Theatre 80 St. Marks
80 St. Marks Place,
New York,
NY
10003
80 St. Marks Place,
New York,
NY
10003
10 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 74 comments
Campaign to save Theatre 80 St. Marks.
https://p2a.co/8sgaifn?fbclid=IwAR3_Deg7YnOxbkBAR8X29VXmNri5yQeFm9mBTb7oTy8dzyaMeY3wBvPdjdM
Facing closure, according to a recent article in The New York Times linked here
As of July, 2021 (and probably long before) they are NOT showing movies.
10 years ago they announced they were returning to film, with some live performances. What is the exact status of the place now?
I used to go to this theatre all the time in the 80’s. I loved it even tho it wasn’t a great venue for seeing a movie. First of all, it was 16 mm REAR screen projection. Because the space was so small, all the seat were way too close to the screen.
Still I loved going.
I also vaguely remember there were Sid Grahman-esque hand prints outside the place in cement. I seem to recall Joan Crawford as one.
My book, “Repertory Movie Theaters of New York City: Havens for Revivals, Indies and the Avant-Garde, 1960-1994,” was recently published. It’s listed on Amazon and www.mcfarlandpub.com.
I’m writing a book on the revival/repertory movie theaters in NY in the 60s-90s, including Theatre 80. iisentaku, I would love to hear from you. My email is
Digital projection. not sure if its from behind the screen..
I attended a screening from the Take Two Film Festival at Theater 80 this past weekend. I had not been there since 1994 when they stopped showing films. It was like no time had passed at all. What a splendid evening. Please show more films if possible.
Does anyone have any old film programs from Theater 80 when they were running films. Would gladly pay for any copies or even if it can be scanned. thanks. Charles, Westchester NY
This was my favorite theater when I lived in Manhattan. Much notice was made that columbian coffee was served in the lounge, and it was good. I think I was there for the last movie before Pearl, ‘Sabrina’ with Bogart and Hepburn. I missed seeing ‘A Clockwork Orange’ there, it was too cold to go out that day! Thank you Otway family for many extremely pleasant times.
Interesting to read what others have written/said about Theatre 80. My own perspective is a bit more personal: My mother, Roxanne Smith, was Howard Otway’s co-producer. She raised money to fix up the space as a theatre. She also raised money and co-produced, THIS HERE NICE PLACE, Howard Otway’s play, that opened Theatre 80 for live theatre.
I am happy to learn that the Otway family still run Theatre 80. And, I hope that someday, someone will do the homework and write a true and full history of how the place came to be, and what happened there.
Those few of us who were around then —and can still recall any of the events— are not going to be around forever.
Nicholas
What’s the latest? (Reading the comments on the Regency page made me remember MY favorite revival house, which was this.)
So happy to hear that the Theatre is back being used as a movie house. I was a projectionist there between 87 and 88 after having graduated from university. And the movies that i was privileged to watch were an education to me and inspired me through out my career in I also remember Howard and Florence very fondly. Good luck to you Lorcan.
Nothing but fond memories from this semi-old East Villager of my days/nights at Theatre 80. Who cared if the projection wasn’t great or seats weren’t comfortable…where else could you go to learn your cinema history when the heat was out (often) in your 5th floor walkup w. a junkie sleeping in your vestibule? Sneak in a slice from Stomboli’s across the street, split a brownie w. your companion and settle down to watch some great movies in days before Netflix. How lucky can you get?
Here is a NY Times article on the gangster museum upstairs from Theater 80:
View link
“[Lorcan Otway’s] two-room museum is right above that former speakeasy, which for years has been known as Theater 80 St. Marks in a neighborhood that boasts its share of notorious ghosts like Capone (the Brooklyn-born Chicago mobster often visited Manhattan), Lucky Luciano and John Gotti …
“His father, Howard, an actor, bought the two buildings, at 78 and 80 St. Marks Place, from Walter Scheib, the former speakeasy operator, in 1964. In a bunkerlike basement room, the elder Otway found a safe with $2 million in gold certificates, which he soon learned had expired.”
I see Ingrid is using the box office email again… The web site is Theatre80.org … Lorcan
..and there is no web site there.
Myt name is Ingrid. I am the house manager at Theatre 80. There seems to be some misconceptions within this particular forum about Theatre 80. The theatre has never changed owners. The Otways have always owner the Theatre since 1964. The Pearl is a theatre company that rented it for 15 years. Lorcan Otway, Howard’s son, is running it again. We now show movies & live plays. We also have an opera coming in next year. Please check us out at theatre80.com
Gee, I am baffled by the folks who wrote how “awful” the old Theater 80 was. I guess they are either not from NYC, and/or prefer huge soulless multiplexes. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was charming and unique.
, Theater 80 was where I was privileged to discover great film. When my mom worked late and couldn’t pick me up right after school, I’d go to Theater 80 and go see double features [no child care lectures please, tis was the 70’s and a different time.] I was 12 or so, and was enchanted by Astaire and Rogers; Cocteau’s “beauty and the Beast (always on a double with "Rules of the Game”), and films like “Citizen Kane”, “39 Steps”…oh, so many!!! There were cardboard cutouts of old movie stars in the lobby, and “Grauman’s Chinese Theatre” style footprints in the sidewalk outside…for a kid, it was magical. As I grew up, I came to appreciate how very New York City it was, as well: eccentric, stubbornly true to an ideal, individual, cozy and a wee bit cranky.
When it closed, I was absolutely heartbroken.
I am so glad Mr.Otway has taken back his legacy!!
The movie is on and running as I write this, and the next film will be Monpura, a new release from Giasudden Selim, already a classic in Bangladesh and with great reviews in Austrailia and other places it has played.
It is a love story set against the backdrop of the Bangladeshi war of independance. It will play December 21 – 30th 7pm and 9:45.
I am looking forward to seeing it.
All the best
and thanks
Lorcan
Did the movie open?
Lorcan Otway is a great gentleman, as was his father. I’m sure everyone who cherished visits to Theatre 80 St. Marks, from the theater days of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” to the great classic double bills the Otways ran in the 1970s and 1980s wish him well with his ambitious plans for that homiest of venues.
How is film projected? 2 k? 4 K? DVD? 35 mm?
Well, here is the news… the projectors are in, there are great sight lines, even from the front side seats, as the screen is set about 14 feet back on the stage, and the immage is wonderful…
So, here is the news about the first showing…
“THE BROOKLYN HEIST†OPENS NOV. 27 AT THEATER 80 ST. MARKS IN NYCâ€\S EAST VILLAGE
Village landmark and one of the city’s oldest revival theaters refurbished for theatrical debut of “The Brooklyn Heist†starring Danny Masterson and Dominique Swain
“Pulls out all the stops for laughs and chaosâ€
– Aced Magazine
“An utterly original and stylish comedyâ€
– Flixster
“Destined to be a cult hit"
– Culture Vulture
CHATSWORTH, CA, Nov. 4, 2009 â€" In what is destined to be a comedy-caper smash hit, “The Brooklyn Heist†will be released on Nov. 27 at Theater 80 St. Marks in NYCâ€\s East Village.
Desperate to improve his life, New Yorker Fitz concocts a scheme to rob a wealthy and hated pawnshop owner. Unknown to Fitz, his gang of cheerful incompetents faces competition from two other crews who plan to hit the joint on the same night. Each group has a unique, hilarious style in this satire on heist capers that uses stylish cinematography, editing and art direction to explode filmic stereotypes. A stellar cast including Danny Masterson (“That â€\70s Showâ€), Leon (“Get Rich or Die Tryinâ€\â€) and Dominique Swain (“Lolitaâ€) brings to life this stylish spoof of the beloved heist comedy genre.
“The chance to be in a movie thatâ€\s completely centered around New York was a big part of what drew me to ‘The Brooklyn Heist.â€\ This is a hilarious, special movie that Iâ€\m very proud of,†enthuses Danny Masterson.
“New York is really another character in ‘The Brooklyn Heistâ€\ and we shot the film entirely within the five boroughs, so we couldnâ€\t have found a better home for our theatrical release than Theater 80,†says director/co-writer Julian Mark Kheel.
The Manhattan community is already primed for a new generation of films to play at Theater 80 after a fifteen year hiatus, and “The Brooklyn Heist†is sure to mark that occasion with a bang as it becomes the first film to use the theaterâ€\s brand new hi-def digital projection system.
Under its previous title “Capers,†the film already impressed audiences across North America during its festival run, scooping up the Best Comedy Award at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival and entertaining crowds from the Just For Laughs festival in Chicago to the Cinequest Film Festival and Newport Beach Film Festival in California.
Theater 80 St. Marks
80 St. Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
(212) 388-0388
Screeners available on request
Movie information
Genre: Action/adventure, comedy
Year: 2008
Rating: PG-13
Format: Digital Projection
Length: 85 minutes
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Website: www.TheBrooklynHeist.com
Theater information
Theater 80 St. Marks
80 St. Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
(212) 388-0388
Opens Nov. 27, 2009
Showtimes: Daily at 7:00pm & 9:00pm; other than December 2nd when there is a private screening not open to the public.
About Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment, Inc is a leading independent licensee and distributor of entertainment programming in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 exclusive CD titles in domestic release and approximately 400 programs internationally via sublease agreements. For many of its titles, the Company has exclusive audio and broadcast rights and, through its subsidiary, Egami Media Inc. has digital download right to approximately 2,000 video programs and over 300 audio titles containing more than 5,1000 individual tracks. The Company is headquartered in Chatsworth, California. For more information about Image Entertainment, Inc. please go to www.image-entertainment.com
About Theater 80 St. Marks
80 Saint Marks Place has been a successful site for entertainment from the height of the Jazz age to the present. Operating variously as a successful ‘speakeasyâ€\ during prohibition, a popular night spot, and the jazz mecca the Jazz Gallery, the space was converted to a theater in the early 1960â€\s. Theater 80 made its name with the 1965 run of “Youâ€\re A Good Man, Charlie Brown,†served as the home of the Manhattan Festival Ballet for three years, and became renowned for its film revival program, which ran from 1970 until 1994. After a fifteen year residency by the Pearl Theatre Co., Theater 80 is poised to once again become the East Villageâ€\s destination spot for film and live theater. For more information about Theater 80 St. Marks, please go to www.Theatre80StMarks.com
# #
Press contacts: Steve Honig Mark Roche
The Honig Company Image Entertainment
818-986-4300 818-534-9340