I would not blame The Ziegfeld for the poor turn out for “Phantom”. The movie is not getting good reviews or word of mouth and it’s being marketed poorly (probably because the releasing studio knows it’s got a stinker).
In 1995, I saw “Braveheart” here and it was packed. I know some people here knock the Ziegfeld but I thought the place was awesome.
With the right movie, the place can be amazing. I like “Chicago” and I can only imagine that it must’ve been impressive there.
There are articles in the NYTimes about the dismal movie season. Yes, grosses are up for the studios but all the articles point out that it’s because the ticket prices are higher. Actually ticket sales are down by about 6%. It’s the second year in a row. There’s been talk for awhile about posting actually number of tickets sold along side the grosses. But the studios are frightened by that prospect because it would reveal for all to see just how movie going is slipping.
Why are ticket sales down? Easy: the movies lately SUCK!
You want people to plant their money paying butts in theater seats, make something worthwhile.
With an over the top director like Joel Schumacher at the helm of “Phantom” what did anyone expect? But in a place like The Ziegfeld, it’s the only place I’d even consider seeing something like that (and I won’t).
Saw “Lemony Snicket” here this past weekend as was kind of surprised that the theater was actually clean and in decent shape. Saw it in Theater 4 (upstairs).
I noticed that it looks like at one time, there were working curtains in that theater before they started doing that annoying advertising that virtually all theaters do now for extra $$$. Does anyone know if this is true in these upstairs theaters? Or if it is, when the stopped opening/closing them?
There was a truly lame “Modern Marvels” program on the History Channel last Thursday evening about Times Square. My mouth salivated at the thought (before it started) that they would at least dwell in part on the great movie palaces in Times Square. But lo and behold, the program barely discussed the item touching upon it ever so briefly and never ONCE discussing any particular theater by name except for The Hippodrome(??!!) and showing still photographs of The State and some semi-interesting photos of The Capitol and The Rivoli. The stupid ass thing about it was that they showed the photographs but did not identify the theaters by name. Only because of this site did I know what I was looking at.
Why hasn’t someone done a documentary on the movie houses of NYC? You’d think PBS could do something amazing with it. The Roxy alone sounds like it could make a fascinating documentary. That’s just me, of course.
I find the above comment about RCMH being a tourist destination and The Roxy not being one very interesting.
My Mother (a Manhattan native) always said she preferred The Roxy. She loved RCMH but spoke very fondly of The Roxy. Because she was a native NY-er, I think this fits into Warren’s description.
But why was this so? I know it’s pointed out that RCMH got exclusives but there must’ve been some other reason why a building as grand as the Roxy got second billing after RCMH. My Mother said that The Roxy was truly grand and opulent whereas RCMH was more austere (art deco) and had “clean-lines”.
Just curious on everyone’s thoughts. Did RCMH advertise more to tourists or something also?
Here’s the article from the NY Daily News. These links eventually go away and you can’t read the article later on.
It’s not the most hard hitting article but at least The Ziegfeld is getting some press.
Ziegfeld defies multiplex trend
BY ETHAN SACKS
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Monday, January 3rd, 2005
When “The Phantom of the Opera” opened recently at the Ziegfeld Theatre, fans of New York’s largest single-screen movie theater hoped the musical’s song, “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again,” didn’t prove prophetic.
Known as the place to have big premieres in the city, the Ziegfeld is in its own cinematic drama, fighting for its financial life against the more popular multiplexes. While Clearview Cinemas, which owns the 35-year old theater, shows no signs of giving up without a fight, it’s clearly defying the trend.
The number of single screen theaters in the U.S. dipped to 1,684 last year from 2,280 in 2001, said Jim Kozak, spokesman for the National Association of Theater Owners. Multiplexes have changed the way movies are watched – from large, communal events to convenient ways of filling two hours.
“There’s just something about those old single-screen theaters that are just so stately and interesting and harkens back to a different time,” says Paul Dergarabedian, president of the movie trade group Exhibitor Relations.
“But if the business model is that teenagers love the stadium seating and they want to have a bunch of choices at the multiplex where they can decide to see one among ten different film, that’s where the business is heading. The profitability of those theaters will dictate if they stay in business or go the way of the dinosaur.” Degarabedian said.
The fossilized remains of what was recently the largest single-screen in Manhattan – by 130 seats – can be seen in Times Square. The marquee of the Loews Astor Plaza still advertises M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Village,” the film that closed the theater’s 30-year run.
Real estate costs have driven many of these big single-screen theaters out of business – although Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theater were converted into live venues.
Clearview Cinemas spokesperson Beth Simpson reassures fans of the W. 54th St. icon, which boasts 1,195 seats. “Staying competitive with multiplexes is not really what the Ziegfeld does,” said Simpson. “It’s a completely different experience.”
For the year-to-date, however, the Ziegfeld ranked 159th in ticket sales in New York, according to Nielsen EDI, a box office tracking service. The gargantuan AMC Empire 25 multiplex near Times Square ranked No. 1.
The Ziegfeld’s house allowance – the cost of running the theater in a given week that is subtracted from the gross before a film’s distributor can take its cut of the receipts – is reputed to be one of the highest in the nation.
Still, the Ziegfeld remains the popular choice to rent for gala premieres for movies like “Cold Mountain” and the “Harry Potter” films.
“The places in New York to have a premiere of what they do regularly in Los Angeles, they are pretty few and far between,” said Ian Mohr, a film reporter for Variety. “If you want to get that vibe of the glitzy Los Angeles-style red carpet premiere in New York, it’s very difficult to do unless you do it at the Ziegfeld. ”
Celebrity glitz adds to the theater’s historical legacy – the lobby showcases memorabilia from the original Broadway “Ziegfeld Follies,” performed on the same site – but it’s regular folks who will determine the theater’s future.
“As long as there are passionate movie-goers out there who enjoy the Ziegfeld experience, I think that this theater can thrive,” said Simpson.
BoxOfficeBill: For some reason, I thought the box office/lobby was on the SE corner of 48th and 6th, not 49th. On THAT corner (48th and 6th) there is a completely unremarkable building so I thought that was where The Center was. Also what made me confused was that the building on 49th (where you say The Center was) looks just like all the building’s in Rock Center. When I looked at both areas, I thought that maybe it was on 49th because the plot looks larger. But you explained this and now I understand.
Good thing it’s the holidays and I can afford to wander off my job a check this stuff out.
Nice to see this on here. My wife and I went to see comedienne Rita Rudner here in the late 90’s. Though the renovations were still being done, the place looked fantastic. We read about the Center’s financial problems and hoped that something could be done to keep this splendid place open and free of the wrecking ball. Glad to see it’s still up and running.
I’m not saying that I like the fact that The Beekman might be doomed but I think that developers look at the viability of the land and realize that if a theater isn’t particularly profitable, in their minds, it has to go because it’s wasting space.
Movie going, I hate to say, is dying. Maybe it’s a slow death but it’s been dying for nearly 50 years. I think that over the next 20, it will pretty much die out completely. I know so few people who actually go to the movies anymore. Almost all say “I’ll wait till the DVD comes out.”
I have no idea how much business The Beekman did or does but it has to be a factor in the developers plans to close it. If it was sucessful and brought people in, I don’t think they’d close it. The same thing is what probably closed other smaller gems like The Guild.
I got a good look at the former location of this theater and I’ve got ask again: how did they get such a grand theater on such a tiny piece of land? I’d love to see the blueprints of this place to see how it fit. They must’ve worked hard to get it in there…
Well, I’m no architect but in my opinion, The Beekman’s not much from the outside BUT that didn’t stop Onassis from getting Landmark status for the Lever Building on Park Ave. Now that one is revered as one of the finest examples of modernist architecture. If for no other reason other than that all the small, theaters are fast disappearing from Manhattan, The Beekman should be at least submitted for consideration.
Can anyone do this? Or do you have to be on some kind of board?
Can ANYTHING be done? What? Landmarks commission? What can anyone do? NYC needs someone like Jackie Kennedy these days. She would’ve been horrified at the loss of The Sutton.
The Hotel Taft has not been demolished. It’s just renamed “The Michaelangelo”. I know because I work right next to it. The TGIFridays resides where the entrance lobby to the Roxy was. In old photographs, you can clearly see the moorish arches above the entrance that are still there.
Actually, I have no idea what the hell the building is used for. I think part of it is the Michaelangelo. Other parts of it seem to be used for apartments or something.
Wow! This one completely slipped my mind and I went here more than a few times in the 70’s and early 80’s. I saw the re-issue of “Vertigo” here in around ‘83, “My Favorite Year” and a reissue of “Jungle Book” (love that movie) around 1984 or so. That’s the last time I remember seeing anything here. It was a decent double theater in a decently maintained but HUGE shopping center right on Hempstead Turnpike in “beautful” East Meadow.
The other Jerry Lewis Cinema that I know of on LI was the one in Massapequa that is not listed on this site (I think…)
Wow! This one completely slipped my mind and I went here more than a few times in the 70’s and early 80’s. I saw the re-issue of “Vertigo” here in around ‘83, “My Favorite Year” and a reissue of “Jungle Book” (love that movie) around 1984 or so. That’s the last time I remember seeing anything here. It was a decent double theater in a decently maintained but HUGE shopping center right on Hempstead Turnpike in “beautful” East Meadow.
The other Jerry Lewis Cinema that I know of on LI was the one in Massapequa that is not listed on this site (I think…)
I went to this theater a lot but for some reason, I can’t recall if it had a balcony. I don’t think it did but it might’ve.
I saw “Being There” in 1980 and it was still a single screener. I remember thinking it was a lot like the Century’s Baldwin but then the auditorium was surprisingly ornate. It wasn’t all black paint…the ceiling was sculpted and had a small dome. It looked like it could’ve used some work though. Soon after, it got it’s multiplexing thing and became a double. For years it actually got a lot of first run movies then switched to more art house stuff. Saw “Out of Africa”, “Sweet Liberty” and other films here in the mid 80’s.
I think the theater remains to this day because the neighborhood is still so nice. Not a great theater at all but it was decently maintained at least.
Of course this place is better than Lynbrook or Malverne. They’re both former single screeners that got that hacked up multiplexing “thing” that a lot of theaters got back in the early 80’s. The Fantasy was completely torn apart from the inside and rebuilt.
I remember in 1988 or so when the gutted the insides. My friend and I late on a Saturday night parked in the lot behind the theater and were able to walk right into the old auditorium. They were about ¾ done with the demolition and you could still see the old “dome” that was in the auditorium and there were old seats scattered around. The balcony was gone but you could see where it once was.
As nice a job as they did with the renovation, it was sad to see this done because The Fantasy was one of the last large single screeners in the area and I thought that it might never be multiplexed. It was still a single screener in 1987.
Watched the end of “The Sound of Music” Christmas night (why the HELL ABC had to squeeze that movie into FOUR hours is beyond me. I think the commercial breaks were longer than the movie clips…).
Anyway, The Rivoli is where my Mom to my oldest brother to see “The Sound of Music” when it came out in ‘65. She said is was incredible.
Just wondering if anyone knows how long it played at The Rivoli? I’ve always heard that there were theaters (like some in the U.K.) that played “The Sound of Music” for upwards of five years!
I hate to do this again on this site but there was a theater in the Manhasset area that I know was on Northern Blvd. I thought this one was it but I don’t think so because the theater I’m thinking of was at least a mile or two west of the Miracle Mile. The theater I’m thinking of was a single screener, small, with a tiny parking lot. The auditorium ran parallel to Northern Blvd with the main entrance/exit right off the small parking lot (the main entrance did not face Northern Blvd which I always thought was interesting. When I was a kid, I saw only a couple of movies there and I remember my Father always dropping us off at the entrance and having to find parking in the neighborhood because the parking lot was so small. The building is still there but I’m not sure what it is now. Does anyone know the theater I’m talking about? Is this one it?
Did I leave LI? Oh, yeah. I’m in Northern NJ now. Work in NYC right in Times Square so I get to walk around and see where all these theaters on this site used to be or are for maybe a little while longer.
I really hate LI now but like a lapsed Catholic, it’s like once you’re a Long Islander, you never get it out of your system. I can close my eyes and see how things used to be out there: the last few farms out on Route 110 and the other one on the north side of the LIE just west of 110. Now I understand that they’re all megaplexes now. How ironic. And where I am now just doesn’t seem to have all the theaters that LI had. Most of them are gone.
So many of my memories of LI are based on movie theaters and movie going that it’s weird
I remember how my Dad reflexivly used to turn his head while driving on Merrick Road past the Fantasy to see what was playing. It had a high marquee. Or the funky neon sign for the Grand Ave that (I think) is still there. It had these “moving” arrows" the flashed toward the theater. Seeing “Carrie” at the Grand Ave and my older brother screaming his head off when Carrie’s hand comes up from her grave. Schlepping out to Hicksville to see “Star Wars” at the Mid Island Plaza South (THE best place to see event films…) and being nearly the first on line and marvelling as the line got bigger and bigger and bigger to the point where you couldn’t see where it ended. There were big, lovely theaters on LI that were a thrill to watch a movie at: The Lynbrook, Green Acres, The Fantasy and then those wonderful, well maintained cute-as-hell neighborhood theaters that I remember more fondly than some of the big ones. The one on Wantagh Ave was a great neighborhood theater. Even the Grand Ave was OK when it was a single screener.
Sorry about the rant…I’m in a nostalgic mood today. Maybe it’s the holidays….
“It’s suprising but right now the tiny Grand Avenue has better bookings then Rockville Center.”
RobertR: not arguing with you but how could this be? I hated what they did to the Fantasy but it was inevitable and I felt it was better to keep it going as a screening room mulitplex than have it close all together. But how could the totally lackluster Grand Avenue get better films than the Fantasy? Any theories?
If I still lived on LI, I would NEVER go to the Grand Ave no matter what was playing. It wasn’t all that great when it was a single and it was mediocre as a double. I can’t imagine what it’s like now…
How do these theaters come to agreements on things like this? Is there some kind of committee? Are there booking agents that control something like this?
RbertR…thanks for the info. I kind of assumed that was the answer but I just wanted to make sure. Nope…there’s no other theater for (I would estimate) two to three miles, maybe more in all directions. That’s why the Grand Avenue Cinemas stays open. Pity.
Regarding Astyanax' comment, the only time you see the limited release patterns of years past is around THIS time of year when the high brow product that’s deemed “Oscar-bait” comes out. From what I understand, the studios want to get their BIG pictures in all the theraters and multiplexes they can. Their Oscar-arty stuff is released in just one or two theaters (usually in NY or LA) simply to qualify for the oh-so-important Oscars.
Saw only one movie here in 1995, “Goldeneye”. Not the worst experience…the price was good (less than the first run theaters) and is was in basically good shape. The problems was the projection wasn’t all that great and the sound was awful. It sounded like there was only one speaker in the whole theater and it was behind the screen.
I would not blame The Ziegfeld for the poor turn out for “Phantom”. The movie is not getting good reviews or word of mouth and it’s being marketed poorly (probably because the releasing studio knows it’s got a stinker).
In 1995, I saw “Braveheart” here and it was packed. I know some people here knock the Ziegfeld but I thought the place was awesome.
With the right movie, the place can be amazing. I like “Chicago” and I can only imagine that it must’ve been impressive there.
There are articles in the NYTimes about the dismal movie season. Yes, grosses are up for the studios but all the articles point out that it’s because the ticket prices are higher. Actually ticket sales are down by about 6%. It’s the second year in a row. There’s been talk for awhile about posting actually number of tickets sold along side the grosses. But the studios are frightened by that prospect because it would reveal for all to see just how movie going is slipping.
Why are ticket sales down? Easy: the movies lately SUCK!
You want people to plant their money paying butts in theater seats, make something worthwhile.
With an over the top director like Joel Schumacher at the helm of “Phantom” what did anyone expect? But in a place like The Ziegfeld, it’s the only place I’d even consider seeing something like that (and I won’t).
Saw “Lemony Snicket” here this past weekend as was kind of surprised that the theater was actually clean and in decent shape. Saw it in Theater 4 (upstairs).
I noticed that it looks like at one time, there were working curtains in that theater before they started doing that annoying advertising that virtually all theaters do now for extra $$$. Does anyone know if this is true in these upstairs theaters? Or if it is, when the stopped opening/closing them?
RCMH is still going (whether strong or not is arguable). People (NY-ers, tourists, etc) know the place by name whether they’ve been in NY or not.
The Roxy? It’s more of a legend than a reality for most people. What other NY theaters were posted here before The Roxy?
The Roxy is what brought me to this site in the first place due to my parent’s descriptions of the place.
There was a truly lame “Modern Marvels” program on the History Channel last Thursday evening about Times Square. My mouth salivated at the thought (before it started) that they would at least dwell in part on the great movie palaces in Times Square. But lo and behold, the program barely discussed the item touching upon it ever so briefly and never ONCE discussing any particular theater by name except for The Hippodrome(??!!) and showing still photographs of The State and some semi-interesting photos of The Capitol and The Rivoli. The stupid ass thing about it was that they showed the photographs but did not identify the theaters by name. Only because of this site did I know what I was looking at.
Why hasn’t someone done a documentary on the movie houses of NYC? You’d think PBS could do something amazing with it. The Roxy alone sounds like it could make a fascinating documentary. That’s just me, of course.
I find the above comment about RCMH being a tourist destination and The Roxy not being one very interesting.
My Mother (a Manhattan native) always said she preferred The Roxy. She loved RCMH but spoke very fondly of The Roxy. Because she was a native NY-er, I think this fits into Warren’s description.
But why was this so? I know it’s pointed out that RCMH got exclusives but there must’ve been some other reason why a building as grand as the Roxy got second billing after RCMH. My Mother said that The Roxy was truly grand and opulent whereas RCMH was more austere (art deco) and had “clean-lines”.
Just curious on everyone’s thoughts. Did RCMH advertise more to tourists or something also?
Here’s the article from the NY Daily News. These links eventually go away and you can’t read the article later on.
It’s not the most hard hitting article but at least The Ziegfeld is getting some press.
Ziegfeld defies multiplex trend
BY ETHAN SACKS
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Monday, January 3rd, 2005
When “The Phantom of the Opera” opened recently at the Ziegfeld Theatre, fans of New York’s largest single-screen movie theater hoped the musical’s song, “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again,” didn’t prove prophetic.
Known as the place to have big premieres in the city, the Ziegfeld is in its own cinematic drama, fighting for its financial life against the more popular multiplexes. While Clearview Cinemas, which owns the 35-year old theater, shows no signs of giving up without a fight, it’s clearly defying the trend.
The number of single screen theaters in the U.S. dipped to 1,684 last year from 2,280 in 2001, said Jim Kozak, spokesman for the National Association of Theater Owners. Multiplexes have changed the way movies are watched – from large, communal events to convenient ways of filling two hours.
“There’s just something about those old single-screen theaters that are just so stately and interesting and harkens back to a different time,” says Paul Dergarabedian, president of the movie trade group Exhibitor Relations.
“But if the business model is that teenagers love the stadium seating and they want to have a bunch of choices at the multiplex where they can decide to see one among ten different film, that’s where the business is heading. The profitability of those theaters will dictate if they stay in business or go the way of the dinosaur.” Degarabedian said.
The fossilized remains of what was recently the largest single-screen in Manhattan – by 130 seats – can be seen in Times Square. The marquee of the Loews Astor Plaza still advertises M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Village,” the film that closed the theater’s 30-year run.
Real estate costs have driven many of these big single-screen theaters out of business – although Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theater were converted into live venues.
Clearview Cinemas spokesperson Beth Simpson reassures fans of the W. 54th St. icon, which boasts 1,195 seats. “Staying competitive with multiplexes is not really what the Ziegfeld does,” said Simpson. “It’s a completely different experience.”
For the year-to-date, however, the Ziegfeld ranked 159th in ticket sales in New York, according to Nielsen EDI, a box office tracking service. The gargantuan AMC Empire 25 multiplex near Times Square ranked No. 1.
The Ziegfeld’s house allowance – the cost of running the theater in a given week that is subtracted from the gross before a film’s distributor can take its cut of the receipts – is reputed to be one of the highest in the nation.
Still, the Ziegfeld remains the popular choice to rent for gala premieres for movies like “Cold Mountain” and the “Harry Potter” films.
“The places in New York to have a premiere of what they do regularly in Los Angeles, they are pretty few and far between,” said Ian Mohr, a film reporter for Variety. “If you want to get that vibe of the glitzy Los Angeles-style red carpet premiere in New York, it’s very difficult to do unless you do it at the Ziegfeld. ”
Celebrity glitz adds to the theater’s historical legacy – the lobby showcases memorabilia from the original Broadway “Ziegfeld Follies,” performed on the same site – but it’s regular folks who will determine the theater’s future.
“As long as there are passionate movie-goers out there who enjoy the Ziegfeld experience, I think that this theater can thrive,” said Simpson.
BoxOfficeBill: For some reason, I thought the box office/lobby was on the SE corner of 48th and 6th, not 49th. On THAT corner (48th and 6th) there is a completely unremarkable building so I thought that was where The Center was. Also what made me confused was that the building on 49th (where you say The Center was) looks just like all the building’s in Rock Center. When I looked at both areas, I thought that maybe it was on 49th because the plot looks larger. But you explained this and now I understand.
Good thing it’s the holidays and I can afford to wander off my job a check this stuff out.
Nice to see this on here. My wife and I went to see comedienne Rita Rudner here in the late 90’s. Though the renovations were still being done, the place looked fantastic. We read about the Center’s financial problems and hoped that something could be done to keep this splendid place open and free of the wrecking ball. Glad to see it’s still up and running.
I’m not saying that I like the fact that The Beekman might be doomed but I think that developers look at the viability of the land and realize that if a theater isn’t particularly profitable, in their minds, it has to go because it’s wasting space.
Movie going, I hate to say, is dying. Maybe it’s a slow death but it’s been dying for nearly 50 years. I think that over the next 20, it will pretty much die out completely. I know so few people who actually go to the movies anymore. Almost all say “I’ll wait till the DVD comes out.”
I have no idea how much business The Beekman did or does but it has to be a factor in the developers plans to close it. If it was sucessful and brought people in, I don’t think they’d close it. The same thing is what probably closed other smaller gems like The Guild.
I got a good look at the former location of this theater and I’ve got ask again: how did they get such a grand theater on such a tiny piece of land? I’d love to see the blueprints of this place to see how it fit. They must’ve worked hard to get it in there…
Well, I’m no architect but in my opinion, The Beekman’s not much from the outside BUT that didn’t stop Onassis from getting Landmark status for the Lever Building on Park Ave. Now that one is revered as one of the finest examples of modernist architecture. If for no other reason other than that all the small, theaters are fast disappearing from Manhattan, The Beekman should be at least submitted for consideration.
Can anyone do this? Or do you have to be on some kind of board?
Can ANYTHING be done? What? Landmarks commission? What can anyone do? NYC needs someone like Jackie Kennedy these days. She would’ve been horrified at the loss of The Sutton.
Anyone know what can be done?
The Hotel Taft has not been demolished. It’s just renamed “The Michaelangelo”. I know because I work right next to it. The TGIFridays resides where the entrance lobby to the Roxy was. In old photographs, you can clearly see the moorish arches above the entrance that are still there.
Actually, I have no idea what the hell the building is used for. I think part of it is the Michaelangelo. Other parts of it seem to be used for apartments or something.
Wow! This one completely slipped my mind and I went here more than a few times in the 70’s and early 80’s. I saw the re-issue of “Vertigo” here in around ‘83, “My Favorite Year” and a reissue of “Jungle Book” (love that movie) around 1984 or so. That’s the last time I remember seeing anything here. It was a decent double theater in a decently maintained but HUGE shopping center right on Hempstead Turnpike in “beautful” East Meadow.
The other Jerry Lewis Cinema that I know of on LI was the one in Massapequa that is not listed on this site (I think…)
Wow! This one completely slipped my mind and I went here more than a few times in the 70’s and early 80’s. I saw the re-issue of “Vertigo” here in around ‘83, “My Favorite Year” and a reissue of “Jungle Book” (love that movie) around 1984 or so. That’s the last time I remember seeing anything here. It was a decent double theater in a decently maintained but HUGE shopping center right on Hempstead Turnpike in “beautful” East Meadow.
The other Jerry Lewis Cinema that I know of on LI was the one in Massapequa that is not listed on this site (I think…)
I went to this theater a lot but for some reason, I can’t recall if it had a balcony. I don’t think it did but it might’ve.
I saw “Being There” in 1980 and it was still a single screener. I remember thinking it was a lot like the Century’s Baldwin but then the auditorium was surprisingly ornate. It wasn’t all black paint…the ceiling was sculpted and had a small dome. It looked like it could’ve used some work though. Soon after, it got it’s multiplexing thing and became a double. For years it actually got a lot of first run movies then switched to more art house stuff. Saw “Out of Africa”, “Sweet Liberty” and other films here in the mid 80’s.
I think the theater remains to this day because the neighborhood is still so nice. Not a great theater at all but it was decently maintained at least.
Of course this place is better than Lynbrook or Malverne. They’re both former single screeners that got that hacked up multiplexing “thing” that a lot of theaters got back in the early 80’s. The Fantasy was completely torn apart from the inside and rebuilt.
I remember in 1988 or so when the gutted the insides. My friend and I late on a Saturday night parked in the lot behind the theater and were able to walk right into the old auditorium. They were about ¾ done with the demolition and you could still see the old “dome” that was in the auditorium and there were old seats scattered around. The balcony was gone but you could see where it once was.
As nice a job as they did with the renovation, it was sad to see this done because The Fantasy was one of the last large single screeners in the area and I thought that it might never be multiplexed. It was still a single screener in 1987.
Watched the end of “The Sound of Music” Christmas night (why the HELL ABC had to squeeze that movie into FOUR hours is beyond me. I think the commercial breaks were longer than the movie clips…).
Anyway, The Rivoli is where my Mom to my oldest brother to see “The Sound of Music” when it came out in ‘65. She said is was incredible.
Just wondering if anyone knows how long it played at The Rivoli? I’ve always heard that there were theaters (like some in the U.K.) that played “The Sound of Music” for upwards of five years!
I hate to do this again on this site but there was a theater in the Manhasset area that I know was on Northern Blvd. I thought this one was it but I don’t think so because the theater I’m thinking of was at least a mile or two west of the Miracle Mile. The theater I’m thinking of was a single screener, small, with a tiny parking lot. The auditorium ran parallel to Northern Blvd with the main entrance/exit right off the small parking lot (the main entrance did not face Northern Blvd which I always thought was interesting. When I was a kid, I saw only a couple of movies there and I remember my Father always dropping us off at the entrance and having to find parking in the neighborhood because the parking lot was so small. The building is still there but I’m not sure what it is now. Does anyone know the theater I’m talking about? Is this one it?
Did I leave LI? Oh, yeah. I’m in Northern NJ now. Work in NYC right in Times Square so I get to walk around and see where all these theaters on this site used to be or are for maybe a little while longer.
I really hate LI now but like a lapsed Catholic, it’s like once you’re a Long Islander, you never get it out of your system. I can close my eyes and see how things used to be out there: the last few farms out on Route 110 and the other one on the north side of the LIE just west of 110. Now I understand that they’re all megaplexes now. How ironic. And where I am now just doesn’t seem to have all the theaters that LI had. Most of them are gone.
So many of my memories of LI are based on movie theaters and movie going that it’s weird
I remember how my Dad reflexivly used to turn his head while driving on Merrick Road past the Fantasy to see what was playing. It had a high marquee. Or the funky neon sign for the Grand Ave that (I think) is still there. It had these “moving” arrows" the flashed toward the theater. Seeing “Carrie” at the Grand Ave and my older brother screaming his head off when Carrie’s hand comes up from her grave. Schlepping out to Hicksville to see “Star Wars” at the Mid Island Plaza South (THE best place to see event films…) and being nearly the first on line and marvelling as the line got bigger and bigger and bigger to the point where you couldn’t see where it ended. There were big, lovely theaters on LI that were a thrill to watch a movie at: The Lynbrook, Green Acres, The Fantasy and then those wonderful, well maintained cute-as-hell neighborhood theaters that I remember more fondly than some of the big ones. The one on Wantagh Ave was a great neighborhood theater. Even the Grand Ave was OK when it was a single screener.
Sorry about the rant…I’m in a nostalgic mood today. Maybe it’s the holidays….
“It’s suprising but right now the tiny Grand Avenue has better bookings then Rockville Center.”
RobertR: not arguing with you but how could this be? I hated what they did to the Fantasy but it was inevitable and I felt it was better to keep it going as a screening room mulitplex than have it close all together. But how could the totally lackluster Grand Avenue get better films than the Fantasy? Any theories?
If I still lived on LI, I would NEVER go to the Grand Ave no matter what was playing. It wasn’t all that great when it was a single and it was mediocre as a double. I can’t imagine what it’s like now…
How do these theaters come to agreements on things like this? Is there some kind of committee? Are there booking agents that control something like this?
RbertR…thanks for the info. I kind of assumed that was the answer but I just wanted to make sure. Nope…there’s no other theater for (I would estimate) two to three miles, maybe more in all directions. That’s why the Grand Avenue Cinemas stays open. Pity.
Regarding Astyanax' comment, the only time you see the limited release patterns of years past is around THIS time of year when the high brow product that’s deemed “Oscar-bait” comes out. From what I understand, the studios want to get their BIG pictures in all the theraters and multiplexes they can. Their Oscar-arty stuff is released in just one or two theaters (usually in NY or LA) simply to qualify for the oh-so-important Oscars.
Saw only one movie here in 1995, “Goldeneye”. Not the worst experience…the price was good (less than the first run theaters) and is was in basically good shape. The problems was the projection wasn’t all that great and the sound was awful. It sounded like there was only one speaker in the whole theater and it was behind the screen.