Hahahahahaha Ed, yes, that was the ultimate test, the Ridgewood Theater, LOL….and while it took a little longer to load than most of the other theaters, wow, is it fast compared to how it used to load. When I knew I was going to read the new comments on the Ridgewood Theater page, I would just click on it, go do something else, and hope it wasn’t still trying to load when I came back!
Seriously guys, great work, the site works better than ever now…..
Great story! How ironic you seeing Ghost at the Commodore…and part of the movie was filmed further up Broadway on the Myrtle and Broadway Subway Platform, and down below under the station at the street intersection. The scene where Sam goes looking for Willy he gets off at the Myrtle station, and later in the film, Willy gets taken by the demons under the station at Myrtle and Broadway.
Panzer, the Oasis was much simpler than a theater like the Ridgewood or Madison, but it had a simplistic beauty all it’s own. I remember it had large (huge) stained glass sconces along the side walls at a few intervals, and they survived right to the roller rink days. They usually didn’t light them during skating sessions, but they did light them up at the beginning of the sessions, or near the ends, when they played what was usually the finalle song, “New York, New York”, and they would stay lit as you left the floor.
By the way, there are some historic photos of the interior of the Oasis to jar your memory linked somewhere up above, see warren’s July 15, 2005 post for the links.
….now if only we can all find a photo of the interior of the Ridgewood Theater, we would be all set….
Wow Panzer! I would LOVE to see those photos! I remember as a kid walking around near the rubble, and wish I have taken photos.
By the way, you can upload them for free at a site like www.photobucket.com, and post the links here. I am sure many of us would love to see them! Thanks!
Wow, thanks lost for posting that photo! I have bever seen that one before! Plenty of photos of the Bushwick are available…but this is the first I have seen with the original look…without a marquee, and instead the large sign where information was posted. I think the traditional marquee always looked akward on the triangled shaped front of the Bushwick, and now I can see why, as it wasn’t designed that way…not to mention the cherobs over all the doors wound up under the marquee, and are only now open to the sky again in it’s new life as a school.
Thanks! The RKO Bushwick across the street probably would have been more appropriate for Lucille Ball than the Monroe…but hey, maybe she did appear at the Monroe before she was big…
I don’t remember what was at the corner of Halsey and Wyckoff before they built the Red Carpet Hotel. But I think it was just regular old buildings, perhaps with stores on street level.
PKoch, yes you are right, I don’t think they really used the opera boxes for movies, they were there from theater’s live show days.
I don’t know too much about the construction of the Glenwood, or of course what was left after the conversion to a Bowling Alley. Unfortunately, while I did bowl a few times at the Glenwood, I don’t remember what it looked like too much. it was so long ago, and I was a kid at the time, and back then, I didn’t even know it used to be a theater! I wish someone could come up with an interior historic photo of the Glenwood either before or after conversion.
Well, again, they can stagger them every hour or 45 minutes apart, thus getting anyone that wants to see the movie, and not loosing them to other theaters… In a normal 2000 set-up, they could only show let’s say a 2:45 hour movie every 3 hours or so (depending of course on the length). People that want to see in between that would go to a different theater (if available). This way, they get them all. Still way more flexible having 4 500 seat theaters (for example) than one 2000 seat theater.
Well, again, they can stagger them every hour or 45 minutes apart, thus getting anyone that wants to see the movie, and not loosing them to other theaters… In a normal 2000 set-up, they could only show let’s say a 2:45 hour movie every 3 hours or so (depending of course on the length). People that want to see in between that would go to a different theater (if available). This way, they get them all. Still way more flexible having 4 500 seat theaters (for example) than one 2000 seat theater.
I am not sure, I have never been to the Atlas Park yet. National Amusements has a few of them, they call them “Cinema de Lux”.
As for “still accomodating” 10,000, that may be true, but most theaters are not going to have 10,000 people coming to see the same movie. And even if they would, the movie would be staggered at half hour or hourly intervals, something they couldn’t do as one screen. Furthermore, obviously, they aren’t going to be cutting it up into 4 screens and then showing not only the same movie in every theater, but certainly wouldn’t be showing them all at the same time even if they were. While often they may show a popular movie in two, perhaps three auditoriums (in a large multiplex), the real point of multiple screens is to show multiple movies, or at least one or two at staggered times.
That’s one of the benefits of a multiplex as opposed to a single screen theater…. Many of the multiplexes have to keep on their toes too, as competition is fierce. Many of the older multiplexes (1980’s, early 90’s) are having a hard time competing against the newer modern ones with stadium seating, etc. Many newer ones now also offer mall like food services, and full service bars within the theater, many with outdoor patios, and a bar atmospehere, or “real” food, as opposed to concessions. Many of these delux multiplexes are trying to become a destination as an entire evening, as opposed to only one part of an evening. And these theaters are packed anytime I have gone to them…there’s still plenty of call for seeing a movie in a theater enviroment, it’s just that the demographics, and the way theaters present themselves has changed.
Oh, okay….also excuse the double post….I thought my original post didn’t post, so wound up retyping it, but then it turned out my original one did post too…..
The old emergency exit doors on the main level are still there, and they are usually open for loading and unloading of merchandise. The store takes up most of the old theater.
Jim, I don’t believe the movie industry has “dried up” at all. Visit any multiplex on Firday or Saturday evenings, or on weekends, and they are packed tyo the rafters.
Jim, I don’t believe the movie industry has at all dried up….go to any random multiplex, and they are packed on most Friday or weekend nights. It’s far from devoid of interest.
Peter, it was a different time that allowed them to coexist. This is not a Ridgewood or NYC phenomena, it’s a nationwide phenomena. Most old theaters went out of business. It’s just not viable unfortunately anymore to have single screen large theaters. The movie theater industry survived because of the multiplexes, which at least can be profitable. it’s very hard for a 2500+ large theater to survive nowadays as a single screen theater, or be profitable.
Ridgewood is not at all comparable to the Bronx. There is some strange notion here that Ridgewood “got bad”. While it was always a working class neighborhood, it was never “bad” like Bushwick became in the 70’s. In Ridgewood, 99% of it’s housing stock is intact, and it was never swept with fires, arson, abandonment, and destruction that Bushwick faced. Ridgewood held strong through all of that. Again, a fancy neighborhood it’s not, but it certainly was never “the South Bronx” either, it was right from the beginning a working class neighborhood, and still is.
That being said, I don’t see it viable, as nice as it would, for the Madison to ever come back. We have to remember that it has been gutted, it’s not like it’s all still there. Some of the ceiling detail, and upper open space above the fake ceiling of the store may still be up there (may being the key words, as it even burned once in there), but all the lower portion of the theater has been ripped out, and the sloped floor even filled in to make a straight level floor for the store. All the plaster is gone. All the marble is gone, all the ornamental railings are gone. While the shell of the building remains, that’s all what remains unfortunately. The Ridgewood, which was not half as fancy as the Madison however does have a lot intact, hoever, even so, a lot was lost or damaged through the multiplexing, but you’d have more of a shot of restoring the Ridgewood than the Madison. It’s a shame what’s happened to the Madison, but i don’t see anyone ever coming up with the money need to restore the interior, as it would be from starting from scratch, and it couldn’t possible be a profitable venture, so you will not get that type of investment. There are theaters that are completely intact (like the Lowes Kings in Flatbush) where they it needs millions in repair, and the theater is intact, even if closed and empty for 30 years….and they are having trouble finding an economically viable group to renovate and use that theater. Even the Keith’s in Richmond Hill which is completely intact would be hard to have someone come in there and convert it back to a theater again, and all the old features are still there at least.
Unfortunately, if the Madison survived another decade, it may have at least been intact, but unfortunately, with the amount of damage and destruction that was done inside of the Madison, I don’t think it would even be able to come back if it was in manhattan.
No, said Mae West balcony was in the Madison Theater. I hope she enjoys sitting in the couches now for sale in the Liberty Dept Store’s furniture dept in the balcony.
Jared, I think you are confusing Chuck’s “Patchogue theater” comments, which is the beautiful 1920’s theater on Main St with the Multiplex Patchouge 13 on Sunrise Hwy.
Hahahahahaha Ed, yes, that was the ultimate test, the Ridgewood Theater, LOL….and while it took a little longer to load than most of the other theaters, wow, is it fast compared to how it used to load. When I knew I was going to read the new comments on the Ridgewood Theater page, I would just click on it, go do something else, and hope it wasn’t still trying to load when I came back!
Seriously guys, great work, the site works better than ever now…..
Great story! How ironic you seeing Ghost at the Commodore…and part of the movie was filmed further up Broadway on the Myrtle and Broadway Subway Platform, and down below under the station at the street intersection. The scene where Sam goes looking for Willy he gets off at the Myrtle station, and later in the film, Willy gets taken by the demons under the station at Myrtle and Broadway.
Panzer, the Oasis was much simpler than a theater like the Ridgewood or Madison, but it had a simplistic beauty all it’s own. I remember it had large (huge) stained glass sconces along the side walls at a few intervals, and they survived right to the roller rink days. They usually didn’t light them during skating sessions, but they did light them up at the beginning of the sessions, or near the ends, when they played what was usually the finalle song, “New York, New York”, and they would stay lit as you left the floor.
By the way, there are some historic photos of the interior of the Oasis to jar your memory linked somewhere up above, see warren’s July 15, 2005 post for the links.
….now if only we can all find a photo of the interior of the Ridgewood Theater, we would be all set….
Wow Panzer! I would LOVE to see those photos! I remember as a kid walking around near the rubble, and wish I have taken photos.
By the way, you can upload them for free at a site like www.photobucket.com, and post the links here. I am sure many of us would love to see them! Thanks!
Wow, thanks lost for posting that photo! I have bever seen that one before! Plenty of photos of the Bushwick are available…but this is the first I have seen with the original look…without a marquee, and instead the large sign where information was posted. I think the traditional marquee always looked akward on the triangled shaped front of the Bushwick, and now I can see why, as it wasn’t designed that way…not to mention the cherobs over all the doors wound up under the marquee, and are only now open to the sky again in it’s new life as a school.
Very interesting!!
Thanks! The RKO Bushwick across the street probably would have been more appropriate for Lucille Ball than the Monroe…but hey, maybe she did appear at the Monroe before she was big…
Did Lucille Ball perform in the Monroe itself?….or just the friend who managed the Monroe happen to meet her somewhere else on stage?
I don’t remember what was at the corner of Halsey and Wyckoff before they built the Red Carpet Hotel. But I think it was just regular old buildings, perhaps with stores on street level.
PKoch, yes you are right, I don’t think they really used the opera boxes for movies, they were there from theater’s live show days.
I don’t know too much about the construction of the Glenwood, or of course what was left after the conversion to a Bowling Alley. Unfortunately, while I did bowl a few times at the Glenwood, I don’t remember what it looked like too much. it was so long ago, and I was a kid at the time, and back then, I didn’t even know it used to be a theater! I wish someone could come up with an interior historic photo of the Glenwood either before or after conversion.
It appears the main title of this theater should be changed above to “Blender Theater at Gramercy”.
Well, again, they can stagger them every hour or 45 minutes apart, thus getting anyone that wants to see the movie, and not loosing them to other theaters… In a normal 2000 set-up, they could only show let’s say a 2:45 hour movie every 3 hours or so (depending of course on the length). People that want to see in between that would go to a different theater (if available). This way, they get them all. Still way more flexible having 4 500 seat theaters (for example) than one 2000 seat theater.
Well, again, they can stagger them every hour or 45 minutes apart, thus getting anyone that wants to see the movie, and not loosing them to other theaters… In a normal 2000 set-up, they could only show let’s say a 2:45 hour movie every 3 hours or so (depending of course on the length). People that want to see in between that would go to a different theater (if available). This way, they get them all. Still way more flexible having 4 500 seat theaters (for example) than one 2000 seat theater.
I am not sure, I have never been to the Atlas Park yet. National Amusements has a few of them, they call them “Cinema de Lux”.
As for “still accomodating” 10,000, that may be true, but most theaters are not going to have 10,000 people coming to see the same movie. And even if they would, the movie would be staggered at half hour or hourly intervals, something they couldn’t do as one screen. Furthermore, obviously, they aren’t going to be cutting it up into 4 screens and then showing not only the same movie in every theater, but certainly wouldn’t be showing them all at the same time even if they were. While often they may show a popular movie in two, perhaps three auditoriums (in a large multiplex), the real point of multiple screens is to show multiple movies, or at least one or two at staggered times.
That’s one of the benefits of a multiplex as opposed to a single screen theater…. Many of the multiplexes have to keep on their toes too, as competition is fierce. Many of the older multiplexes (1980’s, early 90’s) are having a hard time competing against the newer modern ones with stadium seating, etc. Many newer ones now also offer mall like food services, and full service bars within the theater, many with outdoor patios, and a bar atmospehere, or “real” food, as opposed to concessions. Many of these delux multiplexes are trying to become a destination as an entire evening, as opposed to only one part of an evening. And these theaters are packed anytime I have gone to them…there’s still plenty of call for seeing a movie in a theater enviroment, it’s just that the demographics, and the way theaters present themselves has changed.
Oh, okay….also excuse the double post….I thought my original post didn’t post, so wound up retyping it, but then it turned out my original one did post too…..
It sounds like it may become a restaurant/bar or a club.
The old emergency exit doors on the main level are still there, and they are usually open for loading and unloading of merchandise. The store takes up most of the old theater.
Jim, I don’t believe the movie industry has “dried up” at all. Visit any multiplex on Firday or Saturday evenings, or on weekends, and they are packed tyo the rafters.
Jim, I don’t believe the movie industry has at all dried up….go to any random multiplex, and they are packed on most Friday or weekend nights. It’s far from devoid of interest.
Peter, it was a different time that allowed them to coexist. This is not a Ridgewood or NYC phenomena, it’s a nationwide phenomena. Most old theaters went out of business. It’s just not viable unfortunately anymore to have single screen large theaters. The movie theater industry survived because of the multiplexes, which at least can be profitable. it’s very hard for a 2500+ large theater to survive nowadays as a single screen theater, or be profitable.
Ridgewood is not at all comparable to the Bronx. There is some strange notion here that Ridgewood “got bad”. While it was always a working class neighborhood, it was never “bad” like Bushwick became in the 70’s. In Ridgewood, 99% of it’s housing stock is intact, and it was never swept with fires, arson, abandonment, and destruction that Bushwick faced. Ridgewood held strong through all of that. Again, a fancy neighborhood it’s not, but it certainly was never “the South Bronx” either, it was right from the beginning a working class neighborhood, and still is.
That being said, I don’t see it viable, as nice as it would, for the Madison to ever come back. We have to remember that it has been gutted, it’s not like it’s all still there. Some of the ceiling detail, and upper open space above the fake ceiling of the store may still be up there (may being the key words, as it even burned once in there), but all the lower portion of the theater has been ripped out, and the sloped floor even filled in to make a straight level floor for the store. All the plaster is gone. All the marble is gone, all the ornamental railings are gone. While the shell of the building remains, that’s all what remains unfortunately. The Ridgewood, which was not half as fancy as the Madison however does have a lot intact, hoever, even so, a lot was lost or damaged through the multiplexing, but you’d have more of a shot of restoring the Ridgewood than the Madison. It’s a shame what’s happened to the Madison, but i don’t see anyone ever coming up with the money need to restore the interior, as it would be from starting from scratch, and it couldn’t possible be a profitable venture, so you will not get that type of investment. There are theaters that are completely intact (like the Lowes Kings in Flatbush) where they it needs millions in repair, and the theater is intact, even if closed and empty for 30 years….and they are having trouble finding an economically viable group to renovate and use that theater. Even the Keith’s in Richmond Hill which is completely intact would be hard to have someone come in there and convert it back to a theater again, and all the old features are still there at least.
Unfortunately, if the Madison survived another decade, it may have at least been intact, but unfortunately, with the amount of damage and destruction that was done inside of the Madison, I don’t think it would even be able to come back if it was in manhattan.
No, said Mae West balcony was in the Madison Theater. I hope she enjoys sitting in the couches now for sale in the Liberty Dept Store’s furniture dept in the balcony.
HEre’s an aerial view of the location of the old Culver, a one story building with a parking lot now occupies the site….probably a bank as stated:
View link
Jared, I think you are confusing Chuck’s “Patchogue theater” comments, which is the beautiful 1920’s theater on Main St with the Multiplex Patchouge 13 on Sunrise Hwy.