Adonis Theatre

Sailor729’s comment about the material hanging from the ceiling gives a perfect opening opportunity to ask a question that I have been wondering how to ask and in what context. Many of the pictures of ruined theaters such as found on the Urban Ruins sites show ceiling material hanging down several feet and looking quite pliable—much like the headliners of old autos in the days of cloth headliners. Is it possible that these theaters had so much of this fancy ceiling work done on canvas and plaster or some sort of sizing material and cloth? If so no wonder old time theaters were fire traps! In general antique plaster work was done on laths buts these stalactites do not appear to contain laths. Do any of you theater experts happen to know and care to take the time to explain this phenomenon to the rest of us who might want to know also? If so, thanks.

In answer to an earlier question, the Adonis anchored the northern end of the infamous “Minnesota Strip” that flourished during the heyday of the Deuce in the 1970s. It extended roughly from the Port Authority bus terminal north up 8th Avenue to the Adonis and was so named because of the number of very young girls who got off the bus from the hinterlands (like Minnesota) to escape from abusive families and were immediately sucked into prostitution by the pimps who hung out around the Port Authority Terminal and forced these desperate kids to ply their trade along 8th Avenue.

Across 8th Avenue from the Adonis on 50th street was the King’s Cinema, a seedier gay theatre, and next to the King’s was a hustler bar that I forget the name of that was downright scary. The Adonis was the one gay cinema along the 8th Avenue strip that you didn’t feel nasty entering: it had that great marquee and was always well lighted and the interior was kept clean. Only once in my several trips there did I actually engage in some play in the balcony with an incredibly nice guy: we shared a cigarette afterwards and he said, as he was leaving, as a way of thanking me for a good time, to go buy stock in Warner Brothers immediately because “Superman” was going to be a huge hit. I did and made a nice little bundle. I don’t know many guys who get stock tips in the balcony of a gay porno theatre, but there you are.

The best way to observe what the Adonis looked like is, as I think several people have mentioned, to watch “A Night at the Adonis” with good ol' Jack Wrangler as the star. It’s practically a guided tour of the place. For a great view ot the exterior of this lovely theatre when it was the Tivoli, rent or buy “Confessions of a Psycho Cat,” one of the many many sexploitation films that were shot in the Times Square area during the 1960s. There is a great shot of the exterior of the theatre as Jake LaMotta (the star of the movie) is running down 8th Avenue. I believe the next block down was the location of the old Madison Square Garden whose exterior can be seen in the great movie, “The Manchurian Candidate.”

I don’t remember those blocks north of the old Ramada (subsequently the Days Inn, now the Hilton Garden Inn) as being part of “the strip”. I remember waiting at the bus stop across from the Adonis at night, and the area was dead. On another note, just finished reading a new book, “Andy Warhol’s New York City”. It mentions the Tivoli as one of the late-60s temporary locations of “Film-makers' Cinematheque”. It was a famous showcase for experimental (often controversial) films, like Warhol’s, that had to keep changing locations due to legal and financial issues. Too lazy to read all the comments to see if that’s already been noted!

I am working on a project to document the history of adult theatres in the US. If anyone would like to share some of their personal memories of the Adonis (especially anyone who might have worked there) please contact me at

Thanks!

I haven’t read all the comments here, so please forgive me if I’m being redundant. Does anyone know who – yes, I’ll say it – dared to clean the theater? I would give away my mint copy of Jayne Mansfield’s LP “Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky & Me” for some anecdotes, especially if they found evidence of celebrity attendance, multiple murder, and political intrigue. Thanks!