Theatre 80 St. Marks
80 St. Marks Place,
New York,
NY
10003
80 St. Marks Place,
New York,
NY
10003
7 people
favorited this theater
This was a Lower East Side landmark as one of the city’s oldest revival theaters. It had rear projection 16mm and played double bills of Hollywood classics. Long before the Angelika and other trendy theaters were serving coffee and brownies, you could get them here. It was designed by the owner Howard Otway, who employed architect Millard Bresin to draw up the plans.
Upon the death of Howard Otway, the theater was leased out for live theater, and was managed by the Otway family trust. The original mini marquee is still there.
Home of the Pearl Theatre Company for many years, in the Summer of 2009, they announced they would be leaving the building and a new theatrical tennant was being sought. In November 2009, it was announced that the Theatre 80 St. Marks would be reopening as a movie theatre with some live theatre use. Films would be projected digitally. The new operator is Lorcan Otway, the son of the original owner of the theatre, the late Howard Otway.
Contributed by
RobertR, Lorcan Otway
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Recent comments (view all 68 comments)
Did the movie open?
The movie is on and running as I write this, and the next film will be Monpura, a new release from Giasudden Selim, already a classic in Bangladesh and with great reviews in Austrailia and other places it has played.
It is a love story set against the backdrop of the Bangladeshi war of independance. It will play December 21 – 30th 7pm and 9:45.
I am looking forward to seeing it.
All the best
and thanks
Lorcan
Gee, I am baffled by the folks who wrote how “awful” the old Theater 80 was. I guess they are either not from NYC, and/or prefer huge soulless multiplexes. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was charming and unique.
, Theater 80 was where I was privileged to discover great film. When my mom worked late and couldn’t pick me up right after school, I’d go to Theater 80 and go see double features [no child care lectures please, tis was the 70’s and a different time.] I was 12 or so, and was enchanted by Astaire and Rogers; Cocteau’s “beauty and the Beast (always on a double with "Rules of the Game”), and films like “Citizen Kane”, “39 Steps”…oh, so many!!! There were cardboard cutouts of old movie stars in the lobby, and “Grauman’s Chinese Theatre” style footprints in the sidewalk outside…for a kid, it was magical. As I grew up, I came to appreciate how very New York City it was, as well: eccentric, stubbornly true to an ideal, individual, cozy and a wee bit cranky.
When it closed, I was absolutely heartbroken.
I am so glad Mr.Otway has taken back his legacy!!
Myt name is Ingrid. I am the house manager at Theatre 80. There seems to be some misconceptions within this particular forum about Theatre 80. The theatre has never changed owners. The Otways have always owner the Theatre since 1964. The Pearl is a theatre company that rented it for 15 years. Lorcan Otway, Howard’s son, is running it again. We now show movies & live plays. We also have an opera coming in next year. Please check us out at theatre80.com
..and there is no web site there.
I see Ingrid is using the box office email again… The web site is Theatre80.org … Lorcan
Here is a NY Times article on the gangster museum upstairs from Theater 80:
View link
“[Lorcan Otway’s] two-room museum is right above that former speakeasy, which for years has been known as Theater 80 St. Marks in a neighborhood that boasts its share of notorious ghosts like Capone (the Brooklyn-born Chicago mobster often visited Manhattan), Lucky Luciano and John Gotti …
“His father, Howard, an actor, bought the two buildings, at 78 and 80 St. Marks Place, from Walter Scheib, the former speakeasy operator, in 1964. In a bunkerlike basement room, the elder Otway found a safe with $2 million in gold certificates, which he soon learned had expired.”
Nothing but fond memories from this semi-old East Villager of my days/nights at Theatre 80. Who cared if the projection wasn’t great or seats weren’t comfortable…where else could you go to learn your cinema history when the heat was out (often) in your 5th floor walkup w. a junkie sleeping in your vestibule? Sneak in a slice from Stomboli’s across the street, split a brownie w. your companion and settle down to watch some great movies in days before Netflix. How lucky can you get?
So happy to hear that the Theatre is back being used as a movie house. I was a projectionist there between 87 and 88 after having graduated from university. And the movies that i was privileged to watch were an education to me and inspired me through out my career in I also remember Howard and Florence very fondly. Good luck to you Lorcan.
What’s the latest? (Reading the comments on the Regency page made me remember MY favorite revival house, which was this.)