UA Lynbrook 6
321 Merrick Road,
Lynbrook,
NY
11563
321 Merrick Road,
Lynbrook,
NY
11563
4 people
favorited this theater
The last of the Calderone Theaters in Nassau County to remain in operation as a movie theater, the Lynbrook Theatre has lost all of its old charm. It was operated by Century Theatres for many years. Over the years, it has been multiplexed into six shoebox theaters.
It fell into disrepair as it went neglected by the UA chain, but was taken over by Regal Cinemas in around 2002.
Contributed by
SteveSmith
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Recent comments (view all 125 comments)
Well… the articles I posted about date from January and April and there has been no movement since – not even news of ongoing discussions between the village and Regal. I have a feeling patrons of this theater (however many that may be) will continue to suffer the gnats, broken A/C, falling ceiling tiles, rain flooded hallways (those last two complaints per reader comments posted in the Lynbrook Patch) and lousy sound system for at least a few more years to come. And I will continue to take my moviegoing business away from Lynbrook and into Westbury or Rockville Centre.
I mean just look at the shabby condition of the auditorium depicted in the photo at the top of this page! Looks like the room on the right side of the old orchestra level (would that be theater 2)? This would be the auditorium where I saw “Dawn of the Dead” in 1979 and I swear those are the very same seats my friends and I sat in 32 years ago!
YES! That is most certainly the auditorium I saw “Dawn of the Dead” in as well! And they sure look like the same old seats to me as well!
Rich… I should revise my comments to read “where I saw PART OF ‘Dawn of the Dead’”… Being a couple of years under 17, and unable to convince the box office girl that we were of age, we purchased tickets to “Rocky II” or someother PG-rated film and then snuck into “Dawn…” Within about 15 minutes, this dorky usher came in looking to see our ticket stubs and tossed us out to the curb! Finally saw the flick in its entirety a couple of weeks later at the Rivoli Theatre in Times Square – where age requirements were taken a little less seriously.
But those seats, with the black painted metal backs and fixed wooden arm-rests, definitely date back to the Lynbrook’s quartet days!
In some circles the original seats are a plus. The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center reupolstered the seats originating from the time the theatre originally opened in the 1930s. The place is such a jewel box that anything else would be out of place.
Rivoli Theatre wasn’t in Times Square, but above that on east side of Broadway between 49th and 50th Streets.
Ed, it’s funny you mentioned the Rivoli in connection to “Dawn of the Dead”. The first time I saw “Dawn” was at the Lynbrook, and the second time was a few weeks later at the Rivoli!
Now, Tinseltoes, I have a question for you…I know I saw “Dawn” there before the Rivoli was cut into twins, but my memory is that “Dawn of the Dead” was the last movie shown there before the conversion. Do you (or anybody else) know if that’s true?
Rich… If you go to the Rivoli page, the introduction states the theater was twinned in December, 1981. The theatre was definitely a single when “Dawn of the Dead” played there in early 1979 and I can also tell you from personal experience that it was still a single screen when I saw “1941” (another Lynbrook connection) in January 1980 and “Flash Gordon” in December of 1980. I have newspaper clippings from March of 1982 that clearly indicate the theater had already been twinned, so the date in the introductory comments would seem to be pretty well supported.
Just remembered that I also saw “Nighthawks” with Sylvester Stallone at the Rivoli (also the 2nd time seeing that movie) and the theater was still a single at the time – which was in the Spring of 1981 (imdb.com lists a premiere date of April 4th). I’ll try and do some research, Rich, and will report back on the Rivoli’s CT page.
RichD… posted some info that might interest you over on the Rivoli Theatre page.
All theatres are Sony 4K Digital except the upstairs theatres don’t have suround sound. Don’t pay to see 3D in theatre 4 and pay extra with no surround sound. The surround sound works very well in Theatre 1 and Theatre 2. YES, I think they are the same seats from 1982 when I saw the “The Wiz” when I was 12 years old. Also, If you go when it’s sold out, the head in front will block the view of the screen.