Loew's Kings Theatre

The Loew’s Kings Theatre opened its doors to Flatbush Avenue on September 7th, 1929 with Dolores del Rio in “Evangeline”, plus on stage ‘Frills and Fancies’ a revue, Wesley Eddy & his Kings of Syncopation, and the Chester Hales Girls. One of the five ‘Wonder Theatres’ built by Loew’s in New York City, and it opened the same day as its sister theatre in the Bronx, the Loew’s Paradise Theatre.

Loew’s dominated the market in Brooklyn, and this was their flagship in the very grandest French Renaissance style designed by the prestigious firm of Rapp and Rapp of Chicago.

The theatre occupied a massive site built diagonally across an odd assortment of lots and had a seating capacity of 3,676. It had the unusual feature of having the majority of the seating in the orchestra level. There was a vast entrance lobby that opened onto an even more spacious inner lobby and then on to a foyer at the rear of the orchestra. There was no balcony but instead a shallow mezzanine that was entered by stairs off the inner lobby.

The mezzanine level lounges overlooked the entrance lobby. The paneling in the lobby areas was real mahogany and throughout instead of crystal chandeliers there were massive stylized Art Deco style light fittings with elaborate etched glass and tassels.

The sumptuous interior decoration was the work of the Harold Rambusch Studios of New York under the supervision of Ann Dornin of Loew’s. The mezzanine containing only 878 seats, was set way back in the very high auditorium creating a luxurious and spacious feel, even though it was crammed with detail and lavish drapery. The proscenium opening was 60 feet wide and the stage had full facilities and a Robert Morton ‘wonder’ organ which had 4Manuals/23Ranks. Originally presenting stage shows with the feature film, this disappeared in the depression and the theatre remained film only for the rest of its life. The Kings Theatre had a gym and basketball court located in the basement, which were provided for the use of the theatre staff. In the 1950’s a young local girl Barbra Streisand worked in the Kings Theatre as an usher.

The Loew’s Kings Theatre had a steady decline from the 1950’s on-wards and managed to last into the mid-1970’s before it was forced to close due to poor attendances. The Robert Morton ‘wonder’ organ was removed in 1971. The theatre was never divided and remained virtually unchanged throughout its history. Loew’s relinquished the theatre on August 30, 1977 and basically locked the theatre and left it. The final film was George C. Scott in “Islands In the Stream”.

Over the years this most stately monument has just sat and deteriorated quietly on Flatbush Avenue. The marquee still remains but the vertical was removed in the late-1990’s for safety reasons. Now owned by the Flatbush Redevelopment Corporation, the building waited over 30 years for a revitalization. Its interior is still majestic despite the ravages time, vandals and water damage.

In January 2010, plans were announced to renovate the Kings Theatre as a live performance theatre by the Houston based ACE Theatrical Group. The $94M renovation/restoration work began on January 23, 2013, and is set to be completed by 2015.

Recent comments (view all 1,466 comments)

Brooklynboy43 on February 12, 2013 at 9:51 pm

To restore a landmark such as this is wonderful. It is representative of a past era and should be restored, used and maintained. This was my neighborhood theater, and I remember it well. Although taken for granted at the time,its beauty was unsurpassed. Hooray for the renovation. Cannot wait until it opens!

MarkDHite on March 11, 2013 at 5:19 pm

To save any movie palace and find new use for it as a theatrical force in its community is great. Of course! BUT, the Kings is also architecturally one of the maybe 10 very finest of all of the 1000s of movie palaces ever built. This makes it a huge triumph of historic preservation and restoration. A masterpiece saved. Bravo New York and Brooklyn! This is a treasure not just for Brooklyn but for the nation.

BobbyS on March 11, 2013 at 8:24 pm

Couldn’t agree more…The Uptown in Chicago is also one of these masterpieces and should be saved and restored by the city of chicago and for the nation.

Mike (saps) on March 11, 2013 at 8:35 pm

Now if there was only some way to get there by mass transit we’d have it made.

BobbyS on March 11, 2013 at 8:50 pm

Mass transit is alive & well both in New York and Chicago. But we need the movie palaces to be open & running for us to get to don’t we?

LuisV on March 13, 2013 at 8:21 am

I’ve been to the Kings via the subway. It’s about 5 blocks away. I can’t wait to see the results and I will travel…….by subway!

spectrum on March 28, 2013 at 8:42 am

Here’s a nice comprehensive overview of the Loew’s Kings renovation at the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s website:

http://www.nycedc.com/project/loews-kings-theatre

The site also includes documents from the Environmental Quality Review, details on scope of project, and a blog with regular updates.

Official Groundbreaking took place on March 19, 2013.

A FlickR photoset of the bgroundbreaking at the Major’s office photstream may be accessed at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nycmayorsoffice/sets/72157632596015146/with/8409393006/

“Following preliminary work untaken by ACE Theatrical over the last three years, New York City has executed a 55-year lease with the Kings Theatre Redevelopment Corporation – a consortium of ACE Theatrical, Goldman Sachs and the National Development Council – to begin the full redevelopment and rehabilitation of the theatre”

Keith on May 11, 2013 at 5:41 am

Taken from loews kings facebook “I stopped by the other day and was able to see scaffolding in both the lobby and the auditorium. All the seating was gone thanks to mildew but the standards have been saved for re-use.”

atmos on May 11, 2013 at 7:03 am

The restoration of the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans is costing $52 Million.The area will benefit greatly with the theatre open.

BobbyS on May 11, 2013 at 9:49 pm

A theater without its house organ is like an organ without pipes…….