Amityville Theatre
217 Broadway,
Amityville,
NY
11701
217 Broadway,
Amityville,
NY
11701
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The theatre opened on May 6, 1936 with "A Message to Garcia" with Barbara Stanwyck and Wallace Beery. Prudential Theatres built this to replace the previous Amityville Theatre on the same site. Adjacent retail space was acquired to increase the size. It featured Air Conditioning and a "luxurious" Smoking Loge. The marquee was semicircular with the name displayed in large free standing letters. The tickets were purchased from an outside booth between the two entrances to the lobby.
The theatre was demolished in 1960 due to a road widening project and replaced by yet another, larger, theatre at the same site.
Contributed by
rvb
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
It is not clear whether the original building was expanded or a new structure built. But as a result, the Star Barber Shop which had been adjacent to the theatre (remember the first Amityville theatre started life as the Star) had to relocate. The theatre was not first run but about two weeks after a feature was shown at the flagship Bay Shore Theatre.
An interesting concept was when reduced admission passes were given to local merchants to distribute to their favorite customers. Tuesday was pass night, and very popular. Other incentives tried were dish night and offering money prizes for playing lotto.
If you go to the Amityville Historical Society web site the center photo of the home page is Broadway (aka 110) looking north. Way in the background to the right you can barely discern the semicircular marquee of the theatre.
Owned:
1935-1945 Prudential Theatres
1950-1960 Associated Prudential Theaters, Inc.
More info and photos always welcome.
Generally speaking, I think that passes usually meant free admission, subject only to taxes, if any existed. Most passes carried a “Not Good Saturdays, Sundays, or Holidays” at the bottom, which a manager could nullify by crossing it out with a pen and signing with his (or her) initials.
According to the Historical Society these were Tuesday only; no mention of taxes.
This was not a new theatre.Alterations and additions were done to this theatre over a period of ten weeks by John and Drew Eberson.