Palladium Times Square
1515 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1515 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
33 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Palladium Times Square (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Loews, Loews Cineplex, Sony Theatres
Architects: David Rockwell
Functions: Concerts, Live Performances
Previous Names: Loews Astor Plaza Theatre, Nokia Theatre Times Square, Best Buy Theatre, Playstation Theater, RadTheater
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
212.496.7490
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News About This Theater
- Sep 22, 2012 — AEG put up for sale; operates several former movie theaters as entertainment centers
- May 23, 2012 — Celebrating the Original STAR WARS on its 35th Anniversary
- Aug 25, 2010 — Nokia Theatre, nee Astor Plaza, to be renamed the Best Buy Theatre
- May 21, 2010 — Happy 30th, "Empire"
- May 25, 2007 — Happy 30th, Star Wars!
- Oct 4, 2005 — Astor Plaza Theater Reopens as the Nokia Theatre
- Jul 16, 2004 — New York Times: Astor Plaza to Become Rock Venue
- Apr 29, 2004 — Astor Plaza and Ziegfeld Updates
- Feb 3, 2004 — Astor Plaza to Close Soon?
New York’s Loews Astor Plaza housed one of the largest screens in the city and originally opened with 1,440 seats.
Opened on June 26, 1974 in Times Square (just west of Broadway), this enormous single screen theatre was actually built entirely underground, three stories beneath the Minskoff Theatre. Moviegoers entered the theatre from an entrance on 44th Street, taking an especially long escalator down to the theatre and concession area.
Astor Plaza Theatre was known as THE place to see event films (like “Star Wars” or “The Matrix”). Because of its large size, the Astor Plaza Theatre drew large, opening night crowds–crowds who really knew how to enjoy a movie.
The Astor Plaza Theatre was home to a number of box office hits; including “Superman”, the remake of “King Kong”, and “When Harry Met Sally”. As a tribute to this fact, the theatre’s escalator was lined with posters of its most successful films. The Astor Plaza Theatre was closed on August 1, 2004 with Sigourney Weaver in “The Village”.
It was converted to the plans of architect David Rockwell into a 2,100-seat concert venue, the Nokia Theatre Times Square, which opened in October 2005. In September 2010, it was renamed Best Buy Theater and in November 2015 it was renamed PlayStation Theater. It was closed in late-2019. It reopened in spring of 2020 as the RadTheater. By August 2021 it had been renamed Palladium Times Square.
Contributed by
Cinema Treasures
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Recent comments (view all 577 comments)
I really like the new name
Glad to see a name without corporate sponsorship shoehorned in!! And it’s a name that has a fair amount of history in NYC. I believe the original Palladium Ballroom was located in the Times Square area.
I saw U2: RATTLE & HUM here in late ‘88 with my friend George, who, sadly, committed suicide just a few months later. We both lived in Nassau County, and he liked to go into “the city” to see films.
I saw “The Empire Strikes Back” and probably “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” there. If you were into science fiction special effects spectaculars, Loews Astor Plaza was one of the few theaters in the city that had 70mm and a Dolby Stereo sound system.
wrestling fans can get a look at this venue as it hosts New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Rumble on 44th Street" 10/28.
Tickets were priced at $39.50, $49.50, $69.50, $79.50, $99.50, $149.50, $199.50, $249.50, $349.50, and $499.50 for VIP Box seating with food service. There are very few tickets on sale for Rumble on 44th Street at this point, mostly from re-sellers who are charging upwards of $1,000 per seat.
https://www.njpw1972.com/tornament/129869
POSTED an ad of Platoon in the photos section, it was one of the last major exclusive engagements to play their in December 1986, the only time I went their when the place had almost 1500 people
Titanic in 70mm played to sold out crowds for weeks.
A question for Al Alvarez.
You wrote here on 20 May 2019 “Trump was a Ziegfeld regular. I saw him there many times when my office was there”.
Out of curiosity, which films was he coming to see?
Lionel, he came to every premiere of any film and always with Marla Maples. I guess they were on the distributor invite list.
Of all the theaters I’ve frequented over the decades, for me, THIS IS THE ONE. Seeing RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK at Lowes Astor Plaza was a religious experience. Only ones that came remotely close was The Ziegfeld (NYC) and The Uptown (Washington DC) all of which are gone.