Ziegfeld Theatre
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
131 people
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Usually when the theater closes between movies they usually check for bugs or bad equipment as well as upgrade the theater to the latest projection and surround sound. Clearview’s most famous venue is also its most valuable and profitable. FYI, the parent company of the Post, News Corp (which will soon break up into two), had its Fox division send some of its movies there, including the Star Wars prequels and the classic trilogy special edition.
Hello To My Fellow Posters-
there’s one statement in the doom and gloom article from this past Sunday’s N Y Post that seems made up simply to give the article bite. it says patrons were shocked when they arrived at the Ziegfeld the Memorial Day weekend an the doors were looked. but why would people have shown up at the theater that weekend if it was temporarily closed and there- fore couldn’t have had any advertised screening times.
Or put another way:
Charles Foster Kane: You’re right, I did lose a million dollars last year. I expect to lose a million dollars this year. I expect to lose a million dollars next year. You know, Mr. Thatcher, at the rate of a million dollars a year, I’ll have to close this place in… 60 years.
The New York Post has been crying doom for the Ziegfeld for months, but here’s an article from today’s paper.
You should take everything from Fox News sources in stride. The Ziegfeld couldn’t loose over $1 million a year even if it remained closed all year. The math simply doesn’t add up.
The two theatres on 42nd street do lose more than that with their newer leases, but they are cash producing cows and that cash can be invested elsewhere before the bills have to get paid.
I was very upset as Fox News said that the Ziegfeld lost over $1 million last year and will have to close for good. This is the last movie palace in New York; the rest are tiny multiplexes. The Music Hall, of course, is a palace as well, but rarely shows films anymore. How sad; no more glamorous premieres in midtown. I already miss the Roxy and the other palaces which were demolished. Maybe this theter can get a landmark status but this takes a long time. Remember what happened to the elegant old Penn Station and the Roxy. The grandeur of the Ziegfeld will remain in my heart as a senior but the young will have no such memories. Sad!
Sorry should read {seemed ok not of }
Clearview aka Cablevision and throw in the mix Newsday, wants to sell Clearview…any takers? Clearview and Cable seemed of combo til' they bought Newsday..Lets hope the new owners take the OPT free movie night cards..
As the Ziegfeldman, I must comment that this entire NY Post article is totally based on conjecture.
“In addition to showing the latest blockbuster films, Clearview’s Ziegfeld Theatre is a landmark location for movie premieres and events,’’ Clearview said in a brief e-mail statement that didn’t address financial issues. “It is normal course of business for the theatre to be closed at certain times.”
We already know this. We’ve known it for years.
So, what does it take to keep a 1000 seat venue viable? Not enough movie premieres and not enough exclusive films (see above). But events, yes!!
I have been to the Ziegfeld for several Metropolitan Opera HD broadcasts, one of the most creative money-making things the Met ever came up with. And the Ziegfeld, to my ecstasy, was packed. At $25, a bargain.
We are in the era of Fathom events…and the Ziegfeld is a perfect venue. The Rolling Stones will tour in 2013. For my money, I would get a better view at the Ziegfeld, than at a stadium seat for much more money. Now, multiple that by all the EXCLUSIVE events that people would come to see. The market is there.
I guess landmark status will be the only thing that can save the Ziegfeld now.
Well, According to today’s NY POST, this does not look like good news…
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/red_carpet_mSb2uFhB8U2NsvsD8reypN?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=Local
I’ve gone to this theater since I was a kid. And it was one of the things I missed about New York when I moved away for a number of years.
The last film I saw there recently was “THE HUNGER GAMES”. This will a sad day for the New York Film community if this theater actually closes for good.
All the “money people” in this city who are film fans, And a few of them can’t even get together and save this theater?
Yes, if “The Amazing Spiderman” was a Ziegfeld exclusive and maybe one other theater (The Baronet?) like the old days, this conversation wouldn’t be happening. So it goes. With no disrespect to the Ziegfeld, which I love, I encourage you classics lovers (seen as the way “they were meant to be seen”) to trot over to Queens and see the glorious Museum of the Moving Image. They’re ongoing “See It Big” series is worth it in a fabulous state of the art setting. Here’s a link to the Summer series, it’s incredible. Many DCP-The “Ben-Hur” alone is astonishing. I saw it last September at NYFF.
http://www.movingimage.us/films/2012/07/06/detail/see-it-big-julyseptember-2012/
Also, FYI-The Loew’s Kings project is alive and well. Construction begins the end of this year.
Best to all,
Gary
This theatre has always closed between bookings when the boxoffice did not meet the house nut. Only Cineplex Odeon kept it open all year round, no matter what and ate the loss.
Closed to the public but not dark. They have been hosting premiers this week including ‘The Amazing Spiderman’ last night.
So with Snow White, Rock of Ages and soon The Dark Knight Rises, I guess the Ziegfeld is doing OK for the rest of the summer. Good to hear.
“Dark Knight Rises” tickets at the Ziegfeld are now on sale.
^ that New Jersey theater that is getting the Atmos auditorium for ‘Brave’ is AMC Garden State 16 by the way.
The problem is that when the Ziegfeld has tried to do revivals and festivals, no one shows up. But a lot of those festivals were for films that were originally released in 70mm 6-tk mag, but the prints the Ziegfeld got for the revival were 35mm optical and not necessarily in great condition. There have been relatively recent 70mm festivals in Los Angeles, occasionally in Seattle and more frequently in the UK and Europe. It would be great if the Ziegfeld did one. Last summer, the Seattle Cinerama played 70mm prints of West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia and Cleopatra in addition to This Is Cinerama and How The West Was Won in the original 3-strip Cinerama.
The Bradford Cinema in the UK had a festival in April that in addition to Cinerama films played vintage 70mm prints of Ryan’s Daughter, Around The World in 80 Days, The Star Chamber and Black Rain. (Don’t know the condition of the prints though.)
I was hoping that that the theatre was closed to install the new Dolby Atmos sound system for the premiere of “Brave”. But I was at an AES seminar the other night and we were told that “Brave” will not be playing at any Manhattan theatre in that format (closest is NJ, but they didn’t name the theatre).
Some years back, Disney wanted to buy the Ziegfeld from Clearview, but Clearview wasn’t interested in selling. Wonder if Disney would still be interested if Clearview decided to close it? Losing the Ziegfeld would really be a big loss. It’s one of the few theatres I’m still willing to see a movie.
A few years ago the Ziegfeld used to program classic films to play for weeks during their down times. I guess the one-night-only special screenings are the next best thing, especially since I recently saw two exceptional ones there (“Tommy” and “Yellow Submarine”).
It’s not unusual for THIS theater to close from time-to-time, I agree.
Snow White and The Huntsman opens June 1 in digital.It has never been unusual for theaters to close for a few weeks. When I lived in NYC in the late 70’s and early 80’s they did it all the time.I remember they played New York New York from Memorial day weekend until the Thursday before labor day and than closed and had nothing for labor day weekend. They reopened a few weeks later.
If it’s in conjunction with the bluray release, moviebuff82, you can bet your house that it’ll be a digital presentation.
Great movie. Wonder if its a dcp or a 35mm print? I found out via amazon.com that they’re showing it a day before the bluray debut. The bluray has a lot of special features as well as a music cd featuring the hit soundtrack by vangelis.
Also, a screening of Chariots of Fire on July 9th.
Thanks, mhvbear. That is good news. Whether the movie is good or not, at least there’s a movie playing there.