Academy of Music
126 E. 14th Street,
New York,
NY
10003
126 E. 14th Street,
New York,
NY
10003
19 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 150 of 158 comments
There is a Academy of Music in Northampton, MA too :)
That was supposed to read Fillmore East. RIP. It is now a condo.
East. RIP. It is now a condo. I got a job in the winter of 1972 working as an usher in the Academy of Music for Howard Stien. After a couple of months i was asked to be a part of the back stage crew after they noticed me sitting in the orhastra seats well before i needed to be there I was there till it closed and the Paladium opened after Ron Delsener had problems booking the Beacon. When it did reopen prior to the concert by the band the mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ was sold and removed. Pipes and all. Piece by piece. I still mourn the passing of both the Fillmore and Academy as well as the Jefferson on 14th between 2&3rd.
Here is an ad for what Warren mentions above about Murray the K
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There should either be two listings, one for “FOX Academy of Music” (as it was called and listed on Sanborn maps) and one for “Academy of Music,” which was on the Consolidated Edison lot, or this listing should be corrected to be titled, “FOX Academy of Music.” Much of the posts here are about the later theatre, anyhow, but a distinct difference remains between the two establishments.
I strolled that mezzanine promenade a few times many moons ago when the place was a concert hall and I can tell you that none of those furnishings were in evidence! They were probably removed by management long before the place was re-christened The Palladium with a rock show headlined by the soon-to-be-retiring group The Band in the fall of ‘76. A few weeks later, on Thanksgiving Day, the original incarnation of The Band would perform its last show ever at San Fransisco’s Winterland (a West Coast Roseland), an event captured in Martin Scorcese’s terrific concert flick “The Last Waltz.”
This was a great theater… and so much of it survived the renovations made to convert it to a disco in the ‘80’s. Basically, all they did was construct a huge cage in the orchestra section. Another one that could’ve been saved in the last decade or so.
Another victim of the modern advancements & changes. What a shame Manhattan couldn’t save some of these beautiful theatres located in different sections of the city. Of course, that would not be profitable, and that is the major goal in real estate.
Interesting, then, that it was called the Academy of Music. Could this be only because of the previous Academy of Music that had been located across the street from this theater?
Many thanks to D.C. for posting the photos. Some of the greatest rock shows I ever went to were at the Academy of Music/Palladium from the early ‘70s through the early '80s. The shots brought back some long-lost memories of that room.
Many thanks to D.C. for posting the photos. Some of the greatest rock shows I ever went to were at the Academy of Music/Palladium from the early ‘70s through the early '80s.
I was born on the Lower East Side and lived there until 1959. I went to the Academy of Music theater many times. In fact, I attended my graduation exercises from Stuyvesant HS at the theater one morning in 1953, and saw “Rommel the Desert Fox†that afternoon. I recently accessed this site and found all the movie theaters in my old neighborhood except one. Does anyone remember the Palestine Movie Theater? It was located on Clinton St. near Houston St.
I saw that double bill of Planet of the Apes and The Magnificent Men as well as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and several other Beach Boy and Beatle films there.
It was a great place to bring a date and have plenty of room, if you know what I mean.
Rock shows I remember were Traffic, Frank Zappa, Lou Reed, Hot Tuna, Quicksilver, Canned Heat, Grateful Dead, Clash, Patti Smith.
14th Street will never be the same. To see images of the area back in the 70’s go to
http://drewcarolan.com
Through much detective work, I’ve located a few rare images of the Palladium during its rock venue phase. These were taken in 1980 during AC/DC’s “Back in Black” show.
Main page
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Exterior
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Interior
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Want to hear a strange double bill? In May of 1969 Fox sent out “Planet of the Apes” and “Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines” as a double-bill. The catch phrase was “Perfect Mates Apes and Men”. It played here at the Academy along with the UA Riviera.
Sorry about that , correct link is
http://www.kilduffs.com/palladium.jpg
Academy of Music – 1980’s as Palladium
http://www.kilduffs.com/Palladium.jpg
Thanks Jerry: My Cousin Rose lived on 13th Street, and I used to pass this place everytime I went to visit…….and as you mentioned, posters and lobby cards all over the place, with round windows possibly on the doors…..and they had photos on them……Like you, I never ventured in……but in my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, I think we had an even older house called the Rogers on Broadway……..It showed predominantly b-westerns in the late 40s and early 50s, when I used to go there, and my Cousin Carmine who now lives in Buffalo, NY, used to go there as a kid to see westerns in the 1930s—————and I listed one other old house on the lower east side, The American on 3rd st. which had a painted Brick Wall for a screen———It almost looked like it adjoined the side or back of another building……and in 1957 when I was working in that area, I went there, and told my Dad, who was born on Elizabeth St. In Little Italy in 1911(may God rest his soul)..and he said he went there to see Tom Mix & Joe Bonomo when he was a kid in the 20s!————-It is too bad that a more detailed document cannot be found on these very old Movie Theaters, that were most likely Vaudeville or neighborhood Playhouses before they became Movie Theaters……..My Father said there was one place in Little Italy that used to have Italian Plays…..and i believe on 1st Ave or near there, was the Yiddish Playhouse where so many familiar names and faces started like Sylvia Sidney, Marc Lawrence, Molly Picon, Zero Mostel, etc etc…….There were many Ethnic theaters all over NY——After all it was called the “Melting Pot”…..and the aromas coming from the Women of the house preparing Supper…..or I remember one aroma so well, I think of it every time I see the film “Naked City”-1948 advertised (of course I have it on dvd) that is the Essex St Market with barrels of Pickles, Herring, White-Fish etc etc——what a place——what a neighborhood——Joe From Florida—-sasheegm
Joe,
The theater is the Variety PhotoPlays and there is an active thread at /theaters/288/
I never went in it (coward) during my time there in the early-mid 60s but I did look at the posters which were all over the place, it seemed like the booking changed 4-5 times a week if not daily. Very unusual programming of films, I recall. Jerry from Florida
I remember this large movie theater, as i took a date there in 1957 and we sat in the upper Balcony……….Prior to that year, and around it also, Union Square was across from it or near-by———-Luchow’s was old fashioned German Resturant with great food s I recall;, but in working in that area, i remember to the east of the Academy of Music, around the corner was a very old theater that had a store-front with round windows for the lobby cards, and you could only read parts of them……..I never went inside, but I remmeber driving by in the late 50s & early 60s and it was still there———anyone recall this moldy-oldie movie house around the corner from the Academy?———-also in the 50s, remember large Jewish contingents at Union Square with signs reading—“Spare the Rosenbergs”——For you youngsters out there, Ethel & Julius Rosenberg were convicted of selling Atomic Secrets to the Soviets……I was pretty young and do not know all the details, but it was quite an issue for the time……..Joe From Florida—-sasheegm
I remember when I first moved to NYC in March of ‘82, the stretch of 14th Street east of Union Square was seedy. You couldn’t even walk in Union Square Park and the hulk of Klein’s Department Store stood on the northeast corner of Park Avenue South & 14th Street. The hulk of the Jefferson Theatre still stood, but I don’t remember the Palladium before it was the Palladium. I remember Julius Pool Hall, on the second floor of a building near the Palladium. You walked up a steep flight of stairs to get up there.
I don’t think you can blame NYU for the demise of Luchow’s. Luchow’s briefly moved back to the Times Square area before closing for good. This was in the early-to-mid eighties, perhaps even before the Palladium Club opened.
I remember one of my friends who lived in Murray Hill at the time begged his mother into taking him to a double horror bill. The main feature was that snake film SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
I remember watching the Holmes-Cooney fight on close circuit.
This was a huge theatre that was not far from the Jefferson
theatre that showed movies and the White Tower burger shop
on Second ave.
It was NYU(!) that demolished this place and Luchow’s???!!!
With an intelligensia like that, who needs barbarians.
Oy vey.
Saw my first rock concert here in the early 60s! It was still a great double-feature movie-house but for one night they had The Dave Clark 5 with The Kinks opening! Jerry from 42nd Street Memories
The motion picture trade publication Film Daily has the theatre listed at seating 3515 people over the years. Sometimes depending on which major city market the theatre is located in, the seating totals from opening may vary. Like deluxe first run theatres in the Times Square and Hollywood, Beverly Hills areas. Got remodeled and theatres and seats (newer wider seats) were updated from time to time. Theatres lost seats when new projection formats debuted like Cinerama. (Theatres lost seats, because of new projection booths in the rear of the main floor, unsellable seats in upper balconys). Fox West Coast Theatres were very good when they did a remodel of a theatre.