Kings Theatre (Brooklyn, New York)

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Kings Theatre

Facade, December 14, 2008
Address 1025 Flatbush Avenue
City Brooklyn, New York
Country USA
Coordinates 40°38′45″N 73°57′27″W / 40.6458°N 73.9575°W / 40.6458; -73.9575Coordinates: 40°38′45″N 73°57′27″W / 40.6458°N 73.9575°W / 40.6458; -73.9575
Architect Rapp and Rapp
Owned by New York City
Capacity 3,676[1]
Type French Baroque movie palace
Opened September 7, 1929
Rebuilt 2010—2014
Closed August 30, 1977
Previous names Loew's Kings Theatre
Current use undergoing renovation (2010—2014)

The Kings Theatre, formerly Loew's Kings Theatre, is a movie palace-type theater located at 1025 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City. Opened in 1929 and closed since 1977, the theater is scheduled to reopen in 2014 following a complete renovation.

Contents

[edit] History

Loew's Kings Theatre was designed by the architectural firm of Rapp and Rapp. The interior decor was designed by Harold W. Rambusch. It was built and operated by the Loew's Theatres chain, and was one of the five "Loew's Wonder Theatres" in the New York metropolitan area. This 3,676 seat house originally presented shows that combined movies and live vaudeville.[1] It opened September 7, 1929 with a program that included the film Evangeline, a live stage show, orchestra and solo pipe organ.[2] The film's star, Delores del Rio made a special live appearance. With the decline of vaudeville, however, the theater soon converted to showing feature films only.

Located in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood near Beverly Road, the lavish theater was designed in the Rapp Brothers' signature French-influenced baroque style. The unusually spacious theater boasts superb sight-lines, with the majority of its seats located on the main floor. Instead of a large balcony, the Kings has only a small mezzanine, allowing the entire elegant design to be viewed from anywhere in the auditorium. It has a sweeping staircase in the lobby that leads to the mezzanine.

Many celebrities who grew up in Brooklyn and went to area high schools worked as ushers at Loew's Kings. Among them were Sylvester Stallone and Henry Winkler. Ben Vereen danced on the stage at the Kings, where his mother was working. After closing, the theater was subject of a film documentary, Memoirs of a Movie Palace.

On August 30, 1977 the Loew's Kings closed. Its final film was Islands in the Stream with George C. Scott. After the time of its closing, when its lavish 1929 interior was almost completely intact, the shuttered theater slowly deteriorated. Extensive physical damage was sustained to the Kings's interior as a result of decades of neglect, water damage and vandalism. The roof was recently repaired to halt further deterioration while today the vacant theater awaits renovation. It has been owned by the City of New York since 1979.[1]

[edit] Renovation plans

After having been the object of numerous proposals for its restoration over the years, the Kings Theatre is now under plans to return it to use as a performing arts center by 2014. The City of New York announced on February 2, 2010 a $70 million renovation of to be completed in partnership with a private developer, ACE Theatrical Group of Houston. ACE has previously overseen major restorations of a number of historic theaters including the Boston Opera House. The plans call for the Kings's interior spaces to be restored to their 1929 appearance. Its stage facilities are to be completely rebuilt to modern standards, accommodating some 250 performances a year.[3]

[edit] Organ

When the Loew's Kings Theatre opened it was equipped with a Robert Morton theatre pipe organ. The instrument contained 23 ranks of pipes played on an elaborately decorated four manual console, one of Robert Morton's "Wonder Morton" designs, installed in all the Loew's Wonder Theatres. The organ was popular with audiences and was featured in performances between film showings. The organ remained in good condition and was played one last time in 1974 prior to its being removed and donated by the Loew's company to New York City's Town Hall. The instrument was never reinstalled however, and most of its pipes and works disappeared while in storage. In 1998, the lavish console was rebuilt for use with a comparable pipe organ in a private home in Wheaton, Illinois.[4] [5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Gray, Christopher. (11 March 2007) The Kings Is Dead! Long Live the Kings!, The New York Times Accessed 11 March 2007
  2. ^ The film Evangeline was based on the poem Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
  3. ^ Sulzberger, A.G. (February 2, 2010). "At a Neglected Movie Palace, Cobwebs Are Given Notice". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/nyregion/03kings.html. 
  4. ^ "Loew's Kings Theatre". The New York City Organ Project. http://www.nycago.org/Organs/Bkln/html/KingsTheatre.html. Retrieved May 11, 2010. 
  5. ^ "Van Der Molen 4/26 Robert Morton". wheatonfox.com. http://www.wheatonfox.com/index2.htm. Retrieved May 11, 2010. 

The Van der Molen family sent a "Deed of Gift" for their now 4/26 Wonder Morton to the New York Theatre Organ Society (NYTOS) on July 13, 2011. NYTOS has entered into an agreement with ACE construction to professionally install the organ in the former Loews Kings Theatre. The organ will belong to NYTOS who will loan it for use to the Brooklyn Kings Theatre. This wonderful gift of the Van der Molen's returns the Wonder Morton console to its original home, and it enlarges the organ by three additional ranks. The organ will be removed from the Wheaton Fox studio in late July, 2011, and it will be evaluated, fixed up, and stored at the American Organ Institute at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. Plans call for the organ to play at the re-opening of the theatre in 2014.

[edit] External links

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