Loew's Commodore Theater
105 2nd Avenue,
New York,
NY
10003
105 2nd Avenue,
New York,
NY
10003
15 people
favorited this theater
Showing 101 - 125 of 149 comments
Hey LuisV – you mentioned the Jefferson Theater as one that sat idle until destroyed. There was a short period of time that “The Jefferson” was opened as a dance club. I remember the year to be 1982 or 1983. The club opened at 1AM (we used to party at my apartment till about 2AM, then we’d cab there). The club stayed open till about 8AM, and the DJs played an incredible mix of rock and roll, and r&b dance music. Because the theater was small, and it “flew under the radar”, we’d always run into Belush and Akroyd after the broadcast of SNL. The Jefferson was the antidote to it’s over-the-top all disco glam clubs of that time. Like every bright light, it burned out quickly.
Somoman
Ed – Yup E. 3rd! There were a number of theaters between Canal & 14th street at the beginning thru middle of the last century. Most are gone. One revitalized is the Sundshine – although a multiplex, it is still better than the refrigerator storage place it was before this incarnation. It was a legit off-bway house thru the 50s. There were so many great & glorious theaters throughout the city that are gone. The Loew’s & RKO (Radio-Keith-Orphem cicuits) chains alone built most of them during and after Vaudeville. Even as far out as Coney Island. There were 4 legit theaters there – now one, which they’re holding on to in case gambling is legalized.
bobmarshall
I’ll always remember the Ritz (on E. 11th) for the long narrow flight of stairs up to the ballroom and the big video screen hung over the stage where they’d roll obscure clips randomly edited to accompany the music that would play over the house PA before the show or between sets. It was the first place I ever saw the complete John Landis video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” – living in Queens at the time, we had no cable or MTV! And I’ll never forget there were always a number of Hell’s Angels' motorcycles parked on the sidewalk to the left of the Ritz' entrance near Fourth Avenue. At least that’s always how I’ll remember the joint! Even though the Angels had there camps a few blocks downtown on… East 3rd was it?
Hi Ed – I did see a show at the Ritz on 54th. 9 Inch Nails and another louder, better-known medtal band, whose name I can’t remember at the moment. All the seats were taken out of the orchestra floor, making it easier to throw missles (beer cans, audience members) at each other. It was not a show of choice, I accompanied someone (just to see what they did to the place). i think I saw the $64,000 Question there with Hal March, when it was a CBS TV studio. I often see Webster Hall on classical recordings and really wonder if that’s where they record (I live nearby).
bobmarshall
Hey Bob… I remember when the Ritz moved out of its East 11th Street digs and came uptown, but I never went to a show there after the move and didn’t realize it was actually in the old Gallo/Studio 54! I did enjoy many great times at the old Ritz (now Webster Hall) in the ‘80’s, however. That place has its own architectural charms, though never a movie theatre, let alone a palace.
LouisV- have you checked out the Loew’s Jersey City web site? One of the greats! It’s full of pix & info. They’re having a halloween program that weekend and they do show classics usually on weekends. It’s worth a trip—across the boulevard from the PATH train. I agree Studio 54 was never in a league of the others. But, 54 is around the corner from where CBS does the Letterman Show-that was orginally Hammerstein’s Theatre which featured stain glass windows. (“Lost Broadway Theatres” Nicholas Van Hoogstraten – a wonderful photo book).,
bobmarshall
Thanks Bob. I just saw the Rosie Perez perform last week at Studio 54’s production of “The Ritz”. She was suprisingly excellent, but I got just as great a thrill walking around the old theater and remembering all of the fun nights I spent dancing the night away. Though an attractive theater, Studio 54 does not compare (in my opinion) to The Commodore, The Forum or The Acadamy of Music. Those were true palaces in every definition of the term and I miss them terribly. I do take solace in still having Radio City, The Hollywood, The Ziegfeld and 4 out of the five Loew’s Wonder theaters (with the 5th – The Kings still a good possiblity for restoration). There are others. But with every palace that we lose, it makes those remaining ever more valuable.
LuisV-too true. As Norma Desmond said in “Sunset Blvd.”, “they took the idols & destroyed them” and palaces they inhabited. I toured the Commodore & Palladium after they showed films, but before they became clubs and I revere these old temples. As you state, Studio 54 is one of the few remaining; surviving even a stint as The Ritz (Rock Club) briefly. I saw Cabaret there a nuber of times and it looks more like its original Gallo Opera House, with tables on the orchestra floor.
bobmarshall
Let’s also not forget that this grand theater served as the home for one of New York’s greatest, grandest and storied disco’s “The Saint” for over 10 years starting in 1981. Along with Studio 54, Club USA (the old Forum at 47th & Bway), and yes, the Academy of Music (known in it’s last years as The Palladium) these old theaters were kept alive as dance palaces that could still be enjoyed by throngs of revelers. Not like the old Jefferson on 14th Street that sat empty and decaying for decades before finally being demolished a few years back. Alas, only Studio 54 was truly saved for a period long enough to to be returned to work as a functioning theater. I’m not old enough to have been able to have attended these theaters when they were showing movies, but I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to have seen and enjoyed them as dance clubs. Sadly, we will never see movie venues like these built again.
As Halloween looms, I have Filmore stroy. In 1971, I attended a Halloween show at the Fillmore which featured the band, “Elephant’s Memory” (several members were friends of mine) with Zacherly as host, and on the screen was “Frankenstein” (1931) At the end of the film when the villagers were chasing the monster, the soundtrack was lowered as the band played one of their current hits “Band of Love.” It was a riot with the audience singing along and led into the musical part of the program.
bobmarshall
Profjoe… the Filmore East was in existence for all of about 3 yrs (‘68 – '71)… Could it have really had such a hand in bringing down an entire neighborhood? The Beacon has been operating as a concert hall for over 20 yrs and that stretch of the Upper West Side seems none the worse for the wear. I suppose it’s all relative. I have a family friend who lived on St. Marks Place off 2nd Ave for some 35 years before finally moving out of the neighborhood within the last 5 years. In his view, the neighborhood took a turn for the worse with modern gentrification.
“Decades of success”??? Like everything to do with Rock and Roll the myth of the Filmore is over-bloated, over-hyped, and childishly over-senitmentalized.
Having grown up on Fifth street and Second Avenue in the late 50’s and early 60’s I attended the Commodore many, many times. It was a beautiful little movie “palace.” The last film I remember seeing there was “Papa’s Delicate Condition,” with Jackie Gleason and Glynnis Johns. It was originally built for films and vaudeville. See a program in the lobby of the bank there.
It SHOULD have been torn down before Graham got his hands on it, as the Filmore was largely responsible for the ruination of what was a really great neighborhood.
The Academy of Music on 14th street was a huge movie palace. I remember a large marble fireplace in the lobby of the balcony. In front of the stage was an orchestra pit that still had several pianos in it. My dad remembered seeing Jimmy Durante there when he was with the team, Clayton, Jackson, and Durante. It was named, obviously, for the old opera house across the street.
Thanks, of course, to the complete sell out by NYC to the real estate industry, NYU, etc. and the tacit compliance of the media, places like this don’t have a chance to survive. This glorious building was shamelessly torn down without a word about it, in any newspaper. Like it never existed. Let’s not forget that the building also housed the famous, and infamous, “Julian’s Billiard Academy.” ! ! What a place.
As I remember it Luchows was several doors down from the Academy. There were a few stores, then a parking lot that went thru the block to 13th street then Luchows.
Al, you are correct. I am a collector of concert tickets circa 1964-1971. In one of my acquisitions, included in the lot were a pair of ticket stubs to that Bachman Turner Overdrive show at the NFE. I sold them on Ebay as they fell outside of the range of dates I colllect. The stubs included the concert promotors' names but I can’t seem to recall them now. Ironically I was a patron of the Fillmore East, yet only recently learned of the New Fillmore East (NFE) when I came upon ths stubs.
Shortly after Bill Graham closed it, someone else reopened it as the NFE Theater. (New Fillmore East) I remember Bachman-Turner Overdrive opened it the same night I went to a concert at the Academy of Music on 14th St. This didn’t last very long.
I think Luchow’s was located where the PC Richard’s appliance store is now.
I think Luchow’s was located where the PC Richard’s appliance store is now.
It was incorrectly stated that Luchow’s was located directly next to what had been The Academy of Music. Actually, another restaurant, The Italian Kitchen (throughout the ‘50’s, in my experience), was located directly to the north of the theater, while Luchow’s was located one or two buildings further north of that on the south side of 14th St., and not adjacent to the theater.
Here’s a 1973 photo showing the venue still in use for concerts as the Village East two years after Bill Graham pulled up stakes.
www.fillmore-east.com appears to have been abandoned. Does anyone know of a definitive website dedicated to the Fillmore. Especially a complete listing of the concerts. jerry the k
Warren… Great photo! The theater was probably about to start operating under the name Village Theater when this photo was taken. It was still two years off from coming under Bill Graham’s stewardship as the Fillmore East. Does anyone know when the last film booking at the Loew’s Commodore was? If the policy in these last years was Yiddish-American Vaudeville & Films, one probably wouldn’t have found its schedule listed in the major dailies of the time.
I’m surprised the comments on this theater don’t talk more about its days as The Saint. It was the best disco in New York from 1981 until about 1991 or so. I’ve been to a lot of discos in New York and The Saint has to rank in the top ranks of anyone’s list. Not only was it fabulous to walk around the old theater between dances, but the owners of the club installed a planetarium dome where the orchestra section was. You entered this dome and the stars projected all around in addition to fabulous laser displays. What I also remember was the fact that no one was allowed on the dance floor while they had a drink in their hand. Since the dance floor was inside a dome there were only four entrances. Management had employees posted at each entrance. The result was an incredible dance space with no spilled drinks on the floor. And yes, there were times the club stayed open for more than 24 hours in a row. We loved it. There will never be another one like it! I feel very fortunate to have experienced it.
In his new book, 700 Sundays, which is based on his Broadway show Billy Crystal mentions the Loew’s Commordore. Billy’s family owned the Commordore record label which recorded some of the great jazz artists of our time including Billie Holliday. One day Billie took young Billy to the Commordore where they saw the great George Stevens western “Shane” with Alan Ladd and Jack Palance. As everyone knows Palance would memorably come back into Billy’s life years later. The only quibble I had with the book is Billy referring to the Commodore as a “little theater”. With close to 3000 seats I would not call the Commordore little. A minor point. The book is a good read and Billy’s family is one of the most interesting I have ever read about. I live in Florida and unfortunately did not have the opportunity to see the show on Broadway. Has anyone seen it?
Can you help? One of my partners relatives was Adah Jessie Irwin, then famous New York model. She was daughter of Ada Irwin, who we believe worked in the Loew’s Commodore sometime in the early years. Does anyone have any programme with this name in it or know any details of what she did? Anything you have would be most appreciated
…and it’s a pretty ugly apartment building at that! I don’t see much improvement to the neighborhood, aesthetically speaking – it looks like something Robert Moses would have built, a short ‘project’. The people on 6th St. went from looking at an old ugly wall to looking at a new ugly wall with windows. Soon, all the real eastate in Manhattan will be occupied either by apartment buildings, Starbucks, hospitals or the Gap – and everything else will have to move to the outer boroughs.