Rainbow Theatre

My mother, brother and his wife went to the concert featuring El Gallo and other acts. Show started at 8:00 PM and ended at 1:00 AM. My mother said the theater was packed. I asked my sister-in-law to take a picture of the auditorium but my mother said she forgot her camera but did take one with her phone. I haven’t receieved it yet but I will let you all know. As for the auditorium my mother said it needs a paint job badly. She also said the balcony was sealed off since the upstairs is rented to a church. But otherwise it was a sell-out show and there is one more tonight. I hope the owners realize that they have a goldmine on their hands. With the influx of new people into the neighborhood there is a great need to have a venue to stage shows and other functions for the community.

Yes, that is true….but I dunno about anyone being able to spend $12 Million on the theater would keep it intact as a theater. The building may survive, but at that price, I don’t think it could be profitable as a theater, and certainly not a church.
Did the church that was in it own the building or rent it?

I heard that on December 1-2 there is going to be a show by Puerto Rican singer El Gallo at the former Rainbow Theater. I haven’t been able to confirm this. If it is so that would be great. I think maybe the Rainbow might be saved from the wreckers ball.

Well granted, Steinway St in Astoria is probably a more expensive business district than Graham Ave….but point well taken, $25 million is just ridiculous, even for Astoria!

Well Williamsburg has become the new East Village, and now Bushwick is becoming the new Wiliamsburg….the gentrification seems to be tracing the route of the Canarsie line. People priced out of the East Village and Bowery then escaped to Williamsburg…and then priced out of Willimasburg began taking over Bushwick. They even call it the “L Train Gentrification”. Each year they appear to add a new station along the L line to the now changing and improving neighborhoods along it…. I think the wave of gentrification is all the way up to about Jefferson Ave now….Dekalb, here they come…

But wow, $12 million is a lot….

Wow, 12 million huh. Too bad they didn’t load any interior photos.

Yes, I am sure of that, and also we have to remember this is in the part of the Burg, that still needs “gentrification” and is right near the projects. It is south of Grand Street which on that side of the BQE is really still “untouched” and the stores and restaurant are still the same as they were for years.

Of course just east of there is the L Montrose and Morgan stop with a lot of lofts. And one thing also, the Grand Street stop on the L is on Buswhick and Grand a few blocks away.

But the value of the theater to the “new williamsburg” and I am not saying there was anything wrong with the old, is less than it would be on the Northside and even around the Commodore.

As I said, this was told to me by an usher or an “active parishoner” who was there after mass, helping to close up. I was lucky enough to get there at that time to talk abot the inside of theater, however, I did not see the inside of the theater and this guy was “no expert” or spokesmen. The person who I really needed to talk to was the pastor, but he was having a meeting at the time. They said I could possibly wait, but during the week would be better.

As for the figures on the cost of the theater, I totally agree with you if they are asking $15 million, that is a ridiculous price. You could probably buy a theater or something to preserve in Manhattan for that price. No usher tried to make the agrument that it is such a building etc. In addition, even if we start a save the “theater organization”, no one who would donate funding, or the bank or credit union who holds the mortgage would never ever finance something thats worth is excessively and ridiculously more than the actual value or the building. 1.5 million could be what is going for, and that could be the value of things that were preserved, IE, chandeliers and an objects built into it that good ad value to it.

However, the interesting thing is that several former theaters were taken over be evangelical and hispanic churches. No with the property taxes going up with the value of the building and the gentrification, parishoners also not able to afford Williamsburg anymore, many of these churches that own the building could “cash out” and seek less expensive locations. This possible could but on the market several theaters, long thought lost, for renovation.

I know one theater, I believe the Metro theater on Grand Street, or one other here on Cinema treasures, that is Grand Street is also a Church. I was a small church of the storefront looking kind, and looks like it could have been a small one screen theater or a vaudville house turned movie theater. But I passed it and checked the address when the function said it was “unknown”, and it is a church.

So theaters like this could be a diamond found in the “rough”

I just went by the rainbow to get the number. The church was open but I just missed the actual theater open. They had locked up but the Pastor was upstairs. (The balcony is now the pastor office) I was in the lobby and it is incredible and the church goers say that the interior was restored and maintain from the movie theater days.

Here is the big problem. One of the ushers said the building is going for $15 million a hell of a lot more than the Commodore at $3million. But then again that was just a parton speaking.

Hey Joe Anniegirl here. Sad to say the Commodore is coming down and who knows what is going to replace it. I vaguely remember the Rainbow. i lived in Williamsburg from 1945 ( when I was Born) to 1970 when I married and moved to Astoria. I went to all the movies the commodore, republic marcy williamsburg. All these great moviehouses. The Aster was gone by the time I was allowed to go with my friends. Great days gone by. A Pity. Anniegirl

The question about interior photos. I am going to call the realtor and try to “get in”. I have the credentials being producer of TV and also a background in theater so it would not be odd for me to see about purchasing the theater for a group.

If I can get in, I will bring my digital camera and take photos to post here and also, if there is some interest used to get a prospective investors or community support to save what could be the last theater.

As I said with the Commodore and other theaters in Williamsburg, I have done a lot research of Williamsburg, and I know Betty Smith’s daughter who wrote “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” and even have looked through Betty Smith’s papers at UNC in Chapel Hill.

Before film, in Williamsburg there were vaudville houses on almost every corner of Williamsburg. I have a feeling that as buildings go up in the burg, we need some kind of historic committee to look for these old gems that could be behind a warehouse or a garage etc.

For years I used to go to lower eastside, before it was trendy like now when I was student at NYU in early 1990’s. The Sunshine theater on Houston Street was the Old Yiddish theater. I passed that millons of time and even at Jewish food at the little restaurant next door. There was no indication, that an old theater was behind the facade.

I honestly believe we might find all this in Williamsburg as things are renovated and possible knocked down which should be looked into to be saved.

Any interior photos available?
Unfortunately, the glass block area was concreted over, as shown in my photos from March 2005 above. It appears that was a recent occurance, as in 2003 or 2004 when Warren wrote the intro, he stated that the glass block was still there, however, broken.