normandy in newspaper ads.

I remember going to the Surf Theater in 1961 to see "One Eyed Jacks" with Marlon Brando which I never forgot. Also "Cinderfella". Directly across from the Surf theater was the Normandy Theater.

heres a couple of photos i took of the former surf theatre last week

http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/131002431/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/131002433/in/photostream/

it has an RK symbol on it as does the former normandie theatre opposite - suppose this means they are owned by the same company

**just down the road at about 69th street and collins avenue there is a large fifties building with a sign on it saying Collins Avenue Theatre - was this a movie house?

any pics of the normandy theater? How about the Colony Theater on Lincoln Rd?

raym

I don't recall there ever being a Collins Avenue Theatre, at least not one that showed movies. The Byron-Carlyle was on 71st Street between Byron and Carlyle.

Al
The Surf is on Collins about 73rd. The Collins Ave theater is part of the Deauville hotel on 67th and Collins.It was created for showcase singers. There opening show many years ago was Vicki Carr. The theater didn't last very long. It is still part of the hotel and is used during conventions for meetings and other things. The Surf still has the original screen where they do show movies from time to time while memebrs work out.

Thanks, Mike. Do you know if the Bay Harbor is still there?

Is the Collins the new venue for the homebase of our favorite Cuban trumpet player?

Al
The Bay Harbor theater isn't around anymore.

Gym seems closed now.

Does anybody know anything about a former Strand Theatre in Miami?

One morning while communting from my home in Hollywood down to my job in Coral Gables, I decided to avoid the terrible traffic on I-95 and find some avenue that ran parallel to the interstate. And somewhere between NW 29th Street and NW 14th Street along NW 7th Avenue I found a small theatre with a marquee and classic double doors. It was labeled the STRAND with the S having fallen off some time ago. It currently seems to be a small church/prayer home now. I will try to take some pictures of it. Can anybody here identify what part of town/neighborhood we would call this area? It's definitely industrial and very poor. Perhaps that might help with some research (where I'm finding NO luck).

Loew's took over the Konover Theatre, a luxurious live theatre and lounge inside the Konover Hotel (Castle Beach, 54th & Collins) in 1976. It featured bar service to your seat and valet parking. I saw TAXI DRIVER and THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING there.

Does anyone else remember that short-lived experiment?

Does anyone knows who's owner of Surf Theater?, I'm interesting in produce and present movies, dance music on that beutifull venue// any idea?

The Collins Avenue Theater is alive and better than ever. Still inside the Deauville Beach Resort at 67th and Collins, now home to Kevin & Caruso's Magic and Comedy show. www.BestShowInMiami.com
Check it out!

I too saw A Delicate Balance there so many years ago.

The Surf gets ready to open in 1938. Although it is not identified as a Wometco Theatre yet, it already has a suspicious "W" out in front.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25725093@N07/3410011394/

This site shows a supermarket at the theater address, in the list at the bottom of the page:
http://allamericanhotdog.com/order2.html

And this site claims that the "Medfit Human Performance Center" is located at 7420 Collins Avenue.

Maybe they feed you hot dogs while you work out.

Don't rely on a search engine to find the function for these buildings. Many of these search engines are not updated frequently. If you find a website for the supermarket or hot dog vendor that gives this address, that's a different story. Maybe this building is a gym with a hot dog cart outside.

1985 photo of the Surf here.

This is another 1985 photo.