Oceana Theater
1029 Brighton Beach Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11235
1029 Brighton Beach Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11235
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Showing 26 - 32 of 32 comments
What do they show in the Millenium theatre upstairs? I bet the two backstage theatres are still there, might make a few dollors to run it as a twin if it could be done cheaply.
Yes, I saw the Golden Gloves boxing match last year in the original auditorium orchestra space. Some of the exterior is the same, the box-office removed within the past three years. The lobby marble has been removed and redone, the coved ceiling intact. I believe the balcony is now the Millenium Theatre and must have been de-multiplexed even though that staircase was closed to the public that night. It was funny because the Daily News did an item on the theatre that I was quoted to have worked there. In addition, when I asked the manager/owner about the changes to the building, she told me it was a landmark and couldn’t be changed (however many changes did occur). Some of the theatre’s features are noticeable but you have to know ehere to look. Thi person obviously didn’t know much about the origins of her building.
Has all the multi-plexing been removed now that this is a live theatre again?
The Oceana was sold to an independent theatre owner in late 1973, He also had run the Granada, Highway and Rugby Theatres. The Rugby was first to go to Golden (who had the Quad and Olympia in Manhattan and the Graham on Whitney & Knapp Street and the Benson in Brooklyn). The Granada entered the Golden fold in 1974 followed by the Oceana in 1976. The balcony was sealed off from the public and only the upstairs restrooms were accessible. I worked the Oceana in 1975 for a while. It’s auditorium was large and two blue backlit decorative grilles were on each side of the screen. A former Century matron, Gloria, now at the candy counter use to call the theatre a big barn. I was not there for the Golden-transformation thank God. I remember “Hester Street” played an exclusive run here for 4 to 5 weeks before the “Golden” rule. On the second level outside the ladies' room was a bust of the goddess Oceana that was also lit. Milton was there when I worked there and was a doorman. We also had a problem with the seniors who parked thier sun chairs all along Brighton Beach Avenue and had to be asked not to block the theatre entrance. I remember seeing “The Wind And The Lion” here. Century had not gone bankrupt at this or any other time. They just sold off thier buildings as neighborhoods changed and money was needed for them to continue. The Century Circuit was taken over by the Almi Group in 1981 and that’s when Almi let go off all the unprofitable Brooklyn houses as well as the Long Island leased properties. I worked for Almi and that’s the way it happened.
I contributed to the description in the article above. I was an usher at the Oceana, when it was owned by GOLDEN. I believe this is the company who owned it after Century went bankrupt. GOLDEN also owned the Fortway, and the Benson at the time.
I was given the usher job, because they needed someone to work New Years eve in 1982, and me and a friend were both called. I worked there about 2 months and change. It was a 4 plex at the time, as the old vaudville clothes and other artifacts were backstage where they eventually put 2 more theatres, that used a side entrance.
Speaking of exits and entrances, we would pull gates down on the fire doors while the last movie of the day was still showing!
I do not remember much about the people that worked there, but the managers at the time were Milton and Martin. One’s last name was Rosenburg. There was another usher named Alfredo or Albert who I recall as well. We also had an off duty cop around many times.
Some of the movies I saw mulitple times at the Oceana while ushering included one of the Pink panther movies, The Chosen, The Last American Virgin, The Entity, and several others.
People would line up outside to get in. There was a way to go between theatres through backstage downstairs and a simple door upstairs, which would circumvent the “maze” that was built to keep people from switching theatres.
I wore a bow tie, and a black vest and white shirt.. carried a flashlight.. had to stop people from smoking (no smoking just became the law) and tell rowdy kids (I was a kid also) to quiet down.
Now, ushers clean the theatre and walk out. The movie starts itself. The sensors on the film dim and raise the lights. You do not see any other staff once the movie starts. And in most cases you are seeing the movie in a neat square box.
Brooklyn had some amazing showplaces. See my comments about The Loews Oriental and the Kingsway.
I still love going to the movies. But I will miss the experience of going to the movie THEATER.
Mike
The Oceana Theatre was located at 1029 Brighton Beach Ave..
My father managed the Oceana Theatre from the mid-1950s until 1960. During the 1950s it was one of three neighborhood theatres owned by Rugoff & Becker (the other two were the Tuxedo, where the Luna Park apartments are located on Ocean Parkway, and the Sheepshead, in Sheepshead Bay). All three theatres were acquired by the Century chain in the late 1950s, and my father worked for them until the late 1960s (Century also owned the Kingsway, Avalon, Midwood and other Brooklyn Theatres). At some point, when Century went bankrupt, the Oceana was converted to a sixplex, and there were often one or two Russian-language films playing for the now-Russian-speaking neighborhood. I went there several times in the 1980s while it was still a movie theater, and was fascinated to see how it had been converted (my father’s office and part of the lobby were now a separate theater!). Two years ago on a trip to Brighton Beach I managed to get into the Oceana, which has been operating as a Russian nightclub for some time. The facade was pretty much the same as it had been 40 years ago, but the inside had been totally adapted to resemble an old-fashioned nightclub. There was still a stage where the original screen had been (in the 1950s some stars made personal appearances to plug their movies). Probably the biggest event that I remember was in 1958 when “The Ten Commandments” played a two-a-day run for a number of weeks.
Here’s a final question: does anyone remember the Brighton Theater, a legitimate theater that was part of the fabled “subway circuit,” a group of theaters around New York City where Broadway shows toured when they closed their original run? The Brighton was located near the Tuxedo Theatre at the end of Ocean Parkway, just before you turned to go to Coney Island (right) or Brighton Beach (left). My father managed the Brighton for some period of time in the early 1950s, and I remember attending a performance of “Top Banana” as a very young child. Anyone have more information on the Brighton?