Village East by Angelika
181 2nd Avenue,
New York,
NY
10003
181 2nd Avenue,
New York,
NY
10003
34 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 167 comments
Oh! Calcutta! opened in May 1969. Ad posted.
This is where Ou Calcutta! had it’s world premiere, I believe, in 1969. This was obviously right before the move to Broadway, opening at the Belasco Theatre which was originally named coincidentally Stuyvesant.
I was the manager of this venue from 1978-1985. Many plays and concerts during my time there. Best Little Whorehouse, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, etc. Talking heads, Wilson Picket, etc. Also, many films and commercials shot there. The Fan (with Betty BaCall) 3 Dr. Pepper spots (Mickey Rooney) etc.
Many superstitions in theatre, including the ghost light on stage set out overnight for roaming spirits. We set our ghost light for a couple roaming spirits, including Burt. Burt Lahr passed away about halfway through the filming of the “The Night They Raided the Minsky’s” in 1967. Light also set out for Montgomery Clift, who passed in ‘66. He appeared in “The Seagull” on our stage in '56.
Hal: According to this web site, yes, the Village East, then known as the Gayety, did play the role of Minsky’s in that film.
Thanks, Ed. In March of this year, I returned for the 70mm screening of “Murder on the Nile” and I posted photos in the photo gallery, of this beautiful theater.
Nice piece, Howard!
A 70mm experience at the Village East at Angelika on 30/11/201 by Howard B. Haas
Tenet will be shown Friday in 70MM on March 5. Tickets on sail
please update theater name Village East by Angelika. Angelika Fil Center just phase ouy City Cinema name is being phased out by Angelika. Reading still owns the theaters
Please update, total seats 1183 based on City Cinemas Reserved Seat ticketing system
only if the governor allows the theatre to open
Wonder if Tenet will play here in 70mm as part of select cities on Labor Day weekend before opening at more cinemas in the weeks ahead.
Open as the Louis N. Jaffe theatre in 1925-1926.
There’s a great article with a photo gallery at:
https://www.6sqft.com/the-urban-lens-inside-the-village-east-cinema-one-of-nys-last-surviving-yiddish-rialto-theaters/
The very ornate ceiling is quite amazing and unique!
The theatre was playing one film about Glenn Gould.
The Village East can be seen in the new film “The Goldfinch” which it subs as the Bowery Theatre (on the Village East marquee) and some auditorium shots (in the balcony of the original theatre). Don’t blink, both scenes run a mere minute. The picture isn’t the bomb the critics claim it to be as I don’t read papers until I see the picture. A drama that should be seen unlike half the trash they throw at the screen these days.
Please update, the Village East Cinema opened February 21, 1991
I would estimate the screen size in AMC Garden State theater #15 in Paramus as 60 feet wide, which was the same size as the screen at the original Stanley Warner Route 4 down the road, which played 2001 many times. Lots of head turning was necessary from the front row, which is a good way to watch 2001. About 30 people were there for the 3:30 PM show on Sunday.
@Bill Sweet thanks! NYC houses aren’t always known for size so it’ll be nice to know if it’s worth it to go back to my old stomping grounds (grew up in NJ!). To be fair though I haven’t been to Village East since seeing The Master so unless the report is WOAH! there’s a good chance I’ll check it out here.
Worth noting if it hasn’t been said already: it’s supposed to be opening at MoMI (a pretty great room, good screen size for the NYC art house scene) and Alamo (can’t speak for screen size here).
Hello-
I thank xbs2034 for replying. granted films rated PG before the creation of the PG-13 rating the fall of 1984 would certainly get a PG-13 today. but what surprised me was films with a G rating having more than one scene of bare butt nudity and in the case of the 1968 Planet of the Apes a very quick shot of everything where they’re swimming near the waterfall.
Ericeman: I’m going to the AMC Garden State 16 on Sunday and I’ll ask about the screen size. If nobody knows, I’ll give you my best estimate.
Bigjoe59- I saw The Seagull here a couple weeks ago, and was a bit funny to see the giant G rating on the 2001 poster outside, cause even while it is far from a graphic film, not what people associate with the G rating today.
But it’s a mix of there being no PG-13 rating until the mid 1980s and the MPAA starting to get much stricter during the 1990s that lead to questionable ratings one finds on some older films (as some examples of the changes look at the PG rated All the President’s Men which has language that would trigger an R now, or the formerly G rated Wizard of Oz getting a PG when it was resubmitted for the 3D re-release several years ago).
RobertEndres, you are right- the film I saw here didn’t look as wide screen as I expected! Would the keystone effect also affect 1.85 or (and some new films as well as old) 1.33/1.37?
You should be aware that the Village East main auditorium has a very steep downward angle for projection. The screen which had been onstage when it was a single house was moved forward when the proscenium was bricked up to create the two backstage screens. There is a fair amount of cropping to account for the keystone. I saw a 2.2 70mm print here when the house opened and it looked as if the picture were almost 1.85. They did have lenses that shifted the image up a bit, but one of the engineers I work with has tech checked a couple of 70mm prints here and always laments the crop.
I’ve not been to the AMC Garden State, but on my 1 visit here, to see the 70mm “Murder on the Orient Express” I estimated the screen width for the movie in that ratio (2.2, just like 2001 in 70mm) at about 34 feet wide, a fairly decent sized screen. Sightlines count too & there are excellent sightlines in the Village East main auditorium. Orient Express was properly matted/masked here. Surround sound was very good, too.
So it’s been a good long while since I’ve been to Village East and I’m wondering screen size compared between here and the Garden State AMC. This is, of course, in reference to 2001 and I get the feeling AMC might have a bigger screen though that’s only based off of the usual small screen NYC art house experience. Thoughts?