Adonis Theatre
839 8th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10019
839 8th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10019
14 people
favorited this theater
Showing 101 - 125 of 132 comments
Warren… Did you ever resolve your inquiries about the Tivoli Hotel and adjacent theater depicted in the photo that accompanied that Times piece on Benjamin Appel? I read the article and had the same curiosity about that photo. It seems reasonable that the depiction is of a Theater District location.
I had forgotten how sensitively the ventilation ducting was placed in that particular auditorium. Perhaps my mind was on other things. Thanks for reminding me Warren;–)
marqueemaven;
The link does work, you have to join the cta-uk Yahoo group to view them, or at least log onto Yahoo Groups and do a seatch for cta-uk (Cinema Theatre Association, UK)
Woody: The link you posted did not work, for me. I would like to see those Manhattan theater photos if you could post the correct link for them; thanks …
Ah. The Adonis. That was the name of the theatre. I remember when they built the Worldwide Plaza, which I think is the site of the old Madison Square Garden or the version of the Garden that was used just before the new Garden opened on 33rd Street. I can add to the vignette about the contretemps between the Worldwide & the Adonis. The gentlemen who was later murdered in the Bronx was the partner in charge of his white shoe law firm’s move into the Worldwide Plaza. When the Worldwide opened, Times Square wasn’t the theme park it is now and one of the conditions that the law firm stipulated was that the Adonis, on the adjoining block, had to close and I believe William Zeckendorf, the builder of Worldwide Plaza, bought the site the Adonis was on.
LOL. Too funny!
TJ and RobertR;
A search on IMDB reveals Jack Wrangler is still around, born 11th July 1946 (son of television producer Robert Stillman). Wrangler and Margaret Whiting were married in 1994, still married!
I had some wild times at the old Adonis. I can’t go into details here. But what times.
LOL; longislandmovies.
A Night at the Adonis (1977) is listed on The Internet Movie Database (you have to add your preference to do an ‘adult’ search to view it and the review).
adonis and the tea room watch out …………lol
Yup I actually saw Jack and Margaret sitting together one night at the Cafe Carlyle when Eartha Kitt was playing. Ah New York :)
Is he still around? I know he and Margaret Whiting were an item after his film career. LOL.
Nick Justin who owned the theatre also had a financial interest in this film as well as many others starring Jack Wrangler. The film was filmed at the theatre during off hours when it was closed to the public.
There was an early Porn film called a Night at the Adonis that was supposedly filmed there. Dunno if they closed the theater for that or what.
Check this link to the UK Cinema Theatre Association CTA Online Yahoo group.Ive added six photos of 42nd st area cinemas, including a 1995 photo of the Adonis, the David, the Empire, Cine 42, New Amsterdam and Harem
As well as two postcards one of 42nd street in the snow in all its eighties sleazy glory and one very early eighties one of it at night…enjoy!
View link
posted by woody on Jan 29, 2005 at 3:42pm
There was a theater called the New David, located around the corner from the Ed Sullivan Theater. I once passed by (okay, I was going in to the theater) and there was a line of people in front of the New David waiting to get into the David Letterman show which had moved into the refurbished Sullivan. The line was split into two so that men going into the New David could enter. I wonder if the folks at CBS pressured the landlord to evict the New David? If I am not mistaken there was another adult fare theater named the David somewhere around 49th and 7th. I have a foggy memory of seeing it when I started working in the area in the late 1980’s.
The David closed during or not long after the initial shutdown of adult businesses in the city in the late ‘90s; I’m not sure what, if anything, is presently occupying that space.
the david theatre was just off broadway behind the ameritana hotel, i stayed in the hotel in 1990 and my room looked down on the neon marquee, i ventured inside the david but it had little or no decoration and didnt appear to have been a legit theatre, there was a slopping stalls floor and then some rooms, overflowing toilets and dark sleazy corridors upstairs full of fat old guys beating off, there were dead roaches everywhere… i dont know if it still exists
The Gaiety over the road was a much more fun affair
I should add that the Adonis didn’t die out after being evicted from the former Tivoli. It simply moved down to 44th street. I think the theater it took over was the Cameo but can’t be sure. That theater, after the Adonis was closed, is now known as the Play Pen. The theater seats were removed and they installed booths where girls perform for a fee of a few dollars. The bolcony is now the male section with buddy booths. There were clippings about the former Tivoli on the wall of the new home of the Adonis.
I also recall that there was a theater called The David. It too was a gay porn theater and I believe that it was located on 7th avenue and 49. But can’t be sure. I never went in but do recall that the name DAVID was spelled out in neon. This is before AIDS reared it’s ugly head and the health department began to close down these theaters. I missed the opportunity to check out the old Victory theatre across the street from the New Amsterdam. As you may recall the old Times Square was home to many old theaters that were turned into porn houses.
An interesting footnote to the Adonis. The man who was in charge of real estate for the developers of the Worldwide Plaza was instrumental in purchasing the theater and closing it down because of the porn movies. In a case that made headlines, that man was found dead in a rundown motel in the Bronx. It was revealed that this pillar of the community enjoyed engaging in sex with men and he liked it rough. He would sometimes come into work with bruises and tell co-workers that he had been mugged. This was front page news as you can imagine. Hypocrates get it in the end all the time.
It is too bad that the theater wasn’t purchased, refurbished, and used to business presentations. I will never forget the grand marquee and lobby. It was quite large.
I can also recall that on one visit man were engaging in sexual activity near the left entry way to the balconey. It was crazy in there.
It’s sad how a porn booking policy has obscured the architectural value and quite often the historic worth of so many classic movie theatres which were later demolished without so much of a peep from the public.
The Tivoli Theater on 8th Ave at 50th Street originally opened with 1,433 seats in September 1921. It was designed by the Architectural Firm; Eisendrath and Horwitz for the Consolidated Theatres Circuit.
The initial presentation policy was ‘films, orchestra and grand opera soloists’, the orchestra assisted by a 3-Manual Kimball organ. The building also incorporated a 951 seat roof theater.
It closed as the Adonis Theater in January 1990 and the name Adonis was transfered seven blocks south on 8th Avenue to the former Cameo Theater, close to W 43rd St. The Cameo was designed by the same architectural firm as the Tivoli and opened in 1916 as the Ideal Theater(It had been shuttered after a police raid in 1989).
this was a nice theater in its day
ADONIS name is to much for this site.. LOL
Oh, OK, I had been told when it was closing that they were going to rip it out and put Bally’s or NY Sports Club in the space.