Madison Theater
1410 Broadway,
Bushwick,
Brooklyn,
NY
11221
1410 Broadway,
Bushwick,
Brooklyn,
NY
11221
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Showing 1 - 25 of 36 comments
Interesting, that small wedge section of seats at the back of the auditorium just where the center aisle forks off to the rear exits. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like that, right on the center line of a theater!
Thanks so much! It’s nice to finally see a photo of this theater!
I have a complete January, 1917 program from the Madison-Monroe that can be seen at the Silent Film Still Archive
No, Keith’s acquired the Bushwick much earlier. It also operated the Monroe and Madison for periods of time.
That is probable. They may have leased it out when they took over an interest in the Bushwick theater?
I have a copy of the 1928 Brooklyn Red Book. It lists the Madison, without Keith’s, KA, etc. prefix, at Broadway and Madison as a Vaudeville house (and the Monroe at Broadway and Monroe as a Motion Picture house). Perhaps Keith’s had leased it out at this time to a cut rate operator ?
Keith’s owned this little theater? I guess it closed it when it got involved in the Bushwick Theater next door?
I have just read a 1924 issue of the Brooklyn Eagle Almanac. It lists the Madison (600 seats) as Keith’s.
I think the answer may be something along these lines. In 1922 the Bushwick was Keith’s primary house and featured Vaudeville in a deLuxe setting. The Madison and Monroe were also under Keith’s management, both with identical in seating capacity and somewhat spartan, all very close to one and another, but with latter two catering to the low end of the market in terms of price.
The market for entertainment in this neighborhood at that time was great as is attested to by the large number of theaters we can see listed on CT. Economies of scale in management and film rentals were obvious. The assistant manager of the Bushwick could cover all the houses. The film program could be staggered so if the same program was scheduled, only one set of prints were needed and reels could be hot swapped, a common practice in Brooklyn among theaters under the same management in Teens and early Twenties.
Something happened before December 18, 1922 when the second ad appeared.
Could it be that management of the two small houses passed from Keith’s Bushwick team to a new entity with the new Madison team becoming responsible for the satellite Monroe as an annex ? Perhaps the name change reflects this. Is there any further ad for the Madison in 1922 ?
No, this was a seperate theater. I remember before it was added, there was a whole controversy, but it was heavily researched, and I have seen it confirmed in publication, as well as it’s address on Broadway., and that this was right next to the RKO Bushwick, to it’s left facing the Bushwick. It was a silent movie house, and didn’t last long, and was closed by the 1920’s already.
The Monroe is on the other side of Howard Ave, and doesn’t front Broadway at all, as it’s at the corner of Howard and Monroe.
No, Warren, the Madison Theatre on this page was at 1410 Broadway, next to the RKO Bushwick, near the corner of Broadway and Madison Street. It was a silent movie theatre.
The Monroe was a sound movie theatre nearby, but at a totally different address, 4 Howard Avenue, between Monroe and Madison Streets, across Howard Avenue from the RKO Bushwick Theatre.
“The Brooklyn Eagle Almanac” was published yearly from the 90’s up until at least to 1929. I have hard copies of 1900, 1910 and 1927. The 1922 edition is available online as Lost Memory points out.
Some editions contain seating plans of some theaters. Another source of infomation are the various Brooklyn Street Guides such as Woolworth’s, the Red Book, etc. Another book to look for is the “Long Island Almanac and Year Book” published by the “Eagle”.
Among the seating plans featured in the 1927 edition of the Brooklyn Almanac are the Bushwick and Greenpoint Theaters.
Lost, do you have a link to this page in the almanac or how to find it?
Thanks, Lost Memory.
I don’t know if the non-RKO Madison had a balcony or not. Perhaps only a small one like Loew’s Trylon had.
Thanks for these facts, Bway and Lost Memory. Interesting that the two Madison Theatres never operated at the same time.
Actually, if this Mini-Madison closed by 1925, that would have been just before the RKO Madison in Ridgewood opened, the large one we all know.
If I am not mistaken though, when they were planning the RKO Madison in Ridgewood, it was originally going to be called the Beacon Theater. Perhaps that is because this Madison was still open when the RKO Madison was being designed? The two Madisons never opperated at the same time.
I should have known from the 1410 Bway address what’s there now, without having to ask, or Google it.
Thanks, Bway, good points, all. Even though you can’t imagine a theater on that small trianglar piece of real estate, please remember how small a lot the nearby Monroe Theatre once occupied.
I, too, would love to see a photo of it while it was still there.
Perhaps it’s time to scrutinize the older images of the RKO Bushwick to try and find the old Mini-Madison still intact and showing movies next door.
Peter, the Mini-Madison is now a park for the School that is now in the old RKO Bushwick Theater. I still can’t imagine a theater on this small trianglar piece of land. I would love to see a photo of it when it was still there. With all the photos available of the RKO Bushwick out there, it’s amazing that one never showed up with the old Mini-Madison in the background.
Good comment, Lost Memory !
What’s the Madison Theater building (1410 Bway) in use as, now ?
Wow ! The “non-RKO” Madison Theatre !
Thanks, J.F. Lundy. The “presidential” theatres ?
The Brooklyn Eagle in 1922 lists the Madison and Monroe as Keith’s, both listed as seating 600, in the “Theaters of New York City' section of its Almanac.
At the risk of beating a dead joke, does that mean that anything else that happens on stage, like vaudeville or burlesque, is “illegitimate” ?
Live shows could either be vaudeville or stage plays.