Sayville Theater

February 11, 2023 To Sayville & the surrounding areas, We’d like to give a positive update regarding the Sayville Theater. Our company, which owns the building, took over the Sayville Theater this Friday (2/10/22). First off, The Sayville Theater will reopen as soon as possible. We have been a part of the Sayville community for over 30 years. We will keep you posted on a reopening date. The place is currently going under a deep clean with a plan to reopen as soon as it’s clean, staffed, with everything stocked and operational. We assure you that renovations & repairs will take place over the next couple months to give you the best experience possible. We will strive to be one of the best movie theaters on Long Island. We love this community and are so grateful for all your love and support. We are looking for staff and would welcome new or previous employees with open arms. For applications or inquiries please contact Devin at 631-790-2303. We thank you for your continued support and hope to see you soon. -Sayville Theater Management

theater reopening November 19. ad in photos section

Cineplex Odeon took control on August 11, 1989, kept until the merger with Loews

3 screens on December 25th, 1981. Grand opening ad posted.

An ad for Heywood-Wakefield seating in the May 28, 1952 issue of The Exhibitor says that the Sayville Theatre was built for Associated Prudential Theatres.

Daytime image uploaded.

Hey Wally 75. Sorry I didn’t reply until now. Yes, Dotty was the manager when I was there. Actually, I went through 4 managers. the first one I remember was an older man whose name I forget. Then there was a guy named Steve. Then a woman named Patty whose mother managed the glorious Bayshore Theatre (now a YMCA). Then came Dotty.

Thanks for that MOM would have loved it.

I worked at the Sayville Theatre from September of 1974 to February of 1976. At that time, it was one screen. You could see the screen from the lobby. The auditorium was large and the theatre had a balcony which, I suspect, has been converted for one of the four existing screens. Also, on the back wall of the lobby was a painting of some fish that reminded me of the “Nutcracker Suite” sequence from “Fantasia” with the fish swimming around in a kind of underwater ballet. I remember very well the time we showed a movie called “Brother of the Wind” – a G-Rated film about nature that was heavily promoted on TV the week before we showed it. It was a Saturday matinee. We didn’t know what was in store for us. A line started forming down Railroad Avenue and by the time we opened the box office it was bedlam. The cashier was selling tickets so fast that she was throwing the money on the floor. Showtime was 40 minutes late and we had a sold out audience made up entirely of kids. What a nightmare! We also showed a lot of off-beat things. I think UA, who operated the theatre at the time, used it as a kind of dumping ground for the, shall we say, less than mainstream movies. We showed both “Last House On The Left” and “the Texas Chainsaw Massacre” in their original releases – before they achieved their infamous reputation.

This picture of the Sayville entrance appeared on the cover of the Modern Theatre section of Boxoffice magazine, March 7, 1953:
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I forgot to mention the Project Index at the Wolfsonian. It’s an Excel spreadsheet program, and contains the names and locations of all their projects, including work other than theaters.

These two have a large number of theatres to their credit. Were they exclusively LI, NY, east coast?