A restaurant called Ella Funt has opened on the street level (that wasn’t part of the Bijou before) and the new owners who opened that plans to have a Club 82 gay live performance/theater space, modeled on the original theater layout, in the basement where Bijou was. Occasional film screenings are planned also.
The theater closed sometime in the mid 90’s I believe. Patrons used to exit the two theaters to a small dimly lit area behind the two theaters to … socialize … with other patrons (ahem). The tiny restrooms were upstairs at the end of a narrow hall (nothing else upstairs, no balcony or anything). Wolfie’s closed March 30, 2008 BTW.
I found two interesting links about this theater that I visited in 2019. One is an article discussing its controversial history:
https://newsrnd.com/news/2020-03-08–abc-theater–the-most-closed-place-in-the-city-reopens-as-%22non-danceable-bowling-alley%22.HJmfi5MHL.html (The correct link should have quotation marks instead of the two %22 characters that are displaying there. I don’t know why it’s doing that.)
The second is a video of the interior of the theater (pretty much how it looked when I was there, in August 2019–the video was taken in December 2019, just 4 months later, by the media there). For those who don’t speak Spanish, the news story was that the police raided it and closed it down for lewdness and drugs, basically. Apparently the theater had been closed down 23 times between 2010 and 2019 (!) and it reopened a few months later as a supposed bowling alley.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-khWiL4tNrc
From what I see on current reviews, it is once again an adult cinema.
Before it was divided, it was a one screen 300 seat theater, according to the first link, the English language article.
I visited here in August 2018. I don’t recall which level had which type of adult movies, but it really didn’t matter as the patrons there were all male and many were interested in other activities besides the movie. The ground floor was essentially flat rows of seats, with a long single set of stairs at the rear left that led up to the second floor. There was also a door at the front of the theater (opposite side from stairs/entrance) on the first floor leading to a short hallway to the restroom, which had three stalls, often occupied by two people at a time each. While there was no smoking in the theater, lobby or stairs, people seemed to smoke freely in the restroom.
The second floor was mostly flat rows of seats as well but in the back there were, I believe, about five or six rows of tiered seats, what we now call stadium seating. There was a door at the rear that led to a small open area that then led to a regular bathroom (no door at entrance) with one stall and two urinals, that seemed to be used only for normal bathroom activities, nothing else. Then there was a second set of stairs that went down in two parts (half the stairs one way, then reverse half the other way) towards the lobby area I believe. One could peek out the window while using those stairs, somewhat. Nobody seemed to smoke upstairs at all. I think they closed at 8 PM back then, despite the sign saying 9 PM. This was not really an ornate theater in any sense of the word, but rather utilitarian. I did some digging and found out the company that owned it listed 3 full time employees and gross receipts over $350,000 US per year, which would mean about 100 people patronized it each day, since I think it was around $10 US entrance at the time
I haven’t been there in 20 years, but it is 2 stories. The main theater is on the entrance level, and downstairs in the basement there used to be about ten individual booths, which are probably still there.
There were also a few male strippers that would take to the stage once in a while in between the movies, at least in the early 90s. Downstairs in the basement where the restroom was, there was also one single private room with a door, where one of the dancers would be lying down on a bed, waiting to make a “business deal” with a customer.
I’m confused by the “until 1965” reference, unless they mean when it was called Lyric? As Park Cinema, it was open at least until 1995. I visited it from 1985 on. By then the balcony was closed off so I never got to see that, but murals were still visible since a small part of that balcony area was still accessible by the restroom upstairs (men’s room on one side, ladies' on the other, and the middle balcony area was walled off, though there was a door to that part that was always locked).
The large theater had been separated into three areas by the mid 80s. Most of the original auditorium was still there, but the back area had been turned into two small theaters, one left and one right, and a hallway leading in between the two small ones from the lobby to the main auditorium. Best way I can describe it is to picture a mushroom.
The large cap was the main auditorium, and the small spaces under the cap on the left and right were the two small theaters, if you were looking at this from the air, with the stem being the hallway from the lobby to the main auditorium. The left small one showed gay male films, the right small one lesbian films, and the main auditorium regular porn. The two small ones had maybe six rows of ten seats each I think. When the original owner passed away in the 90s, his wife turned the wall sconces back on (they had been dark) and installed air conditioning.
I was there in the late 80s and early 90s … only the main theater was open back then, no balconies or boxes so I never saw those except from a distance. Wooden escalator was never operating either. And yes, that downstairs restroom was right out of a horror movie. Huge spacious anteroom that was always under water, and then a tiny bathroom with two stalls.
What perplexes me about the photos is that I see a door on the left side of the screen (EXIT) but nothing on the right side. I was in the theater a few times in the late 80s, and back then I swear there was a door to the right of the screen, which led to a small hall to the right and then a large room on the left (behind the screen but to the right of it) that had two rows of ten booths each (it was showing adult films back then). None of these images shows that anything was ever there … I guess they walled off that whole area afterwards?
This is still open as of May 2023. The theaters are downstairs, divided into three different rooms (upstairs/entrance floor are individual booths). One has benches and can seat about 20. A second has regular chairs and also seats 20. The third has leather couch type benches and seats around 24 or so. This is an unusual theater (for me anyway) in that there are three different admission prices: booths only, theaters only, or both floors.
The top information is not entirely correct. Maybe it was closed in the 70s for a while, but the Glassboro Theater was very much open for at least the first five years of the 80s, as an adult theater. I never went inside but it was open full time back then.
A restaurant called Ella Funt has opened on the street level (that wasn’t part of the Bijou before) and the new owners who opened that plans to have a Club 82 gay live performance/theater space, modeled on the original theater layout, in the basement where Bijou was. Occasional film screenings are planned also.
https://whatnowny.com/historic-club-82-to-be-reborn-as-new-queer-entertainment-and-performance-space/
The theater closed sometime in the mid 90’s I believe. Patrons used to exit the two theaters to a small dimly lit area behind the two theaters to … socialize … with other patrons (ahem). The tiny restrooms were upstairs at the end of a narrow hall (nothing else upstairs, no balcony or anything). Wolfie’s closed March 30, 2008 BTW.
I found two interesting links about this theater that I visited in 2019. One is an article discussing its controversial history:
https://newsrnd.com/news/2020-03-08–abc-theater–the-most-closed-place-in-the-city-reopens-as-%22non-danceable-bowling-alley%22.HJmfi5MHL.html (The correct link should have quotation marks instead of the two %22 characters that are displaying there. I don’t know why it’s doing that.)
The second is a video of the interior of the theater (pretty much how it looked when I was there, in August 2019–the video was taken in December 2019, just 4 months later, by the media there). For those who don’t speak Spanish, the news story was that the police raided it and closed it down for lewdness and drugs, basically. Apparently the theater had been closed down 23 times between 2010 and 2019 (!) and it reopened a few months later as a supposed bowling alley.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-khWiL4tNrc
From what I see on current reviews, it is once again an adult cinema.
Before it was divided, it was a one screen 300 seat theater, according to the first link, the English language article.
According to “jbinthevalley” on another adult cinema oriented website, this is no longer there, as of August 2, 2023:
“This place is closed; the building has been upgraded, and the cinema is gone.”
I visited here in August 2018. I don’t recall which level had which type of adult movies, but it really didn’t matter as the patrons there were all male and many were interested in other activities besides the movie. The ground floor was essentially flat rows of seats, with a long single set of stairs at the rear left that led up to the second floor. There was also a door at the front of the theater (opposite side from stairs/entrance) on the first floor leading to a short hallway to the restroom, which had three stalls, often occupied by two people at a time each. While there was no smoking in the theater, lobby or stairs, people seemed to smoke freely in the restroom.
The second floor was mostly flat rows of seats as well but in the back there were, I believe, about five or six rows of tiered seats, what we now call stadium seating. There was a door at the rear that led to a small open area that then led to a regular bathroom (no door at entrance) with one stall and two urinals, that seemed to be used only for normal bathroom activities, nothing else. Then there was a second set of stairs that went down in two parts (half the stairs one way, then reverse half the other way) towards the lobby area I believe. One could peek out the window while using those stairs, somewhat. Nobody seemed to smoke upstairs at all. I think they closed at 8 PM back then, despite the sign saying 9 PM. This was not really an ornate theater in any sense of the word, but rather utilitarian. I did some digging and found out the company that owned it listed 3 full time employees and gross receipts over $350,000 US per year, which would mean about 100 people patronized it each day, since I think it was around $10 US entrance at the time
I haven’t been there in 20 years, but it is 2 stories. The main theater is on the entrance level, and downstairs in the basement there used to be about ten individual booths, which are probably still there.
There were also a few male strippers that would take to the stage once in a while in between the movies, at least in the early 90s. Downstairs in the basement where the restroom was, there was also one single private room with a door, where one of the dancers would be lying down on a bed, waiting to make a “business deal” with a customer.
I’m confused by the “until 1965” reference, unless they mean when it was called Lyric? As Park Cinema, it was open at least until 1995. I visited it from 1985 on. By then the balcony was closed off so I never got to see that, but murals were still visible since a small part of that balcony area was still accessible by the restroom upstairs (men’s room on one side, ladies' on the other, and the middle balcony area was walled off, though there was a door to that part that was always locked).
The large theater had been separated into three areas by the mid 80s. Most of the original auditorium was still there, but the back area had been turned into two small theaters, one left and one right, and a hallway leading in between the two small ones from the lobby to the main auditorium. Best way I can describe it is to picture a mushroom. The large cap was the main auditorium, and the small spaces under the cap on the left and right were the two small theaters, if you were looking at this from the air, with the stem being the hallway from the lobby to the main auditorium. The left small one showed gay male films, the right small one lesbian films, and the main auditorium regular porn. The two small ones had maybe six rows of ten seats each I think. When the original owner passed away in the 90s, his wife turned the wall sconces back on (they had been dark) and installed air conditioning.
I was there in the late 80s and early 90s … only the main theater was open back then, no balconies or boxes so I never saw those except from a distance. Wooden escalator was never operating either. And yes, that downstairs restroom was right out of a horror movie. Huge spacious anteroom that was always under water, and then a tiny bathroom with two stalls.
What perplexes me about the photos is that I see a door on the left side of the screen (EXIT) but nothing on the right side. I was in the theater a few times in the late 80s, and back then I swear there was a door to the right of the screen, which led to a small hall to the right and then a large room on the left (behind the screen but to the right of it) that had two rows of ten booths each (it was showing adult films back then). None of these images shows that anything was ever there … I guess they walled off that whole area afterwards?
I found an article about this theater as well as how it looked when it was first built:
https://gmm.glassborohistory.org/items/show/229
This is still open as of May 2023. The theaters are downstairs, divided into three different rooms (upstairs/entrance floor are individual booths). One has benches and can seat about 20. A second has regular chairs and also seats 20. The third has leather couch type benches and seats around 24 or so. This is an unusual theater (for me anyway) in that there are three different admission prices: booths only, theaters only, or both floors.
The top information is not entirely correct. Maybe it was closed in the 70s for a while, but the Glassboro Theater was very much open for at least the first five years of the 80s, as an adult theater. I never went inside but it was open full time back then.