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
Showing 1 - 25 of 68 comments found
What’s the latest? (Reading the comments on the Regency page made me remember MY favorite revival house, which was this.)
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.
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?
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.”
I see Ingrid is using the box office email again… The web site is Theatre80.org … Lorcan
..and there is no web site there.
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
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!!
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
Did the movie open?
Lorcan Otway is a great gentleman, as was his father. I’m sure everyone who cherished visits to Theatre 80 St. Marks, from the theater days of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” to the great classic double bills the Otways ran in the 1970s and 1980s wish him well with his ambitious plans for that homiest of venues.
How is film projected? 2 k? 4 K? DVD? 35 mm?
Well, here is the news… the projectors are in, there are great sight lines, even from the front side seats, as the screen is set about 14 feet back on the stage, and the immage is wonderful…
So, here is the news about the first showing…
“THE BROOKLYN HEIST†OPENS NOV. 27 AT THEATER 80 ST. MARKS IN NYCâ€\S EAST VILLAGE
Village landmark and one of the city’s oldest revival theaters refurbished for theatrical debut of “The Brooklyn Heist†starring Danny Masterson and Dominique Swain
“Pulls out all the stops for laughs and chaosâ€
– Aced Magazine
“An utterly original and stylish comedyâ€
– Flixster
“Destined to be a cult hit"
– Culture Vulture
CHATSWORTH, CA, Nov. 4, 2009 â€" In what is destined to be a comedy-caper smash hit, “The Brooklyn Heist†will be released on Nov. 27 at Theater 80 St. Marks in NYCâ€\s East Village.
Desperate to improve his life, New Yorker Fitz concocts a scheme to rob a wealthy and hated pawnshop owner. Unknown to Fitz, his gang of cheerful incompetents faces competition from two other crews who plan to hit the joint on the same night. Each group has a unique, hilarious style in this satire on heist capers that uses stylish cinematography, editing and art direction to explode filmic stereotypes. A stellar cast including Danny Masterson (“That â€\70s Showâ€), Leon (“Get Rich or Die Tryinâ€\â€) and Dominique Swain (“Lolitaâ€) brings to life this stylish spoof of the beloved heist comedy genre.
“The chance to be in a movie thatâ€\s completely centered around New York was a big part of what drew me to ‘The Brooklyn Heist.â€\ This is a hilarious, special movie that Iâ€\m very proud of,†enthuses Danny Masterson.
“New York is really another character in ‘The Brooklyn Heistâ€\ and we shot the film entirely within the five boroughs, so we couldnâ€\t have found a better home for our theatrical release than Theater 80,†says director/co-writer Julian Mark Kheel.
The Manhattan community is already primed for a new generation of films to play at Theater 80 after a fifteen year hiatus, and “The Brooklyn Heist†is sure to mark that occasion with a bang as it becomes the first film to use the theaterâ€\s brand new hi-def digital projection system.
Under its previous title “Capers,†the film already impressed audiences across North America during its festival run, scooping up the Best Comedy Award at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival and entertaining crowds from the Just For Laughs festival in Chicago to the Cinequest Film Festival and Newport Beach Film Festival in California.
Theater 80 St. Marks
80 St. Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
(212) 388-0388
Screeners available on request
Movie information
Genre: Action/adventure, comedy
Year: 2008
Rating: PG-13
Format: Digital Projection
Length: 85 minutes
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Website: www.TheBrooklynHeist.com
Theater information
Theater 80 St. Marks
80 St. Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
(212) 388-0388
Opens Nov. 27, 2009
Showtimes: Daily at 7:00pm & 9:00pm; other than December 2nd when there is a private screening not open to the public.
About Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment, Inc is a leading independent licensee and distributor of entertainment programming in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 exclusive CD titles in domestic release and approximately 400 programs internationally via sublease agreements. For many of its titles, the Company has exclusive audio and broadcast rights and, through its subsidiary, Egami Media Inc. has digital download right to approximately 2,000 video programs and over 300 audio titles containing more than 5,1000 individual tracks. The Company is headquartered in Chatsworth, California. For more information about Image Entertainment, Inc. please go to www.image-entertainment.com
About Theater 80 St. Marks
80 Saint Marks Place has been a successful site for entertainment from the height of the Jazz age to the present. Operating variously as a successful ‘speakeasyâ€\ during prohibition, a popular night spot, and the jazz mecca the Jazz Gallery, the space was converted to a theater in the early 1960â€\s. Theater 80 made its name with the 1965 run of “Youâ€\re A Good Man, Charlie Brown,†served as the home of the Manhattan Festival Ballet for three years, and became renowned for its film revival program, which ran from 1970 until 1994. After a fifteen year residency by the Pearl Theatre Co., Theater 80 is poised to once again become the East Villageâ€\s destination spot for film and live theater. For more information about Theater 80 St. Marks, please go to www.Theatre80StMarks.com
# #
Press contacts: Steve Honig Mark Roche
The Honig Company Image Entertainment
818-986-4300 818-534-9340
No… in a day or so, I will be able to let you know the name of the film… I have seen trailers, and it looks like a really fun film.
Is that “first run, big budget indie film” The Road?
This is terrific news Lorcan. Having attended a theater performance there some years ago I’m delighted to hear that you are bringing movies back to the venue. I’m impressed with your strategy of presenting the new along with 60’s classics. Let us know if you need programming suggestions.
We will be showing a first run, big budget, Indie film at the end of the month, and are in the process of booking a classic film not seen since the 1960s… as soon as contracts are signed, I will let you know.
Congratulations, Lorcan. I hope you have great success with your reinvention of Theatre 80 St. Marks. If I ever get back to Manhattan, I’ll stop by. Will you be doing revival double bills as before? First-run wide release? New art/specialty films?
PS I hear that Jim (mentioned above)– from our coffee bar is alive and well… With any luck, we can bring him back as well… at least for a visit…
I expect it will be welcome news for the readers of this blog, we will be showing film once more. We are in the process of installing high def, digital (not rear projection) as well as presenting opera, ballet, concerts, and musicals. The screen will be set back much farther than in my father’s day, so the sight lines will be improved for film. THanks to all who have remembered us fondly or otherwise here, and we hope to see you all again soon.
Our web address is Theatre80Stmarks.com . All the best, Lorcan Otway
Lorcan, I met and spoke with you briefly a couple of times way back when. Talked with your dad almost every one of the many times I visited 80 St. Marks. (As it happens, my first visit was for the live smash, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”) I subscribed to your dad’s film schedules for – whatever – 20-some years.
I appreciate your candid, cogent and articulate explanation of the problems of simply ramping up again. We all remember fondly how it was, not how it could, or couldn’t, be resuscitated today. It was not just chance that all of the many repertory moviehouses in Manhattan died one by one in the video era, including the Regency, Thalia, Hollywood, et al.
Your difficulty getting equipment repaired and maintaining it is something we have all suffered with VCRs, laser disc players, 33 rpm phonographs and so on. It’s annoying and in some respects inexcusable that we’ve become such a disposable culture.
Thank you for your insights. Great success to you.
Dear skeeetz:
Thanks so much for the kind comments… as to a “better way†– I refer not to the audience, or content of the programming, but to the deficits of the combination of rear view projection and 16 mm projection. At the time my father died, we found that – even with three state of the art machines – running full time just put too much wear on them for the declining availability of tech support. Film projectors, next, even to video players, are very difficult machines to maintain. Often film companies coated film with “protective coatings†which would gum up the gate, and even with constant washing between showings, the coatings would bend and destroy the teeth in the gate. So, the quality of our projection declined as fewer and fewer technical repair people stayed with film, and most went into video, now they are into DVD repair…
If someday it were possible to project DVD directly to a storable screen, using a cable rather than through the air projection it is possible to show film here again… the problem with a world of high def and all, is that the expectations of most of the audience change, and the poor quality of an earlier time is much less quaint to most today, and I don’t think we could survive the judgment of a generation grown up on digital projection. Even the comments here show that we suffered from having to project from behind the screen in the eyes of many. But, I am still looking and listening, if a better projection option is found, do email me at, LorcanOtway at Gmail.com
Lorcan, you don’t NEED a better way to project in a small house — the old way was fine! It added to the charm, and was a fantastic way to be introduced to a world of cinema I might otherwise would never have known. Perhaps you should put out feelers, see how many folks would be interested if the theater played movies on, say, one or two nights a week. I bet you’d get a strongly supportive response.
In any event, even if you don’t end up playing film there again, I’m very happy that the theater is still in the family and open for business.
Thanks for the proof reading… It has been a month of three hours of sleep as we restored the old gem to her former glow…
All the best
lor
Howard was irascible but never erasable — he surely left an indelible mark.