Adams Theatre
28 Branford Place,
Newark,
NJ
07102
28 Branford Place,
Newark,
NJ
07102
12 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 62 comments
Hi Cypress, Do you currently live in one of Newark’s gritty wards? Do you look over your shoulder when you walk down the street at night. Do you worry about being burglarized while you sleep? Are your neighborhood stores just Dollar Stores, check cashing vendors and bodegas? Oh, I forgot the store front churches! Do you have to go to a whole other neighborhood to shop at real department stores or go to a supermarket or feel comfortable sitting in a park? Who wants to live like that? I’m so grateful that New York has been able to wipe most of that away throughout the entire city to the betterment of almost all of its residents.
The cities who have been unable to do this; Detroit, Gary, East St. Louis, Cleveland, Compton, Camden sit in ruins.
Hi LuisV. I guess I am misguided. What one person considers ‘gritty’ another considers an eyesore. I was pretty lost around that time and I found in that old Times Square something that resonated with me: neglect, abandoned, but still a diamond in the rough that needed TLC.
The Adams restoration would be more probable if Newark in genereal and this neighborhood in particular were more inviting.
Cypress… Why do you feel that Newark losing its “grit” is a terrible thing? Obviously you don’t live there. Who wants to live in a neighborhood filled with crime and fear? Given the choice, virtually no one.
Times Square was a cesspool that was symbolic of the city as a whole in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. Once it was cleaned up and its “Grit” removed, what happended? The Theater Boomed, hotels boomed, restaurants boomed and then, surprise!…People WANTED to live in Times Square/Hells Kitchen.
Newark could only dream of having success like this. In the early 90’s New York had a murder count of 2,200 people. Today it is around 500. A big part of the reason for the decline is the city’s success in getting rid of that “grit” you appear to like. Many more people are alive today because of the city’s success. Yet Newark is at its high point in murders. Why would you want it to stay this way?
When I was there last year I saw the same sign. The gates were up and I almost made it into the auditorium but some guy came by and basically told me to take a hike. From the looks of the lobby just past the front door it seems they were operating a discount store but it failed.
It was so sad to see a great beauty like the Adams reduced to a discount store.
That sign has been there for a long while now:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweintraub/276592822/
Went by today, the “ADAMS” letters that were left have been removed and new panels cover the three sides of the marquee “$1.00 DISCOUNT”.
Ed I agree with your idea about the Paramount. But with the NJPAC nearby I wonder if the power-that-be will allow such competition. I feel that the Paramount would make a great theater to stage shows like the New Amsterdam in Times Square. It’s a shame that developers don’t think like we do. We are able, for the most part, to see a broader picture. They see things in dollars per square feet.
I have been saying for the past year, if they want people to come back to Newark, you need something for them to come back to. Bringing the Adams, and its companion a few blocks away, the Paramount would be a great start. Lets not find them being turned into offices or condos, like so many other great palaces have.
I agree with Ed. downtown Newark has that gritty feel to it that Times Square once had. Soon it will be scrubbed clean and it will lose its real vibe. The Newark Paramount, with lots of love and cash, could become a great concert hall.
With Prudential Center having just opened just a few blocks away, I’d wager that much of the real estate in the area will be ripe for redevelopment in the coming few years. This would probably be a good time for shutter bugs to get themselves to downtown Newark and document what remains along the Broad Street corridor before it is all re-zoned and re-built beyond recognition.
Why do you think they refuse to allow photography inside?
A friend of mine made an appointment and toured the theater (contacted Belal above). He said the interior is amazing, but utterly decrepit. Chunks of ceiling plaster are literally all over the seats and floor. It’s in a condition beyond any reasonable attempt at restoration, given the location.
He saw neat stuff: decorative sconces, old movie posters, stacks of movie reels, an old ticket machine, the original projectors, etc. The seats are apparently very nice. So the place is a dump, but for folks interested, there probably is some salvageable artifacts.
Sadly they wouldn’t permit photography. I would kill to see that interior.
I know the feeling. I tried to get into the long-closed Tower Theater in Compton, CA last month. The owners of the current business that has been pasted onto the front of the theater were very suspicious. No dice.
Hello everyone. I ventured to Newark, NJ today and took a walk to see the old Adams. I noticed that the block where this venerable theater resides now boasts a number of Muslims businesses. Anyway, I saw that the Adams' marquee was covered with a sign for a 99 cent market. I walked over to get a closer look. I was sidetracked by a a gang of kids who were fighting. As I got closer I thought that perhaps I had hit gold and could get inside the theater. I was able to see where the box office used to be and was attempting to go in further since the door was open. Just then a man stopped me and asked me what I wanted. I asked him if I could see inside to the auditorium but he said that I would have to speak to his boss. Alas, his boss said no. I was so disappointed as I walked away and heard the gates coming down.
Thank you for the clarification. Are there plans to restore the theater?
They aren’t ripping it away. They are just cleaning it up because the previous owner of the building let it rot away. They are actually trying to salvage what is left of it but some stuff is considered to be antiques and they currently don’t have any use for it, so instead of throwing it away they would rather sell it to someone that would have use for it and appricaite this kind of neat stuff.
What is happening with this once grand showplace? Doesn’t ANYBODY within the city recognize the history and significance of this theater?
To let it sit and rot away (and get stripped of artifacts) is a real shame.
I am the Property Manager for the Adams Theater in Newark and I understand that the owner is selling some great antiques that still exist in the theater. If anyone is interested feel free to contact me. I would hate to see some of this really neat stuff thrown to waste or have someone that doesnâ€\t really understand the value behind some of this stuff get their hands on it. Feel free to e-mail me at or write back.
Apparently, I. Hirst Enterprises and the Adams Newark Theatre Co, lost a Supreme Court appeal against the City of Newark in May 1957. Anybody have any additional information?
Hirst Enterprises also owned the Globe Burlesque Theatre in Atlantic City, NJ.
Also looking for information on the 1961 70 minute film called “Scanty Panties”, filmed at the Globe.
Thanks,
Frank Reighter email:
Hi all – I have a photograph showing the Adams/Shubert Theater, which I’m trying to date. Here is a detail: http://www.dalahus.com/images/chamber%20detail.jpg
I’m pretty sure it’s in the late 1920s, namely 1928, as a search shows the Operetta “To The Queen’s Taste” was staged by Shubert in Atlantic City, but no record of it being performed in Newark. The marquee shows Shubert, but if this was the 20s, then according to the listing here it would have actually been either Payton’s or Keeney’s… I’m so confused!
Thanks..
Steve
TC, Do you have any more Newspaper Movie Ads?
This theater closed as a burlesque on February 7, 1957
THE CLOSING OF BURLESQUE — 1957 (From the Newark Evening News: February 6, 1957)
“Harold Minsky, who brought burlesque to the old Adams Theater in August 1953, said the 50 permanent employees at the theater had received one-week layoff notices. He said tomorrow night’s last show, beginning at 10 o'clock, would ring down the curtain.”
“Minsky estimated that Newark now is one of only 15 to 20 cities in the country where burlesque shows operate.”
source: Newark, A Chronological & Documentary History, by Arnold S. Rice, 1977, page 111.
Hey rexb.. can you please get in touch with me?
Would very much like to speak to your aunt and also have some info that may interest her.
email me:
Thanks
Dorothy
I remember going to a rock and roll/ryhthm and blues show at The Adams in July 1957.I was 13 at the time..The host was dj Tommy Smalls from WWRL in NYC..Some of the performers I saw on that unforgettable day were The Dells,Paragons,Jesters,Solitaires, Mickey and Sylvia,The Cadillacs,Keytones and some others which I can’t remember right now..Anyone else out there have any info?
Lotus Dubois is my aunt. She retired from burlesque in the mid 1950s.
She just turned 80 and is still very active.