Warren and lostmemory, with all the discussion above, perhaps it is time to start pages on this site for the Gotham and Amphion Theaters, if you haven’t already done so.
In Greek mythology, Amphion was a son of Zeus and Antiope, twin of Zethus, and husband of Niobe. Together with Zethus, Amphion captured Thebes, and afterwards fortified the city with a wall which was constructed by charming the stones into place, with a lyre given to him by Hermes.
So perhaps the Amphion Theater could have used some help from the mythical hero it was named after !
To further add to the confusion, what is now Jamaica Avenue was once known as either the Jamaica Plank Road or Fulton Street. The Richmond Hill Historical Society website has more details.
How sad, that such a large and once-beautiful theater went to seed and to waste like that. But at least live burlesque shows and plays were tried, in addition to movies, before the Hillside closed forever as a theater.
Hmmmm – a true lost classic : Mae West in “Inter-racial Time-travelling Grave Robbers From Outer Space” !
Seriously, can nothing be concretely proven or documented for a Gotham Theater, once located at about 2500 Fulton Street, in the Bway Junction – ENY area of Brooklyn, at the (major !) intersection of Broadway, Fulton Street, Alabama Avenue, East New York Avenue, and Jamaica Avenue, at about 1900 ?
1) (relatively easy) : Obtain the mortal remains of Mae West, and take them to 54-30 Myrtle Avenue. It’s not far to get to, from Cypress Hills Cemetery (just take the B-18 bus and then walk a few blocks) although it does involve vandalism, and theft of a corpse, and would look very suspicious.
2)(the hard part) : go back in time at least twenty-seven years to when 54-30 Myrtle Avenue was still the RKO Madison Theater.
Hmmm … grave-robbing time travelers ! What a great sci fi-horror plot line !
Yes. Necrophilia is now present on this page as an alternate lifestyle. There is no longer an RKO Madison with a balcony in Ridgewood, so it will be on the upper level of the Liberty Dept. Store at 54-30 Myrtle Avenue.
Thanks, Rose. The latest comments on the RKO Madison Theater page are about Mae West once having performed at a theater at Bushwick and Euclid Avenues, which makes no sense.
Rose, thanks for the background info on Jackie Wilson. Too bad he was booed by Parliament fans. I can enjoy Parliament, but I think their costumes and stage antics tend to be excessive, bordering on slapstick, which detracts from, or hides a lack of, good music. Once, when I saw them on TV, they suddenly, and for no apparent reason, began reciting the limerick about the young man from Peru, who went out one day in his canoe, while dreaming of Venus, he played with his … Funny, but where’s the musicianship of a James Brown, or a Bootsy Collins ?
Shame on the father of the Stairsteps who treated you fans like vagabonds !
I, too, have heard that Hamburg Avenue was changed to Wilson Avenue during WW I to be more patriotic. Hamburg Savings Bank, however, was very proud of its name, and retained it.
“bushwickbuddy” has commented, on the page for the RKO Madison Theater in Ridgewood, Queens, that the Alhambra was made into an A & P or Bohack. I do not know if the building still exists.
Thank you, bushwickbuddy, for checking in with us. Seeing “Psycho” alone in the balcony at Loew’s Gates must have been awesome. Please contribute, if you will, to the pages on this site for the Loew’s Gates, RKO Bushwick, RKO Madison, Ridgewood, and Decatur theaters. Please feel free to start pages here for the Alhambra and Grove Theaters. When did the Alhambra become an A & P or Bohack ?
As you may have imagined, Bushwick has changed alot since 1962. You can gain some idea by reading the pages for these theaters on this site, and clicking on the links to the images.
What is your experience of the Empire, Monroe, Colonial, and DeKalb/Casino Theaters ? How about the Luxor, on Central Avenue, between Woodbine and Madison Sts. ? The Rivoli, on Myrtle, between Knickerbocker and Wilson ?
Make that 2500 Fulton Street. Apparently, Broadway and Fulton Street don’t intersect anymore. Perhaps they did in 1901. Kevin Walsh has a page on his Forgotten NY site, “NYC Stubways”, with a scan of an early 20th century map of that East New York – Bway Junction area.
Perhaps it’s academic, as Fulton Street and Alabama Avenue still do intersect.
Those two intersections are essentially the same location (Jewell Square) at about 2538 Fulton Street. Jamaica and East New York Avenues intersect there as well.
Yes, it would have been as a kid, in 1900, because Mae West was born August 17, 1893, according to the Internet Movie Data Base. “In Bushwick, around the year 1900” could be almost anywhere, and could have changed into almost anything, by now.
Thanks, Bway. I have read that Mae West was originally from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, lived in the Brooklyn Manor section of Richmond Hill, and used the Rockaway Line LIRR station of that name to get into Manhattan quickly. Also that she liked to eat at the Triangle Hofbrau in Richmond Hill.
“It’s not the men in my life, it’s the life in my men !”
“Hey, big boy, are ya glad ta see me, or is that just a pickle in your pocket ?”
Thanks, Apollo and Bway, for all this information. I know of the Lenape people from historic plaques in Thomas Paine Park at Foley Square near Federal Plaza in downtown Manhattan. The African American Burial Ground is near there also.
Thank you, Rose, for your first hand information about the Empire, the RKO Bushwick, and the Monroe. Here’s what I remember about the R & B acts you mentioned :
The Five Stairsteps (and Cubey) : “Ooh Ooh Child” (September 1970)
Parliament : “Tear The Roof Off The Sucker” (June 1976) With George Clinton, Funkadelic, Funkenstein, etc.
Joe Tex : “I Gotcha !” (March 1972)
I don’t recall a hit single by Jackie Wilson.
Thanks so much for adding your “3 cents” ! I think you added a lot more thsn that!
Warren and lostmemory, with all the discussion above, perhaps it is time to start pages on this site for the Gotham and Amphion Theaters, if you haven’t already done so.
In Greek mythology, Amphion was a son of Zeus and Antiope, twin of Zethus, and husband of Niobe. Together with Zethus, Amphion captured Thebes, and afterwards fortified the city with a wall which was constructed by charming the stones into place, with a lyre given to him by Hermes.
So perhaps the Amphion Theater could have used some help from the mythical hero it was named after !
To further add to the confusion, what is now Jamaica Avenue was once known as either the Jamaica Plank Road or Fulton Street. The Richmond Hill Historical Society website has more details.
How sad, that such a large and once-beautiful theater went to seed and to waste like that. But at least live burlesque shows and plays were tried, in addition to movies, before the Hillside closed forever as a theater.
Hmmmm – a true lost classic : Mae West in “Inter-racial Time-travelling Grave Robbers From Outer Space” !
Seriously, can nothing be concretely proven or documented for a Gotham Theater, once located at about 2500 Fulton Street, in the Bway Junction – ENY area of Brooklyn, at the (major !) intersection of Broadway, Fulton Street, Alabama Avenue, East New York Avenue, and Jamaica Avenue, at about 1900 ?
A remarkable two-step process :
1) (relatively easy) : Obtain the mortal remains of Mae West, and take them to 54-30 Myrtle Avenue. It’s not far to get to, from Cypress Hills Cemetery (just take the B-18 bus and then walk a few blocks) although it does involve vandalism, and theft of a corpse, and would look very suspicious.
2)(the hard part) : go back in time at least twenty-seven years to when 54-30 Myrtle Avenue was still the RKO Madison Theater.
Hmmm … grave-robbing time travelers ! What a great sci fi-horror plot line !
Yes. Necrophilia is now present on this page as an alternate lifestyle. There is no longer an RKO Madison with a balcony in Ridgewood, so it will be on the upper level of the Liberty Dept. Store at 54-30 Myrtle Avenue.
Thanks, Rose. The latest comments on the RKO Madison Theater page are about Mae West once having performed at a theater at Bushwick and Euclid Avenues, which makes no sense.
Rose, do you know where on Bushwick Avenue Mae West once lived ? My dad once lived at 1454 Bushwick, between Chauncey and Pilling Streets, in 1945.
Peter K.
Rose, thanks for the background info on Jackie Wilson. Too bad he was booed by Parliament fans. I can enjoy Parliament, but I think their costumes and stage antics tend to be excessive, bordering on slapstick, which detracts from, or hides a lack of, good music. Once, when I saw them on TV, they suddenly, and for no apparent reason, began reciting the limerick about the young man from Peru, who went out one day in his canoe, while dreaming of Venus, he played with his … Funny, but where’s the musicianship of a James Brown, or a Bootsy Collins ?
Shame on the father of the Stairsteps who treated you fans like vagabonds !
Glad I made you remember. That’s MY pleasure !
Peter K.
I, too, have heard that Hamburg Avenue was changed to Wilson Avenue during WW I to be more patriotic. Hamburg Savings Bank, however, was very proud of its name, and retained it.
The Luxor was, apparently, also once known as the Eagle Theater, based on a Cinema Tour listing I have of Brooklyn theaters.
No, I am not. I think you have confused me with the Peter J. Koch, known by lostmemory, from Grover Cleveland High School.
“bushwickbuddy” has commented, on the page for the RKO Madison Theater in Ridgewood, Queens, that the Alhambra was made into an A & P or Bohack. I do not know if the building still exists.
Thank you, bushwickbuddy, for checking in with us. Seeing “Psycho” alone in the balcony at Loew’s Gates must have been awesome. Please contribute, if you will, to the pages on this site for the Loew’s Gates, RKO Bushwick, RKO Madison, Ridgewood, and Decatur theaters. Please feel free to start pages here for the Alhambra and Grove Theaters. When did the Alhambra become an A & P or Bohack ?
As you may have imagined, Bushwick has changed alot since 1962. You can gain some idea by reading the pages for these theaters on this site, and clicking on the links to the images.
What is your experience of the Empire, Monroe, Colonial, and DeKalb/Casino Theaters ? How about the Luxor, on Central Avenue, between Woodbine and Madison Sts. ? The Rivoli, on Myrtle, between Knickerbocker and Wilson ?
Thanks in advance !
Peter K.
Make that 2500 Fulton Street. Apparently, Broadway and Fulton Street don’t intersect anymore. Perhaps they did in 1901. Kevin Walsh has a page on his Forgotten NY site, “NYC Stubways”, with a scan of an early 20th century map of that East New York – Bway Junction area.
Perhaps it’s academic, as Fulton Street and Alabama Avenue still do intersect.
Those two intersections are essentially the same location (Jewell Square) at about 2538 Fulton Street. Jamaica and East New York Avenues intersect there as well.
OK, where would we begin ? For openers, it’s not on this site.
Some who post on this site have an interest in live theaters.
Yes, it would have been as a kid, in 1900, because Mae West was born August 17, 1893, according to the Internet Movie Data Base. “In Bushwick, around the year 1900” could be almost anywhere, and could have changed into almost anything, by now.
My Cinema Tour listing does not show a Gotham Theater in Bushwick.
Perhaps Warren can help, with his film and theater yearbooks.
You’re welcome. Have you checked out the page for it on this site ?
Thanks, Bway. I have read that Mae West was originally from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, lived in the Brooklyn Manor section of Richmond Hill, and used the Rockaway Line LIRR station of that name to get into Manhattan quickly. Also that she liked to eat at the Triangle Hofbrau in Richmond Hill.
“It’s not the men in my life, it’s the life in my men !”
“Hey, big boy, are ya glad ta see me, or is that just a pickle in your pocket ?”
Thanks, Apollo and Bway, for all this information. I know of the Lenape people from historic plaques in Thomas Paine Park at Foley Square near Federal Plaza in downtown Manhattan. The African American Burial Ground is near there also.
“You can almost taste the hot dogs and french fries they sell … under the boardwalk …” (The Drifters)
Or, in this case, under the el …
Thanks again, Rose. My dad (born 1919)remembers the likes of Mae West and George Burns, and other live vaudeville, at the RKO Bushwick.
Thank you, Rose, for your first hand information about the Empire, the RKO Bushwick, and the Monroe. Here’s what I remember about the R & B acts you mentioned :
The Five Stairsteps (and Cubey) : “Ooh Ooh Child” (September 1970)
Parliament : “Tear The Roof Off The Sucker” (June 1976) With George Clinton, Funkadelic, Funkenstein, etc.
Joe Tex : “I Gotcha !” (March 1972)
I don’t recall a hit single by Jackie Wilson.
Thanks so much for adding your “3 cents” ! I think you added a lot more thsn that!
Peter