“In 1931, one of the earliest Drive-In Theaters opened in Paramus, and boasted the world’s largest and brightest screens. Located behind what is now he Garden State Plaza Shopping Mall. The drive-in closed sometime around 1983. Easy Money starring Rodney Dangerfield was one of the last movies shown there."
extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramus%2C_New_Jersey
Well, I always thought that the wikpedia was fairly accurate, now I’m not so sure. The 1931 date is obviously erroneous since the first drive in opened in 1933. Not sure if the 1983 closing date can be trusted.
Bound Brook theater reopens after the flood
After many travails, old building to be reborn as the multiuse, 389-seat Brook Art Center
Sunday, September 17, 2006
BY CHRISTINA JOHNSON
Star-Ledger Staff
For those trying to bring live performance back into the 79-year-old Brook Theatre in downtown Bound Brook, these last few years have played like a Hollywood movie plot.
First, a historic flood sent forth by Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999 filled the cavernous hall with river water, turning it into a fish tank, and wrecking nearly everything that worked. The federal and county governments, in the role of hero, granted the new caretakers $2.6 million to fix it up and lure business back to town. Then three days later the national mood turned mournful following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and critical efforts to raise matching funds for the tired, forlorn theater sunk.
The loans are outstanding, but the perseverance has paid off. Opening night is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. — “the beginning of a happy ending,” said the Brook’s executive director Gerry Appel. A gala black-tie evening with a diverse show is planned. Half the seats are sold. Neighborhood restaurants are readying for patrons, and enthused arts organizations in search of a stage are signing on for the 2006-2007 schedule.
All this excitement, despite the fact that on this Sunday, the black curtains and stage lights have not been delivered and final certificate of occupancy has not been granted.
Appel, who said he is getting by on about 45 minutes of sleep a night, refuses to worry. “I keep thinking of the movie ‘Rocky’ — how Rocky overcomes the obstacles, the Brook is Rocky!” he said, laughing. A portly man with premature white hair and a smooth radio voice, Appel loves his role as coach in the corner.
Without the original site plans or much relevant experience fixing flood-ravaged vaudeville theaters, Appel, 50, of Bound Brook and his business partner George Andersen, an energetic 57-year-old electrical engineer and jack-of-all-trades from Waldwick, the chairman of the board, have taken on the daily role of construction project manager to save money, and overseen the installation of new electric, heating, air conditioning, plumbing and restrooms.
With the advice of a Manhattan theater architect, they’ve yanked out the 900 narrow seats and replaced them with 389 wider models to accommodate today’s ample fannies, and enclosed the audience with temporary smoked glass walls lit from behind, creating a more intimate space within the huge auditorium.
They kept the famous Whisper Dome in the ceiling, an acoustical device that will obediently amplify actors, music and be warned — ringing cell phones — with gusto.
The newly named nonprofit Brook Arts Center’s staff is ambitious, with plans to “grow the arts” by: bringing in local troupes doing famous musicals; introduce undiscovered performance groups; host workshops; electrify the downtown restaurant scene; stage Spanish-English language plays for local children; offer stage readings, poetry readings, cabaret and even 1930s-era silent movies with a genuine, much prized Wurlitzer pipe organ donated by the Garden State Theatre Organ Society. (The tibia keys of the last-donated Wurlitzer were found washed up in a neighboring hobby shop after Floyd.)
The opening Saturday night lineup echoes the eclectic mix. For a $90 ticket, the audience will be treated to: a dance piece set to jazz music by the American Repertory Ballet of New York; a vaudeville-inspired performance by Hillsborough’s “Kids on Tap”; entertainment from Somerset’s ventriloquist Alan Semok, the “Dummy Doctor”; and just added a lesson in the truth from New Jersey’s famous “mentalist,” the Amazing Kreskin.
Other scheduled events through the year will be: the “Little Shop of Horrors,” Oct. 20-Nov. 12; Broadway actress Paige Price in a one-woman Cabaret show about her old boyfriends, called the “The eX-Files” on Nov. 17; and “Winnie the Pooh Christmas Carol,” Dec. 1-2 by the Running Rabbit Family Theatre. See the website for 2007’s events, at www.brookarts.org
“There is nothing like watching a performance with 250-300 people,” said Andersen. “When people can get together in a large group and experience something at the same time, it’s a very human experience.”
The caretakers of the Brook and small army of volunteers have little history of the concrete and brick structure to go on, just a few old photographs and virtually no pieces of memorabilia. Whatever was hiding in the cracks waiting to be rediscovered seems to have floated away. Except memories.
Prior to the flood of Floyd, the hall had been run as a single-screen movie theater. Patti Murtha, 30, a red-haired freelance theater coach who arrived to paint the manager’s office one night recently, recalled her teenage allegiance to the midnight showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show held here, a science-fiction-fantasy cult movie that encouraged talking back to the screen and throwing things like rice and playing cards.
“I remember looking around and thinking, ‘Why is this place just a rundown movie theater?’ It had so much potential.”
On stage, working on maintenance of the Wurlitzer organ was volunteer Glynn Gillette, 80, who grew up in the neighborhoods around the Brook. Eyes squeezed tight, he could recall that a kid could trade in a pint jar of Japanese beetles swimming in kerosene for a free pass to see the Tailspin Tommy serials, in which a comic book hero comes to life. “Oh yeah, this was where we came every Saturday as kids,” he said. “It was a great place.”
Management acknowledges the 1930s tradition, but kindly requests patrons come with money on opening night. “I don’t think we’ll be going the beetles-in-kerosene route,” Appel said.
Christina Johnson works in the Somerset County bureau. She may be reached at or at (908) 429-9925.
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), April 18, 2000 p031
SCENE OF DESTRUCTION. (MORRIS)
Yesterday was demolition day for the old Morristown Triplex Cinema on Washington Street. Its razing makes way for a $15 million brick and stone apartment and retail building. Above, Bob Grecco, an employee of Royce Contractors, uses a grapple to separate debris. At right, a view of the building as it awaited demolition. Below, a $2 admission ticket sticks out from the rubble.
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), March 16, 2000 p031
[0] REDUCED TO RUBBLE. (MORRIS)
Demolition workers raze two homes to clear another tract in preparation for Morristown Plaza, a six- to nine-story complex with 150 units and retail space on Washington Street and Cattano Avenue. Workers have already razed the former Elks Club building and have approval to take down the adjacent former Morristown Triplex Theater structure.
“At one time, the shopping mall was a popular spot. A diner, a movie theater and a roller skating rink attracted shoppers. But no new lease had been signed at the mall since 1995, and, in 1999, the seven-screen Kendall Park Movie Theater closed.”
extracted from The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), Oct 17, 2003 p021
“We are also fortunate to have a Community Center located at the site of the former Warner Theater, offering the citizens of Harrison a variety of recreational activities.”
extracted from View link
the wording of this leads me to believe that the building was demolished.
Small photo at this link:
http://www.driveinmovie.com/MT.htm
Small photo on this link:
http://www.driveinmovie.com/MT.htm
“In 1931, one of the earliest Drive-In Theaters opened in Paramus, and boasted the world’s largest and brightest screens. Located behind what is now he Garden State Plaza Shopping Mall. The drive-in closed sometime around 1983. Easy Money starring Rodney Dangerfield was one of the last movies shown there."
extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramus%2C_New_Jersey
Well, I always thought that the wikpedia was fairly accurate, now I’m not so sure. The 1931 date is obviously erroneous since the first drive in opened in 1933. Not sure if the 1983 closing date can be trusted.
Some brief history:
View link
Bound Brook theater reopens after the flood
After many travails, old building to be reborn as the multiuse, 389-seat Brook Art Center
Sunday, September 17, 2006
BY CHRISTINA JOHNSON
Star-Ledger Staff
For those trying to bring live performance back into the 79-year-old Brook Theatre in downtown Bound Brook, these last few years have played like a Hollywood movie plot.
First, a historic flood sent forth by Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999 filled the cavernous hall with river water, turning it into a fish tank, and wrecking nearly everything that worked. The federal and county governments, in the role of hero, granted the new caretakers $2.6 million to fix it up and lure business back to town. Then three days later the national mood turned mournful following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and critical efforts to raise matching funds for the tired, forlorn theater sunk.
The loans are outstanding, but the perseverance has paid off. Opening night is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. — “the beginning of a happy ending,” said the Brook’s executive director Gerry Appel. A gala black-tie evening with a diverse show is planned. Half the seats are sold. Neighborhood restaurants are readying for patrons, and enthused arts organizations in search of a stage are signing on for the 2006-2007 schedule.
All this excitement, despite the fact that on this Sunday, the black curtains and stage lights have not been delivered and final certificate of occupancy has not been granted.
Appel, who said he is getting by on about 45 minutes of sleep a night, refuses to worry. “I keep thinking of the movie ‘Rocky’ — how Rocky overcomes the obstacles, the Brook is Rocky!” he said, laughing. A portly man with premature white hair and a smooth radio voice, Appel loves his role as coach in the corner.
Without the original site plans or much relevant experience fixing flood-ravaged vaudeville theaters, Appel, 50, of Bound Brook and his business partner George Andersen, an energetic 57-year-old electrical engineer and jack-of-all-trades from Waldwick, the chairman of the board, have taken on the daily role of construction project manager to save money, and overseen the installation of new electric, heating, air conditioning, plumbing and restrooms.
With the advice of a Manhattan theater architect, they’ve yanked out the 900 narrow seats and replaced them with 389 wider models to accommodate today’s ample fannies, and enclosed the audience with temporary smoked glass walls lit from behind, creating a more intimate space within the huge auditorium.
They kept the famous Whisper Dome in the ceiling, an acoustical device that will obediently amplify actors, music and be warned — ringing cell phones — with gusto.
The newly named nonprofit Brook Arts Center’s staff is ambitious, with plans to “grow the arts” by: bringing in local troupes doing famous musicals; introduce undiscovered performance groups; host workshops; electrify the downtown restaurant scene; stage Spanish-English language plays for local children; offer stage readings, poetry readings, cabaret and even 1930s-era silent movies with a genuine, much prized Wurlitzer pipe organ donated by the Garden State Theatre Organ Society. (The tibia keys of the last-donated Wurlitzer were found washed up in a neighboring hobby shop after Floyd.)
The opening Saturday night lineup echoes the eclectic mix. For a $90 ticket, the audience will be treated to: a dance piece set to jazz music by the American Repertory Ballet of New York; a vaudeville-inspired performance by Hillsborough’s “Kids on Tap”; entertainment from Somerset’s ventriloquist Alan Semok, the “Dummy Doctor”; and just added a lesson in the truth from New Jersey’s famous “mentalist,” the Amazing Kreskin.
Other scheduled events through the year will be: the “Little Shop of Horrors,” Oct. 20-Nov. 12; Broadway actress Paige Price in a one-woman Cabaret show about her old boyfriends, called the “The eX-Files” on Nov. 17; and “Winnie the Pooh Christmas Carol,” Dec. 1-2 by the Running Rabbit Family Theatre. See the website for 2007’s events, at www.brookarts.org
“There is nothing like watching a performance with 250-300 people,” said Andersen. “When people can get together in a large group and experience something at the same time, it’s a very human experience.”
The caretakers of the Brook and small army of volunteers have little history of the concrete and brick structure to go on, just a few old photographs and virtually no pieces of memorabilia. Whatever was hiding in the cracks waiting to be rediscovered seems to have floated away. Except memories.
Prior to the flood of Floyd, the hall had been run as a single-screen movie theater. Patti Murtha, 30, a red-haired freelance theater coach who arrived to paint the manager’s office one night recently, recalled her teenage allegiance to the midnight showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show held here, a science-fiction-fantasy cult movie that encouraged talking back to the screen and throwing things like rice and playing cards.
“I remember looking around and thinking, ‘Why is this place just a rundown movie theater?’ It had so much potential.”
On stage, working on maintenance of the Wurlitzer organ was volunteer Glynn Gillette, 80, who grew up in the neighborhoods around the Brook. Eyes squeezed tight, he could recall that a kid could trade in a pint jar of Japanese beetles swimming in kerosene for a free pass to see the Tailspin Tommy serials, in which a comic book hero comes to life. “Oh yeah, this was where we came every Saturday as kids,” he said. “It was a great place.”
Management acknowledges the 1930s tradition, but kindly requests patrons come with money on opening night. “I don’t think we’ll be going the beetles-in-kerosene route,” Appel said.
Christina Johnson works in the Somerset County bureau. She may be reached at or at (908) 429-9925.
Caption in the attached photo lists opening in 1923:
View link
View link
View link
View link (ca 1920)
View link (ca 1935)
ca 1930 photo:
View link
Goldmine! Check out these old photos:
View link
View link
View link
View link (from 1933)
View link (from 1951)
View link (from 1952)
View link (from 1952)
CarolM: Thanks for the tip on the library. The address that you list appears to be correct. Here are some photos:
View link (from 6/5/1947)
View link(from 6/5/1947)
View link (from 1914)
1981 photos:
View link
View link
August 1981 photos:
View link
View link
Another one:
View link
Nice old photo:
View link
Nice evening photo:
View link
“Dad took me to my first R-rated film, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE (which played forever at the Morristown Triplex)”
excerpt from http://s8.invisionfree.com/MHVF/ar/t4675.htm
So we have this theater still operating until at least 1978.
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), April 18, 2000 p031
SCENE OF DESTRUCTION. (MORRIS)
Yesterday was demolition day for the old Morristown Triplex Cinema on Washington Street. Its razing makes way for a $15 million brick and stone apartment and retail building. Above, Bob Grecco, an employee of Royce Contractors, uses a grapple to separate debris. At right, a view of the building as it awaited demolition. Below, a $2 admission ticket sticks out from the rubble.
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), March 16, 2000 p031
[0] REDUCED TO RUBBLE. (MORRIS)
Demolition workers raze two homes to clear another tract in preparation for Morristown Plaza, a six- to nine-story complex with 150 units and retail space on Washington Street and Cattano Avenue. Workers have already razed the former Elks Club building and have approval to take down the adjacent former Morristown Triplex Theater structure.
CAPTION(S):
PHOTO BY PHIL LANOUE
“At one time, the shopping mall was a popular spot. A diner, a movie theater and a roller skating rink attracted shoppers. But no new lease had been signed at the mall since 1995, and, in 1999, the seven-screen Kendall Park Movie Theater closed.”
extracted from The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), Oct 17, 2003 p021
I believe that this is the address:
Harrison Community Center
401 Warren St
Harrison, NJ 07029-1707
(973) 268-2469
“We are also fortunate to have a Community Center located at the site of the former Warner Theater, offering the citizens of Harrison a variety of recreational activities.”
extracted from View link
the wording of this leads me to believe that the building was demolished.
Listed in the 1951, 1956 & 1970 Film Daily Yearbooks with 1086 seats.
I remember a live venue in the 1980s called City Gardens. Could this be the same building?
jimmyt
please add cinema III/Clearview as a separate listing to CT.
I unfortunately never made it to this theatre. No memories – only research!