Loew's Kings Theatre

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The Loew's Kings Theatre is a movie palace-type theater in Brooklyn, New York City in the United States of America. It opened in 1929 and has been closed since 1977. Designed by the architectural firm of Rapp and Rapp, it was 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. With the decline of vaudeville, however, the theater soon converted to showing feature films only.

Located in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood, on Flatbush Avenue near Beverly Road, the lavish theater was designed in the Rapp Brothers' signature French-influenced baroque style. The unusually spacious theater boasted 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.

After closing in 1977, the Loew's Kings has slowly deteriorated. There is currently extensive physical damage as a result of water damage and vandalism. It is currently owned by the City of New York. Though the theater remains vacant, the roof was recently repaired and there is continued interest in its eventual restoration. Should the King's reopen, it will be the third largest theater in New York City.

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, Henry Winkler, and Barbra Streisand. Ben Vereen danced on the stage at the Kings, where his mother was working.

When its curtain closed for the final time it became the subject of a film documentary, Memoirs of a Movie Palace.

[edit] External links

• Save The Loew's Kings on PlanetPLG.com
• Page for Loew's Kings Theatre at the Cinema Treasures website

[edit] References

• Gray, Christopher. (11 March 2007) The Kings Is Dead! Long Live the Kings!, The New York Times Accessed 11 March 2007