AMC Loews Nassau Metroplex 10

According to the Loews Dec. 1999 directory the Loews Nassau theatre has 10 screens with seat counts of 561, 555, 307, 306, 547, 472, 200, 200, 200, 200 - Total of 3,548 seats.

This was a great theater from when it opened (I think) around 1977 or so. I remember a lot of people went there to see "Close Encounters". Anyway...I saw a lot of movies here from "Aliens" to "Prizzi's Honor" to "Pretty Woman". Very nice.

But...I went back there in the mid 90's and found that the layout was completely different. Someone later mentioned (and correct me if I'm wrong) that the entire theater complex was changed inside/out. It definately seemed that way to me because the whole theater layout was completely different from the time I'd been there last. It was still a nice theater complex. Nice layout and the parking was terrific.

Always the theater with the big box office #s

Don't know the year, but this originally opened as the Loews Nassau Quad.

Chip: Thanks for the original name Loews Nassau Quad. That's how I remembered it. I think it opened first in 1977 because a lot of my friends caught "Close Encounters" there and I remember them telling me what a great theater it was.

Nice to know that at least one nice theater from my childhood on LI is not only still operating but operating well.

This is also listed in some of the block ads as Loews Levittown

Drove by here last weekend for the first time in a decade and took some good pics for when addphoto becomes available again. Most interesting observation is that the theater SEEMS smaller than it was back in the '80s, despite the expansion, because most of the building is hidden behind a new strip mall - only the lobby is visible from the parking lot now. It is still a huge lobby, with a bank of video games, a refreshment stand, and a coffee cart. The next door Nassau Mall, from which the theater originally took its name, has been pulverized out of existence by a Best Buy and BJ Wholesalers.

The old box office windows on either side of the entrance have been removed, and a new box office desk is inside the lobby now. I guess people got tired of standing in the rain with no canopy or overhang over the box office.

From Loew's 1982 annual report:

"Our highly successful Nassau Quad in Levittown, Long Island has plans for two additional auditoriums"

And from the 1983 annual report:

"In Levittown, Long Island, the name of our very successful Nassau Quad was changed to Loews Nassau Six when two additional auditoriums were added."

Ahhhh, the Lowes Quad. Now that was a great complex. When "Star Wars" expanded it played here at the same time with "Close Encounters". I got invited to a test screening of "The Rose" starring Bette Midler. Siting infront of me was a guy with a device in his hands and I asked what he was doing. Turns out he was with Dolby Labs and he was testing the sound. I got to meet the director Mark Rydell there and in the audience was Diana Ross who was going to be starring in Mark's next picture "The Bodyguard", which was made years later with a whole different production. A few years later I went to a test of "Going South" directed by Jack Nicholson and they kept holding the film announcing Jack was to attend and was late but an hour later he never showed, as well since the film wasn't very good.

I haven't been there in years but this theatre was as well run as
one could be. "All That Jazz", a reissue of "Tommy", "Foul Play", Midnight Express, as well as "Close Encounters" & "Star Wars" were only a hint of the films I saw there. Big comfortable theatres, big screens and big sound. Drama, musical, whatever they showed was done first rate. I don't care what they call it nowadays, I'll always call it The Lowes Quad though.

I worked at this theater while it was being built in late 1977, and was hired as an usher when it opened. Played all of the best movies,and attracted the biggest crowds, especially on the weekends. Had a lot of fun there and met a lot of great people. Also got to see a lot of excellant movies such as Close Encounters, Star Wars, Saturday Night Fever, and one of my favorites, The Boys In Company C.

This was (and hopefully still is) one of LI's best theaters. Great parking, nice theaters, etc. I saw too many movies to mention from the early 80's through the early 90s. Always had a great experience.

Does anyone remember this theater when it first opened? There was a big mural on one side of the lobby with drawings of old movie stars such as John Wayne, Clark Gable etc. We ushers used to pick out the music played in between movies. We would bring our own 8 tracks in to the projectionists, and they would play our favorites. Customers were treated to Yes, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, and many others. It was a great time for movies and music in 1977.

As a current employee, I believe that the entire complex needs massive upgrades in audio/visual and lighting. The problems that exist in the aforementioned categories annoy and frustrate everybody - the customers, the employees and management.

For this document, I'm only going to share two simple examples. Theatre #5 in the back, on the left-hand side: The theatre has this extremely annoying buzz that comes out of the speakers when there is *no* signal flowing to them from the film's soundtrack. Put simply: When the movie is *off*, the intermission music, supplied by a CD player in one of the projection booths should be playing - meaning *on*. The intermission music system in that theatre hasn't worked for a very long time. It needs to be fixed to get rid of that buzz - period. The fact that the "middle-of-the-road" music supplied by the programming company is just as annoying as the buzz is a subject for another document. That most probably will never be written. Theatre #6, in the back, on the right-hand side: The automation that raises and lowers the light levels hasn't worked correctly in a real long time. To make one set of lights go on or off, the projectionist has to manually flip a switch in a circuit breaker box. To make another set of lights go on or off, an employee has to manually flip a secret switch, hidden in the theatre. If an employee doesn't hang around to flip the secret switch, the managers wind up getting complaints about super-bright orange-colored lighting. Again, I do know the technical details about this, I'm just too lazy do do all the typing. It just needs to be fixed - period.

Greeting All!

I'm sorry if it appears that I'm turning this review section into my own private blog. I just wanted to get people updated on what's happening over in Levittown. I was told that the lighting problem in our theatre #6 is *not* going to be fixed any time in the near future. AMC does not feel that the lighting issue is a high priority. AMC told the House Manager that as long as the projectionist can trigger the house lights by flipping a switch in a circit breaker box and the epmloyees can trigger the cleaning/work lights by a switch hidden in the theatre, AMC is happy. This really burns my arse. I'm sorry I don't have better news.

Regards,
Nobody U. Know

This was one of the few theatres to get involved with the Interfilm experiment in 1995.