I worked for the 8th Street Playhouse, part of the Cinema 5 chain, while I was at NYU, 1976-78. My friend used to call me the mayor of 8th Street because after working there so long I knew every shoe salesman and pizza chef on the block. There were some great movies there at the time, including “Network†and “Carrie.†After my ticket-selling shift ended I would go in and catch the last hour. I even remember John Waters making a personal appearance with “Desperate Living†in 1977. Ah the good old days!
And what a cast of characters I worked with! There was the theater manager, Miss King, a chain-smoking astrologist who did my chart for free. She hung out in the lobby during the busy periods, then dragged herself upstairs after the movie began. (She had to move slowly because she was old and her lungs were shot.) There was Guy, another NYU student who wrote a wistful poem about her, imagining her solitary life on Charles Street; he went on to work in theater. There was Anthony, a Little Italy throwback who filled in as ticket-taker and generally cleaned up. Jerome worked the concession stand, and was always sneaking into the theater to grab popcorn and soda cups off the floor—he only had to account for missing cups, so if he could refill them, he could pocket the second (or third…) sale. Try not to think about that as you reminisce about your time there! I especially liked the ticket-taker, whose name I think was James. When he and Jerome weren’t in the closet getting high, we had great conversations.
There was an attempt to unionize Cinema 5 while I worked there and Rugoff, who owned the chain, called meetings and told us how much he cared about all of us—as long as we voted against the union. There was tons of politicking but in the end the union was rejected. By the way, RKO Century Warner acquired Cinema 5 from Pacific Theatres in 1985, and in 1986 RKO Century Warner was bought out by Cineplex Odeon. I guess it’s all moot now since the theater is sadly deceased.
Sorry, I don’t remember that pizzeria.
I worked for the 8th Street Playhouse, part of the Cinema 5 chain, while I was at NYU, 1976-78. My friend used to call me the mayor of 8th Street because after working there so long I knew every shoe salesman and pizza chef on the block. There were some great movies there at the time, including “Network†and “Carrie.†After my ticket-selling shift ended I would go in and catch the last hour. I even remember John Waters making a personal appearance with “Desperate Living†in 1977. Ah the good old days!
And what a cast of characters I worked with! There was the theater manager, Miss King, a chain-smoking astrologist who did my chart for free. She hung out in the lobby during the busy periods, then dragged herself upstairs after the movie began. (She had to move slowly because she was old and her lungs were shot.) There was Guy, another NYU student who wrote a wistful poem about her, imagining her solitary life on Charles Street; he went on to work in theater. There was Anthony, a Little Italy throwback who filled in as ticket-taker and generally cleaned up. Jerome worked the concession stand, and was always sneaking into the theater to grab popcorn and soda cups off the floor—he only had to account for missing cups, so if he could refill them, he could pocket the second (or third…) sale. Try not to think about that as you reminisce about your time there! I especially liked the ticket-taker, whose name I think was James. When he and Jerome weren’t in the closet getting high, we had great conversations.
There was an attempt to unionize Cinema 5 while I worked there and Rugoff, who owned the chain, called meetings and told us how much he cared about all of us—as long as we voted against the union. There was tons of politicking but in the end the union was rejected. By the way, RKO Century Warner acquired Cinema 5 from Pacific Theatres in 1985, and in 1986 RKO Century Warner was bought out by Cineplex Odeon. I guess it’s all moot now since the theater is sadly deceased.