I grew up at 168 St near Union Tpke. I used to love to walk to 188 St and pass the theater even on the many days that I was not going to see a movie. Remember, Rogers. The luncheonette that had the popcorn machine in the window. Competing with the Utopia for popcorn sales. It was a hangout for Jamaica High School kids like me in the 1950s. Utopia Theater and Utopia Lanes, just a block away. Both are gone now.My mother still lives in the same house so on trips back to visit my wife and I often walk to 188 St. Utopia Theater is a Rite Aid now, Utopia Lanes empty. When I go into the Rite Aid I try to figure out how close am I to the seat I was in when I saw ‘The Man in the White Suit’, ‘Man in the Gray Flannel Suit’, ‘Man with the Golden Arm’, etc.
I was living in Houston in the early 1990s and I bought a painting of Houston’s River Oaks Theater, built in 1939 which always reminded me of the Utopia. I told the artist this and he encouraged me to bring him a photo of the Utopia Theater and he’d paint it. In Sept of 1995 I was back on 168 St so I took a walk with a camera. The theater looked the same as ever from the outside but the marquee still displayed ‘The Roommates’ which closed in March. I took the photo and had the Houston artist but the movies ‘The Winning Pitch'
(Ronald Reagan) and 'Remains to be Seen’ (Van Johnson) — a double feature I saw there in 1953. He made the picture look very 1953 like.
Both the River Oaks and Utopia Theater hang in our home in Chevy Chase, Maryland now.
Shortly after I received the painting they began tearing down the Utopia Theater. I am so glad I took the picture when I could.
I grew up at 168 St near Union Tpke. I used to love to walk to 188 St and pass the theater even on the many days that I was not going to see a movie. Remember, Rogers. The luncheonette that had the popcorn machine in the window. Competing with the Utopia for popcorn sales. It was a hangout for Jamaica High School kids like me in the 1950s. Utopia Theater and Utopia Lanes, just a block away. Both are gone now.My mother still lives in the same house so on trips back to visit my wife and I often walk to 188 St. Utopia Theater is a Rite Aid now, Utopia Lanes empty. When I go into the Rite Aid I try to figure out how close am I to the seat I was in when I saw ‘The Man in the White Suit’, ‘Man in the Gray Flannel Suit’, ‘Man with the Golden Arm’, etc.
I was living in Houston in the early 1990s and I bought a painting of Houston’s River Oaks Theater, built in 1939 which always reminded me of the Utopia. I told the artist this and he encouraged me to bring him a photo of the Utopia Theater and he’d paint it. In Sept of 1995 I was back on 168 St so I took a walk with a camera. The theater looked the same as ever from the outside but the marquee still displayed ‘The Roommates’ which closed in March. I took the photo and had the Houston artist but the movies ‘The Winning Pitch'
(Ronald Reagan) and 'Remains to be Seen’ (Van Johnson) — a double feature I saw there in 1953. He made the picture look very 1953 like.
Both the River Oaks and Utopia Theater hang in our home in Chevy Chase, Maryland now.
Shortly after I received the painting they began tearing down the Utopia Theater. I am so glad I took the picture when I could.