IFC Center
323 Sixth Avenue,
New York,
NY
10003
323 Sixth Avenue,
New York,
NY
10003
24 people
favorited this theater
Once a single screen theater, the Waverly Theatre was subsequently twinned, with the closing and and conversion of the balcony into a second, smaller auditorium in the mid-1980’s. It was a funky little two-screen house which was the launching pad of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” as a midnight cult hit in New Yew York.
Before it closed in late-2001, the Waverly Twin featured mostly films that double-run from the glossy and much more charmless United Artists Union Square Stadium 14 at Broadway and 13th Street. The Waverly Twin was also known for showing the occasional low-budget indie or art flick, and hold-overs whose runs had expired at other Greenwich Village theaters.
In June 2005, the Waverly Twin reopened as the three-screen IFC Center screening independent, foreign, documentary, and classic films. On December 4, 2009, two additional screens were opened, for a total of five screens.
Contributed by
Dan Braun
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Recent comments (view all 177 comments)
Chuck’s link from Jan 18 shows The Waverly Cafe (to the right of the entrance, which was probably at that time only open for “special events” at that time – I think the cafe only operated for a year) and the Jul 27 link shows the empty store front. In place of the Cafe are two auditoriums: one that’s acceptable (4), the other that is downright shameful (5). 5 is currently showing Valhalla Rising – you’d be better off watching it on your iPhone 4 than in that auditorium (I saw it on a huge screen at TIFF last September, it’s meant to be seen that way).
On Saturday night I attended a midnight showing of “2001: A Space Odyssey” here. It was in one of the smaller upstairs auditoriums, and the screen wasn’t as big as I was hoping, but the movie was as spellbinding as ever. It was my 57th theatrical viewing of the film, but I’d never seen it at midnight. It took me back 40 years or so when I’d see ads for midnight shows of “2001” at the Ziegfeld, and how I wished I was old enough to attend such shows. Finally fulfilled that ambition …
A few shots I took last November:
IFC Waverly
View from down W. 3rd
Marquee at night
Saw the remake of “Maniac” here yesterday.Not a bad theatre, and one of very few that would show this film,even in Manhattan. The film is unrated but it would certainly be NC-17 for extreme violence.The patrons and staff don’t have that uppity attitude like some other downtown art houses.Once at Film Forum a patron in front of me turned and stared daggers every time my seat squeaked. Tickets here are $13.50.
Unless those extra two screens were carved out of the original three, it can’t be 385 seats. When it was 3 screen, they were 220, 120 and 70=410.
I lived in the space next to the Waverly in the early nineties. It eventually became part of the current IFC cinema remodel in 1999.
Seating is 480 total.
1: 210
2: 114
3: 61
4: 60
5: 35
Exterior pix from July 2010.
I hate it when I end up in Cinema 5. There is about 10 feet between the screen & the back row. Fortunately, I’ve always managed to get a seat in the back row.
I saw “2001” here three years ago in the small upstairs theater. Saw it again tonight in the main theater, with the biggest screen. Size does matter when it comes to “2001”.