Crescent Theatre
25-24 Astoria Boulevard,
Astoria,
NY
11102
25-24 Astoria Boulevard,
Astoria,
NY
11102
1 person
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The Crescent Theatre was one of three theatres built in the mid-1920s by Small & Strausberg (S & S Circuit) on the west side of the Astoria section of Queens, near stations of the BMT elevated subway line. Due to its location midway between the Broadway Theatre and Grand Theatre, the Crescent Theatre had to settle for playing the same programs but a week later.
After the S & S Circuit was taken over by William Fox, the three theatres eventually went under Skouras Theaters Corp. management. All three were early victims of TV competition, but the Crescent Theatre was the first to close in the early-1950’s.
It became the nucleus for a catering hall. After a few changes of ownership, it has closed and reopened several times in the 1990’s and 2000’s, and is currently known as the Astoria World Manor.
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Recent comments (view all 31 comments)
Thanks, Warren. I should have read your introduction a bit more carefully before I posted that comment. Re-reading it now, it seems quite clear.
Here’s a new link to the photos I posted back in September. The old links no longer work.
The Crescent Theatre first opened on January 27th, 1928, and was designed by the architectural firm of Berlinger & Kaufman, according to an article in that day’s issue of the LI Daily Star. Music for the then silent film programs was provided by the Crescent Concert Orchestra and a Wurlitzer organ. Ironically, the title of the premiere feature was “The Opening Night,” a backstage melodrama starring Claire Windsor and John Bowers. On opening night, and for its first few weekends, the Granada supplemented its programs with “stage entertainers,” but the policy proved too expensive and was quickly dropped. Here are an opening ad and photo copied from microfilm. Compare the marquee to the 1941 photo that I posted above on 7/15/05. They are virtually the same, except that the marquee originally had the S&S logo on the front. The marquee is also nearly identical to the marquee for the S&S Corona that I posted at the listing for that theatre on 12/16/05.
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/crescent01.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/crescent02.jpg
New direct links to images previously posted above:
View link
View link
View link
Here is part of a 7/21/35 article from the NYT. I don’t think you can say thugs in a headline anymore. Not PC.
THUGS GET PAYROLL IN THEATRE HOLD-UP; 3 Flee With $400 in Astoria After Binding Manager and Boy and Cutting Wires.
Bandits held up Joseph Yovin of 32-50 Seventy-ninth Street, Jackson Heights, manager of the Crescent Theatre at 27-18 Astoria Boulevard, Astoria, yesterday morning and escaped with a $400 payroll after tying Yovin and a 14-year-old boy in the office of the theatre.
My name is Susan Daniell – born Millward. I am trying to find out any information about my great grandpa William Millward. I have been told by my aunt (his granddaughter) that he owned the Crescent and the Popular at some time or the other, also that he acted with Stan Laurel & George Roby and was involved or acted in the movie Her Benny. Apparently many of his films were burnt in a fire in London.
All my grandparents have passed away. Can anyone help me please??
Nice old photo.
The photo of the Crescent Theater on Astoria Boulevard is indeed a treasure. Judging from its address from the above post on the holdup at the theater, it seems the theater entrance was located on the corner of 27th Street and Astoria Boulevard (27-18 Astoria Blvd.) If you look at the photo you can see that the left side of the entrance is a wall which is the corner of the street (at least it looks that way in the photo).
Thanks so much for that photo…I’d always wondered what the Crescent Theater looked like and now, for the first time, I get to see a photo of it! Fabulous!
Here’s the current status of the site. I wonder what, if anything, remains of the original Crescent Theatre? http://www.awm-ny.com/index.html
Here’s the “about us” page from the catering hall’s official website. If you scroll down, there is an image of the hall as it appeared in 1965. I was able to download a copy of this photo and will add it to this theater’s photo galery, along with a couple of shots I took about 5 or 6 years ago. Looks like the facade was redone in what was “contemporary” for 1965 (think of the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows), but it appears that the original marquee may still have been in use, albeit with a good re-dressing.