Sunnyside Theatre
50-19 Roosevelt Avenue,
Woodside,
NY
11377
50-19 Roosevelt Avenue,
Woodside,
NY
11377
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This 1930 photo shows the immense Sunnyside Theatre in the righthand background. Structure took up an entire block near the 52nd Street station of the IRT elevated line (now known as the #7): nyc
I was finally able to correct the view, though it is hardly current. The chain store name changed from Eckerd to Rite-Aid several years ago. The Sunnyside Theatre was totally demolished before a supermarket was built on the site, with a large parking space at the front. The supermarket was eventually divided into two stores, with the drug chain at one end and Hollywood Video on the other. When the video rental store closed, an Asian bank moved in.
The opening date for that section of the IRT Flushing line was April 21, 1917. So, it was there before the theatre. I guess the marquee was wrapped around the support of the el as a necessity.
Looking at the photos of the marquee protruding under the el, which came first the theatre or the el. I would presume the theatre why else would the marquee extend under the el. And I would presume that the Merrick in Jamaica also preceeded the el since the one shot shows a vertical which would be ridiculous if the el were also present.
Here’s a sad view of the dilapidated marquee before the Sunnyside’s demolition in 1965. Note the barbed wire across the roof to deter vandalism. The pillar going straight through the marquee is part of the support system for the Roosevelt Avenue #7 elevated subway line:
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Two new direct links to images of the auditorium. The Hollywood Video rental store that occupied half of the Sunnyside’s replacement building recently closed. Perhaps the ground site is jinxed for anything connected to the entertainment business:
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Century’s long sub-lease of the Sunnyside expired in 1961, when the theatre returned to Skouras management. The changeover took place on June 1, 1961, in the midst of an engagement of “The Absent-Minded Professor” & “The Horse With the Flying Tail.” As the Skouras Sunnyside, it would continued to play the same programs that it would have under Century. The switch left Century with only the Bliss Theatre in Sunnyside. The 43rd Street had long been closed and converted into retail space.
A Wurlitzer theater organ opus 1410 style E special was installed in the Sunnyside Theater on 8/7/1926.
During the Depression, the Sunnyside Theatre tried nearly everything to attract ticket-buyers, including, in 1936, “The Greatest Stage Attraction of Them All”:
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An article in the 12/28/1926 issue of The Daily Star reveals that Herbert Krapp wasn’t the sole architect. Charles Sandblom is credited as interior architect, and Max Kramer was the builder.
The opening film, “Sweet Rosie O'Grady,” was later re-made as a Technicolor musical with Betty Grable, which also played at the Sunnyside in 1943:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/sunny01.jpg
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Imagine this beautiful place was just a neighborhood house, wow.
Here is an old photo of Roosevelt Avenue showing the Sunnyside Theater.
Here are two ultra-rare images of the Sunnyside’s auditorium (front and back views), which had all of its more than 2,000 seats on one floor (no balcony or stadium section). The projection booth can be seen in the second image, situated just beneath the rim of the dome:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/123-2392_IMG.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/123-2395_IMG.jpg
When I moved to NYC, from Schenectady, in 1958 I attened Bryant High School. I remember in January of 1960, my senior year, I used to go to this theater with my friend Tom Trivisone after we took Regents exams. It was a pleasant way to relax after the tension of studying for and takeing these exams. I belive one of the movie we saw during that month was “Operation Petticoat” with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. I remember the theater being very spacious and well maintained compared to the Deluxe which was closer to me on Roosevelt Ave and 62 Street. I am glad to hear that one part of the theater is still left, namely the pitch of the parking lot.
Tom Halstead
I and many of my friends spent a lot of time at this theater. We all used to chip in our pennies to get one of the guys in and then run around the side door which he would open and we would run in and hide for a few minutes until things settled down and then watch the movies. Hard to believe it wasn’t successful, but I guess if everyone did as we did it was a miracle it didn’t go bankrupt sooner.
Poetic justice of sorts. The supermarket that replaced the Sunnyside was recently re-vamped into two stores, one of which is occupied by Hollywood Video Rentals, so the site is back in showbiz after nearly 39 years. The new owners have still failed to level the parking area, which means that the seven foot pitch of the Sunnyside’s auditorium floor remains. In fact, the Hollywood store is built above what was the low end, so you have to walk up a flight of stairs to enter. There’s also a ramp for wheelchair access.