Hey, a lot of stranger things have happened. The Bellerose Theatre is now in Floral Park, after having been in Bellerose for over 70 years. Seems they changed the Post office for the Nassau County portion of the village to Floral Park. The Queens County portion is still Bellerose. Go figure.
There was an earlier Baldwin Theatre on Grand Avenue. I established it on CT earlier this year based upon newspaper accounts. I have yet to establish a specific address. If I have an opportunity to access some really old phone books I may be able to do so. However, I’ve found that for listings prior to 1930 there are often only street names and no specific address. Life was simpler then.
Interesting. I may be imagining it but I thought I could sometimes see tape thinking there was a repair. Do you know if the Bellerose had a larger screen than the Floral? I seem to remember the proscenium of the Floral being narrower.
I was impressed by the length and narrowness of the theatre the first time I saw a live production there, I believe it was Anything Goes. I was in the last row. Made up for that with Stomp by being in the second row. Stomp was actually a very clever show that became a bit repetitious with time. I’m not disappointed that I saw it.
Contrary to the heading, not the last single screen theatre. There is the Sag Harbor, Montauk and, across the city line the North Shore Towers. Seasonally they also show movies on Ocean Beach, Fire Island, at the Community center.
Mark, Ed Sullivan didn’t broadcast from the Center, but from the theatre on Broadway which now bears his name. In the day, I believe, it was Hammerstein’s.
Never experienced the national anthem. Did do God Save the Queen in Toronto and London, England, not Ontario.
Vito, as a person of knowledge, can you tell me something about screen sizes. I always thought that the wide proscenium at the Bellerose might have given it an advantage since every bit of the opening was filled with the Cinemascope screen. Were they standard or was there some sort of formula involving distance from the projection booth? I’m sure some of the theatres couldn’t have had too wide a screen because of structural limitations.
Although our dialogue is taking place on the Floral my home port was the Bellerose which was a block and a half away. Oddly enough if I were venturing out of town it was usually to Queens Village rather than Floral Park. When I got wheels it was everywhere since I wanted to experience as many theatres as possible.
Since the theatre was in the mall there was a sign which read, I believe, “The Movies” on the east facing wall closest to the entrance near the theatre, which was on the second level. When an exterior renovation took place that sign was not longer visible.
All the references to the curtain are interesting when, as a usual patron of the Bellerose, the projectionist did some amazing things to create a theatrical experience – on a 20th Century Fox picture he would only have the sound on for the drum intro and only open the curtains for the swell of the music, particularly effective since the speakers were behind the curtain. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. No picture, but you could hear the Nautilus, then project the image on the curtain, like water. The guy was a phenom!
Islip probably has more potential for sub division. Also it’s at a better location, near where Rt 111 intersects with Main St/Montauk Highway. And, it’s in town and parking isn’t too bad.
I think they should resurrect the Islip. True it doesn’t have air conditioning but it’s a nice downtown. But, the previous owners couldn’t make it work. The multiplex in Patchogue didn’t work. Definitely seems like a void but, maybe for a reason. There are a lot of pockets with no coverage, even in Nassau.
People take advantage of the Silver Screen Classic ticket price and go to another auditorium. I know. A friend of mine used to meet me there and sometimes couldn’t get in because it was sold out. Yet there were seats available including one I had for her. My solution. Buy two tickets and leave one at the “box office” for her.
I have the answer on remove. CT now gives you the ability to remove messages you, and only you, have posted. Helpful for those times when you hit enter twice or when something has been resolved and the comment no longer applies.
Local merchants have confirmed that the theatre was demolished in the 1980’s. The replacement building houses a Fish Market/Grill and a number of officces.
Contrary to the heading this only came under the Century banner at the end of it’s, and Century’s life. It was originally part of a chain with a smaller pressence, I’ll say Mann. Much later it became RKO when that circuit was trying to get back into the Long Island market. I remember a Newsday article saying RKO was coming to Long Island and showing the exterior of the Wantagh. The Century association came about as a result of a series of mergers which produced RKO Century Warner. It would appear that the current office building, which has an address of 3305 Jerusalem Avenue, was created from the original theatre through additions and modifications.
I went back to the site today, in the daylight, to reaffirm my original May 1st comment that it was at the corner of the shopping center. It was; the eastern corner. However, subsequently, a cinder block addition as been added obliterating all but the exit door, by the screen, of the original exterior.
Tinseltoes – rather than report Google problems, of which there seem to be a good deal, on the theatre site you might achieve better results reporting them directly to CT.
The Helen Hayes (formerly Fulton), Bijou and Morrosco theatres were all demolished for the construction of a hotel. Of the three I believe only the Bijou ever screened films. The current Helen Hayes on 44th Street was formerly the Little and Winthrop Ames. It was a radio/tv studio for some years. Don’t believe there were any screenings.
The only difference in the appearance of the facade as a single screen, twin or quad are the designation “twin” or “quad” and the style of lettering is still the same. I would venture that the word “elwood” is the original and the adds on were made to match.
Hey, a lot of stranger things have happened. The Bellerose Theatre is now in Floral Park, after having been in Bellerose for over 70 years. Seems they changed the Post office for the Nassau County portion of the village to Floral Park. The Queens County portion is still Bellerose. Go figure.
Newsday carried movie times in the June 26, 2011 paper, so, presumably, it’s open. Whether it opened on the 10th is a moot point so long as it’s open.
There was an earlier Baldwin Theatre on Grand Avenue. I established it on CT earlier this year based upon newspaper accounts. I have yet to establish a specific address. If I have an opportunity to access some really old phone books I may be able to do so. However, I’ve found that for listings prior to 1930 there are often only street names and no specific address. Life was simpler then.
Interesting. I may be imagining it but I thought I could sometimes see tape thinking there was a repair. Do you know if the Bellerose had a larger screen than the Floral? I seem to remember the proscenium of the Floral being narrower.
The theatre was in the building to the left past the intersecting street on the Google image. The zoom feature is of no help in this instance.
I was impressed by the length and narrowness of the theatre the first time I saw a live production there, I believe it was Anything Goes. I was in the last row. Made up for that with Stomp by being in the second row. Stomp was actually a very clever show that became a bit repetitious with time. I’m not disappointed that I saw it.
Contrary to the heading, not the last single screen theatre. There is the Sag Harbor, Montauk and, across the city line the North Shore Towers. Seasonally they also show movies on Ocean Beach, Fire Island, at the Community center.
Mark, Ed Sullivan didn’t broadcast from the Center, but from the theatre on Broadway which now bears his name. In the day, I believe, it was Hammerstein’s.
Haven’t been in the area for years but I remember thinking it odd that the theatre had two box offices. Handy in view of all the chopping up.
Never experienced the national anthem. Did do God Save the Queen in Toronto and London, England, not Ontario.
Vito, as a person of knowledge, can you tell me something about screen sizes. I always thought that the wide proscenium at the Bellerose might have given it an advantage since every bit of the opening was filled with the Cinemascope screen. Were they standard or was there some sort of formula involving distance from the projection booth? I’m sure some of the theatres couldn’t have had too wide a screen because of structural limitations.
Although our dialogue is taking place on the Floral my home port was the Bellerose which was a block and a half away. Oddly enough if I were venturing out of town it was usually to Queens Village rather than Floral Park. When I got wheels it was everywhere since I wanted to experience as many theatres as possible.
Since the theatre was in the mall there was a sign which read, I believe, “The Movies” on the east facing wall closest to the entrance near the theatre, which was on the second level. When an exterior renovation took place that sign was not longer visible.
All the references to the curtain are interesting when, as a usual patron of the Bellerose, the projectionist did some amazing things to create a theatrical experience – on a 20th Century Fox picture he would only have the sound on for the drum intro and only open the curtains for the swell of the music, particularly effective since the speakers were behind the curtain. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. No picture, but you could hear the Nautilus, then project the image on the curtain, like water. The guy was a phenom!
Islip probably has more potential for sub division. Also it’s at a better location, near where Rt 111 intersects with Main St/Montauk Highway. And, it’s in town and parking isn’t too bad.
I think they should resurrect the Islip. True it doesn’t have air conditioning but it’s a nice downtown. But, the previous owners couldn’t make it work. The multiplex in Patchogue didn’t work. Definitely seems like a void but, maybe for a reason. There are a lot of pockets with no coverage, even in Nassau.
Yeh, Google finally got the front of the building.
Would like to see some of those photos on CT since most of us are not privvy to union material
People take advantage of the Silver Screen Classic ticket price and go to another auditorium. I know. A friend of mine used to meet me there and sometimes couldn’t get in because it was sold out. Yet there were seats available including one I had for her. My solution. Buy two tickets and leave one at the “box office” for her.
I have the answer on remove. CT now gives you the ability to remove messages you, and only you, have posted. Helpful for those times when you hit enter twice or when something has been resolved and the comment no longer applies.
Local merchants have confirmed that the theatre was demolished in the 1980’s. The replacement building houses a Fish Market/Grill and a number of officces.
Contrary to the heading this only came under the Century banner at the end of it’s, and Century’s life. It was originally part of a chain with a smaller pressence, I’ll say Mann. Much later it became RKO when that circuit was trying to get back into the Long Island market. I remember a Newsday article saying RKO was coming to Long Island and showing the exterior of the Wantagh. The Century association came about as a result of a series of mergers which produced RKO Century Warner. It would appear that the current office building, which has an address of 3305 Jerusalem Avenue, was created from the original theatre through additions and modifications.
I went back to the site today, in the daylight, to reaffirm my original May 1st comment that it was at the corner of the shopping center. It was; the eastern corner. However, subsequently, a cinder block addition as been added obliterating all but the exit door, by the screen, of the original exterior.
Tinseltoes – rather than report Google problems, of which there seem to be a good deal, on the theatre site you might achieve better results reporting them directly to CT.
The Helen Hayes (formerly Fulton), Bijou and Morrosco theatres were all demolished for the construction of a hotel. Of the three I believe only the Bijou ever screened films. The current Helen Hayes on 44th Street was formerly the Little and Winthrop Ames. It was a radio/tv studio for some years. Don’t believe there were any screenings.
George Strum – from Cabaret?
The only difference in the appearance of the facade as a single screen, twin or quad are the designation “twin” or “quad” and the style of lettering is still the same. I would venture that the word “elwood” is the original and the adds on were made to match.