Valley Stream Theatre
69 Rockaway Avenue,
Valley Stream,
NY
11580
69 Rockaway Avenue,
Valley Stream,
NY
11580
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Showing 26 - 43 of 43 comments
Here is a new link for the photos in my Feb 24th post.
What was once a glorious 1920’s vaudeville & movie house is now this dreary little brick medical facility:
Former Valley Stream Theater site
At least some things stand the test of time (directly across the street from the old theater):
Slipped Disc
The RIO was great. I saw Metallica there in 1983 in support of their first album and tour. The theater was short lived as a music venue but it tied in nicely with Slipped Disc while it was there.
Yes East Coast… It didn’t last very long, but it was certainly the old Valley Stream under the name Rio. I saw some shows at the Calderone Music Hall as well – which had a more streamlined 1940’s style interior. Definitely Rio on Rockaway Ave. If you read some of the (albeit sketchy) history above, they built the theater with stage and fly space for live productions back in the 1920’s.
I saw John Stamos here in concert (don’t ask) during his General Hospital period in the 1980’s.
Ed are you sure that is where saw concerts at and it was not the Calderone in Franklyn Square? I could not beli8ve they held concerts in that place with a stage that small.. I worked a show at the Calderone and once the band, sound and light gears was in and set all the road cases had to be rolled or carried back out to the trucks
WOW!!! The Slipped Disk is still in business. Amazing. Back in the mid 80s (the BEST TIMES!) this strip in Valley Stream was becoming a bit like a East Village knock off. It had all the elements in place. Not sure if it’s still the same though.
Thanks for sharing that, East Coast Rocker – living up to your name indeed! I can’t recall which specific movies I saw here as well, though probably not very many. “High Anxiety” is a possibility since I remember seeing that with my Dad at the time we lived in Laurelton – but I remember seeing that movie early in its run and I’m not sure if this theater was still showing first run movies at the time. I returned here in ‘84 or so for a concert by the bands Hot Tuna and Bobby & The Midnights (a side project for Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead) when it was known as Rio.
I was not sure what movies I had seen there. I went there to visit a girlfriend who worked as an usher there and when she had her breaks we would go off to a side room for some really great sex :)
The one and only movie I saw here was in 1978 for “High Anxiety”. I remember the building had no heat but we went in anyway. It was beautiful but very badly in need of repairs.
When my father was growing up in the 30"s and 40’s it was a live burlesque house. Yvonne DeCarlo (Mrs. Munster) played there often.
It was still Skouras here
View link
I just came across a Long Island Press ad for 11/7/68 and at time the theatre was being run by UA and was showing Clint Eastwood in “Coogans Bluff” on showcase. The theatre address can also be updated to Rockaway Avenue.
I was not aware that RKO took over the Valley Stream Theater after 1974. I was working for AIT as a theater manager in the 70’s. I was at the Calderone Theater in Hempstead when AIT closed all the Calderone Theaters. This included the Mineola, Hempstead, Rivoli ( in Hempstead) the Valley Stream, Westbury and the Calderone. All of the theaters have been demolished except for the Calderone and I believe the Westbury is still standing. I was present when the Valley Stream was torn down. How sad !!!. This never should have happened as there was still a lot of life left in this building.
Absolutely Orlando, I have a block ad that RKO used to run in Newsday showing all the discount theatres and the Valley Stream was one of them.
RKO did operate this theatre after A.I.T. from 1977/8 until it closed in 1980. It was 80 cents to get in along with the Mineola
and Hempstead Theatres (which RKO also ran). The opening of the Sunrise Multiplex on Sunrise Highway did close this house in 1980. This information is accurate, I worked at Sunrise Multiplex in 1979/80 and drove by the Valley Stream Theatre daily at the time.
The Valley Stream Theater was not run by RKO…. It was built by the Calderone family around 1925 and was run by Skouras Theaters. Some time in the 1960’s. United Artists took over. They were followed by Associated Independant Theaters who closed the theater to movies in 1974. The Valley Stream Theater had some live performances for a period of time but was unsuccessful. The seat did not seat 2,500 as you show. The seating was for 1,025 which is a bit too small for live productions to profit. I worked in this theater for many years and just wanted to correct the record.
This was on Rockaway Avenue between Merrick Road and Sunrise Hwy, which is a pretty busy commercial strip in this well populated suburban area. I remember seeing a few films here in the late ‘70’s and early '80’s and then visiting the used record shop Slipped Disc across the street. This DID become the concert hall known as Rio in the 80’s. The building was demolished some years back and replaced with a new retail facility. At least Slipped Disc is still in business.