Forum Theatre

I am on the on the phone with my mother. She remembers fondly the shows at the Teatro Puerto Rico. She told me the tickets were $2.00

Here’s another view with crowd scene: View link

In this undated photo, the Forum is either closed or just cross-promoting another theatre under the same management. Only the message on the front of the marquee is readable: http://www.pelparktimes.org/forum.jpg

All of the photos that Lo Mem posted links to can be found here in bulk. I congratulate the owners of the website on their sterling effort: www.backinthebronx.com/demo/images/movies

Here’s a new link to an image described above on 9/8/06:
View link

I can help y'all on this one! I was biking by yesterday and noticed the very large stagehouse at the bottom of the hill at Brook and 137th. (There’s a small 3-story building on ground level behind it). It also looks larger because it is – the stagehouse is at the bottom of a hill. The entrance to the theater is up and to the right at the corner of 138th and Brown and it’s the Pare de Sufrir church.

I was lucky enough to go inside and park my bike inside the lobby. The marquee is intact, it’s a triangularish shape. The ticket booth is fully intact and there are 6 poster holders in great condition (3 on each side). There is brand new white paint on the walls and ceilings, brand new red carpet throughout the lobby, hallways and auditorium and all the ornaments are intact, but they aren’t stunning, but they are decorative. There are a few chandeliers lining the front of the lobby.

I met the head parishioners who told me it was closed and I told them I love old theaters and about this site and I wanted to check out the auditorium. They obliged. They said in their newsletter and flyers to parishioners, they also call the church, “The former Puerto Rican Theatre” to honor the past. They said when they took it over, it was horribly dilapidated and they put tons of money into the place. You would never know, honestly. It’s all air conditioned now. The stage is nice and is obviously the pulpit.

The auditorium is spacious with the original seats, very comfortable. They pointed out they removed a few rows for handicap accessibility and showed the old row remnants/rivets still noticeable on the floor, painted over. They said they wanted to get rid of the seats and throw them away. I told them if they allowed me to post on here (on the front page) that they wanted to sell them, they could make some money and use it for their church and for upkeep. They agreed. The balcony wasn’t air conditioned but it was spacious. Very nice people.

This theatre is mentioned in Rogelio Agrasanchez, Jr.’s excellent book MEXICAN MOVIES IN THE UNITED STATES.

In 1948, Cuban rhumba dancer Mexican film star Maria Antonieta Pons made a live appearance that filled the South Bronx PUERTO RICO’s 2200 seats and left another 500 with standing room only at each show.

For the run of her 1949 film, her film performance in LA HIJA DEL PENAL was challenged on stage by a live performance from rival rhumba dancer AMALIA AGUILAR in what sounds like a pre- ROCKY HORROR combination of film and stage histronics that drove the audiences wild.

The Cinema Circuit PROSPECT was opened nearby due to the overwhelming suceess of the PUERTO RICO.

There is a photo as the FORUM in the book.

Ed, if you get stuck in here again I promise to send Lost Memory in before New Year with some supplies.

An exterior photo of the theatre’s only successful period. As I recall, there was even an article about the theatre in Life Magazine, with the emphasis on the many star entertainers who made their USA debuts on its stage. Note the laundry hanging out to dry in the area above the long lobby entrance to the auditorium:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/forum55.jpg

Ed….I’m told that the Mets Cinerama revival will include their 1986 highlight video followed by Damn Yankees with Dolby surround sound. As a bonus, the first 100 people will receive an autographed poster of Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza shaking hands. It is a rare and tender moment frozen in time. Whats the number for Ticketmaster? I can’t wait. :)

Speaking of Yankee Stadium, wasn’t it a Cinerama Dome before it was remodeled in the 1970’s or was that Shea Stadium? After awhile they all start to look alike. LOL

Absolutely Greenpoint. The woman that diverted the rent money from this theater might actually have done this theater a favor. Suppose she paid the rent and this theater lasted another year or more, the Church could have found a home somewhere else during that time and instead of a Church, this building could be a CVS or even a parking lot.

I also do theater hunting while I’m driving. I’m at the point now where I think every large building that I see was a former theater. I usually jot down the buildings address and checkout the address when I return home to see what I can find out about the property. Using this method, I have found zero theaters so far but I keep doing it anyway. LOL

From a NY Times article dated September 8, 2000 by Nina Siegal

“Although many of the buildings are now shuttered or have been converted to churches or supermarkets, the facades convey a sense of their former grandeur.

The southernmost site on the tour is the former Teatro Puerto Rico, a family-oriented theater at 490 East 138th Street, at Brown Place, now the Iglesia Universal del Reino de Dios (although the sign also still says Teatro Puerto Rico). Regarded as the Latino equivalent of the Apollo, it was once the hub of la farándula, a vaudeville-style package of Spanish- language events that began with singing, dancing and small bands or a chorus line, led into acrobatic, magic and contortionist acts, and ended with a movie double feature. The legacy of those spectacles lives on at the church, which presents Latin gospel music, with full jazz bands on its stage on Sundays".

Its a shame that nobody posts to this theater. :)