Utopia Theater

Correction to my last post, as aquarianick originally posted, the video was also filmed using the interior of the Utopia (except for the shots of the fantasy “stage production”). I’ll try to get a couple of more screen grabs that may be interesting to post here when I get to my home computer.

Bloop, I don’t where the letter is presently and because I’m becoming a little senile I can’t tell you verbatim what it said at the moment. However, basically it said what a good friend I’ve been to her and Paul over the years and how whenever they had a problem I always came quickly to help her. It also said a few other things that I just can’t recall. If I find it I’ll scan it and post it.

As I think about the Utopia, I really miss Ruth Wright and Paul Raisler. They were the last of the “real” showman (and show women)theatre owners independent theatre owners.

Nice shots of the Utopia Theatre in the youtube video posted by aquarianick on 7/12/07.Nice link.

In the main article for the Utopia, the writer stated “The utopia was owned by an unlikely pair. Mr. Paul Raisler, a short, jovial, Jewish man, and Miss Wright (no one knew her first name)…..”. I see the “mystery, her first name, Ruth was solved in a latter post. Apart from the description of the curtain, where he states, "It’s thin, gauzy curtains pulled sideways as the show began”, the Utopia had an Austrian shade type curtain the goes up vertically, allowing the screen to take up the entire proscenium for Cinemascope, the rest of his description of the Utopia is dead accurate and reading it brings to mind wonderful memories of better days. Although I am now retired (and in the final stage of emphysema), I spent my whole life working in theatres, first as a projectionist, then servicing and installing projection equipment. I knew Ruth Wright (and her partner in the Utopia, Paul Raisler) virtually my whole life. The last time I actually worked as a projectionist at the Utopia was the day Buzz Aldren walked on the moon in 1969. Although it was against Union rules to watch television in the booth, the Utopia had a “big” 21" TV on the wall of the booth over the spotlight window. A key was needed to turn it on and despite the fact that I really didn’t like watching TV when I was working, Ruth always unlocked it anyway. On that day, Ruth came up to the booth and turned on the TV saying “you need to see this” and we both stood there and watched the moon walk in amazement. One time a relief projectionist complained to the Union that there was a TV in the booth, but it had a lock on it preventing him from watching it. After the union business agent finished balling him out because he knew we were not allowed to watch TV while working to begin with, he called Ruth to tell her she can’t have a TV in the booth. That really set her off, she told him that it was her theatre and if she wanted to have a TV in the booth it was her business, as well as who she allowed to watch it.

The “regular” projectionist at the Utopia was Sam Conte, who was a real sweetheart. Ruth told me that he had worked for her since the theatre opened in 1941 and worked there until he retired, in the late 70s, I’m not certain because I’m becoming a little senile. Although the patrons of the theatre might not have known or been able to tell, but, the projection equipment at the Utopia was first class and “Conte”, as Ruth referred to him, kept the equipment in top shape.

From the time I was about 8 years old I would go to the movies at least once a week. In those days there the Utopia and the Parsons theatres were the main “everyday” theatres I went to and believe it or not, I went ALONE some times. If I went with my sister or my parents, the choices became much wider. There was Loews' Valencia and RKO Alden in “downtown” Jamaica and Century’s Queens and Community theatres further east on Jamaica Avenue (there was also the Regency and Belair theatres along Jamaica Avenue. And of course there was Century’s Meadows on Horace Harding Blvd. Although I don’t remember going there very often, the Mayfair Theatre on Fresh Meadows Lane was another choice. When I was around 13, I would go with friends to the RKO Keiths and Century’s Prospect in Flushing, both some of the many theatres that I would later work in. It boggles my mind to think of all the theatres there once were in Queens alone, but now all gone.

After Conte retired I serviced the equipment for Ruth, but because I knew her so long and she was such a sweet person I couldn’t charge her anything, despite her insistence that I should. As a result, she would continually give my wife small gifts. In the late 50s and early 60s, I recall both Paul and Ruth in the lobby saying goodnight to patrons as they were coming out. While that alone might not sound so unusual, they knew most of the patrons BY NAME. While people associate Ruth Wright with the Utopia and the Little Neck theatres, the Little Neck, the Mayfair, the Herricks and a number of other theatres were built by her father, but she liked the Utopia the best. Unfortunately, they didn’t own the Utopia property. The landlord (and his son) who owned the property apparently had NO COMPASSION when it came to money. The Parsons Theatre, that was originally owned and operated by the Interboro Theatre Circuit, was sold to an attorney who promptly twinned the theatre. Since also operating the Utopia theatre would be advantageous for booking films, he then set his sights on the Utopia, where the lease would soon be ending. This was at a time when the movie theatre business in general was declining. Ruth knew the theatre really needed to be twinned if it was to remain viable, however, it was something she didn’t really want to become involved with at that stage of her life. Unknown to me at the time, she was already in ill health, although she always appeared to be well. She made an offer to the landlord for a new lease, but, according to her, the landlord made a deal with the attorney behind her back. Not too long afterward she became very ill. I believe losing the theatre exacerbated her illness because she always referred to the Utopia as “my baby”.

One day shortly after she learned that she would be out when the lease ended, she called me house and asked my wife to have me stop by the theatre when I got a chance. When I came to the theatre she handed me a letter and pointed to a box and said, “this is for you”. In the box were a pair of practically new Bausch & Lomb Cinemascope lenses and a spare soundhead transmission assembly and other various parts. I saw tears in her eyes as she asked me to read the note. The letter was on stationary I never saw before. The letterhead said “Utopia Theatre”, “A PARU Neighborhood Theatre”. I assume it was a combination of PAul & RUth. With the door in the booth leading to the roof, it was a great job to work, but, you couldn’t open the door on a sunny day or it would flood the screen with daylight.

While Ruth lived in Nassau County, Paul Raisler lived only a couple of blocks from the theatre. Although I grew up off Union Turnpike near Bell Blvd., after I got married I bought a house off Union Turnpike on 178th St & 75th Ave. where I lived in until 1989 when I moved to Florida. Over the years as many theatres have closed, I’ve noticed that after a neighborhood theatre closes, it changes the whole “look and feel” of the neighborhood…..and not for the good. The missing marquee from the Utopia certainly changed the look of that area in the evening. It has a dead look. In a city that had many beautiful theatres, they have all been either destroyed by multiplexing, or torn down completely. There are only a small handful of “real” theatres even standing today. Fortunately, Loews Valencia is still standing, but the RKO Keiths in Flushing has been destroyed, despite “landmark status”. The other main Loews theatre in Queens, Loews Triboro, was torn down years ago. While the RKO Midway (over the years Skouras and then UA) still stands, it’s been butchered internally to make 9 theatres. Although not an architectural gem, the Elmwood theatre is now gone too.

Near the Utopia, around 1950, on the corner of Union Tpke. and 188th Street was Charney’s deli. One of the only landmarks that still remains is King Yum, which was smaller in the 1950s, and it’s still nice to know that something remains of that innocent ambience. As a Fresh Meadows kid who delivered early morning newspapers and prescriptions for Crest Chemists (across from P.S. 26), it was a real luxury to have both the Century’s Meadows and the Utopia nearby, and they coexisted quite comfortably in the 1950s. Moreover, Bloomingdale’s in Fresh Meadows was the HQ for Boy Scouts gear in those days!

Hey!! I just remembered that, in the very early 1990’s, while I was still an usher there, the owner agreed to let a rap artist named Prince Rakeem (who is now called “RZA”) film a music video there. So I went to YouTube.com just now to see if it’s posted there… and it is!!

You can see the Utopia Theater marquee all lit up at the end of the video.. and shots of the lobby at the beginning. You can see the ticket window in the lobby, with the actual prices of the time (which we still had in effect at the time the theater closed down). There are shots in the auditorium (Utopia #2) as well. The footage with the white staircase and the big lit-up stage are not in the theater.

In the 1990’s, the Utopia was not open for business during weekday afternoons (we only had two evening shows on weekdays). So Prince Rakeem and his crew filmed this during a Wednesday afternoon before we opened, and promised to be done before 6:30PM (which they were). I remember they made a mess and the manager was mad at the owner for letting them film this here. But I’m happy, now, that I get to see the theater in this video. I hope you all enjoy seeing it, too (I will reserve comment about the song).

Here’s the link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=bDT8OOkS_dc

If that link doesn’t work, go to YouTube.com and do a search for “Prince Rakeem.” The name of the video is “Oooh We Love You Rakeem.” For those of you unfamiliar w/ YouTube, note that, all the way to the bottom right of the little video screen, there is a button you can press to expand the video to full-screen.

-Nick

No, that’s not confusing. I think it’s cool that so much is being brought up by the Utopia Theater! True, Utopia is an area or neighborhood. It is, in fact, listed on the bus map of Queens (the one put out by the M.T.A.). I remember being happy when I first saw it on the map. I always thought I had been living in Flushing; “Utopia” sounded so much prettier to me.

Oh, by the way, I have no argument about the zip code. It was always 11366 during my lifetime, at least. Also, our outgoing message on the theater’s answering maching said, exactly, “This is a recording from the Utopia Twin Theaters, located at Union Turnpike and 188th St., Flushing.” Even when I took over as manager, and was the one to make these recordings of our showtime schedule, I continued to say that exact opening phrase because I had a lot of respect for the former manager and tried to do everything as she had done it. But I’m not sure if I knew, at that time, that we were in a section of Queens called Utopia. I, too, grew up thinking I was living in Flushing. But it was just my mailing address. Is this too much information??

Thank you so much for posting those links, Warren. This made my day… to see my beloved theater in its hayday. I worked there from ‘90 until the day it closed in '95. I get so sentimental about this place and my days there. And I still sometimes dream that I’m still working there. Thanks so much for this rare picture.

A great painting which captures the look of the theater. However, the luncheonette was not located next door. Next door was a woman’s hoisery store, the type where all articles were displayed in the windows as you walked to enter the store. The luncheonette still exisits, it is called “Rogers,” and is located a few doors down.

wow what a great picture..just like i remember it..i even think the luncheonette was there too…

Warren—thanks for that ad. As you know, the homes in that area were built in 1940/1941. So it was a new theater for a new community. When I first went there to see “Bambi” when I was about 4, it was a new theater. The explanation of the name is also interesting, although the area was also called Utopia.

It was a sad day when it became a drug store. As a kid my dad used to go to the Happy Man cleaners a block away! We used to pass the great Marquee all the time! It is a shame I never took photos of it! Also does anyone remember Chicken Delight about 3 or 4 blocks going towards the park? Best tasting chicken in town. I also remember when the infamous Donald Manes lived about 2 block away!