In my opinion, this absolutely amazing space is the most beautifully stunning theater still in existence in NYC. The attention to detail during the restoration is astounding. The theater itself is every bit as much an attraction as is The Lion King (or whatever show might happen to occupy it’s stage in the future). The only debateable decision made by those who oversaw the theater’s refit may be the decision to refurbish the boxy marquee and art-deco vertical sign and clock that rises above it rather than restore the facade to it’s original 1903 configuration. The signage was put in place after the theater converted from legit theater to movie house in the 1930’s and obscures some pretty intricate architectural flourishes on the exterior.
This theater, on Broadway up around West 100th street, also enjoyed a stretch in the 80’s and 90’s as a revival house, showing classic double bills that changed every 2 or 3 days, similar to the Hollywood Twin (now shuttered) on 8th Ave around 48th street. I think I still have some old flyers from both of these theaters on which they would print the upcoming month’s schedule of attractions. With the advent of home video (especially now with the rising popularity of DVDs and large screen TVs) revival houses like these are fast becoming extinct.
The original spacious Meadows was first divided into a twin (right down the middle, with each theater featuring an orchestra and a balcony section) in the late ‘70’s. Sometime later (late 80’s early 90’s) the old theater was gutted completely and reorganized as it exists today as a 7 plex, with one decent auditorium at the rear of the lower level (approximately where the first 20 or 30 rows of the original auditorium sat) and 6 other smaller screening rooms located throughout the theater’s 3 levels. This multiplex has the disadvantage of having been completed just a few short years before the advent of the current — and more desireable — trend towards larger screens and stadium-style seating.
My Junior High School graduation was held in the huge auditorium several years before it was divided by four. I can’t recall much about it’s interior architectural elements, however. I’d been back to see movies there while it was a quartet, but as I recall, any ornamentation in the auditoriums were either stripped away or concealed during the conversion.
I am a veteran of many of those lurid gore films of the ‘70’s and '80’s … not only at the Liberty, but most of the other 6 or 7 theaters that lined this stretch of 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Aves. What I remember most about the Liberty was it’s enormous screen curtain that, when closed, revealed a depiction of Henry Hudson’s ship the Half Moon sailing up the famous river. Too bad this theater and the nearby Harris had to be lost amongst all the renovations on the block. I miss those seedy old days when the entrances to each of these theaters were festooned with cardboard cutouts and lobby cards advertising the cheap thrills within (usually grade-Z horror, blaxploitation or kung-fu action double features). With no drive-ins on the isle of Manhattan, it was only on this block that one could find “The Five Deadly Venoms” playing alongside “Count Dracula and His Vampire Brides” or “Invasion of the Blood Farmers”“”
In my opinion, this absolutely amazing space is the most beautifully stunning theater still in existence in NYC. The attention to detail during the restoration is astounding. The theater itself is every bit as much an attraction as is The Lion King (or whatever show might happen to occupy it’s stage in the future). The only debateable decision made by those who oversaw the theater’s refit may be the decision to refurbish the boxy marquee and art-deco vertical sign and clock that rises above it rather than restore the facade to it’s original 1903 configuration. The signage was put in place after the theater converted from legit theater to movie house in the 1930’s and obscures some pretty intricate architectural flourishes on the exterior.
This theater, on Broadway up around West 100th street, also enjoyed a stretch in the 80’s and 90’s as a revival house, showing classic double bills that changed every 2 or 3 days, similar to the Hollywood Twin (now shuttered) on 8th Ave around 48th street. I think I still have some old flyers from both of these theaters on which they would print the upcoming month’s schedule of attractions. With the advent of home video (especially now with the rising popularity of DVDs and large screen TVs) revival houses like these are fast becoming extinct.
The original spacious Meadows was first divided into a twin (right down the middle, with each theater featuring an orchestra and a balcony section) in the late ‘70’s. Sometime later (late 80’s early 90’s) the old theater was gutted completely and reorganized as it exists today as a 7 plex, with one decent auditorium at the rear of the lower level (approximately where the first 20 or 30 rows of the original auditorium sat) and 6 other smaller screening rooms located throughout the theater’s 3 levels. This multiplex has the disadvantage of having been completed just a few short years before the advent of the current — and more desireable — trend towards larger screens and stadium-style seating.
My Junior High School graduation was held in the huge auditorium several years before it was divided by four. I can’t recall much about it’s interior architectural elements, however. I’d been back to see movies there while it was a quartet, but as I recall, any ornamentation in the auditoriums were either stripped away or concealed during the conversion.
I am a veteran of many of those lurid gore films of the ‘70’s and '80’s … not only at the Liberty, but most of the other 6 or 7 theaters that lined this stretch of 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Aves. What I remember most about the Liberty was it’s enormous screen curtain that, when closed, revealed a depiction of Henry Hudson’s ship the Half Moon sailing up the famous river. Too bad this theater and the nearby Harris had to be lost amongst all the renovations on the block. I miss those seedy old days when the entrances to each of these theaters were festooned with cardboard cutouts and lobby cards advertising the cheap thrills within (usually grade-Z horror, blaxploitation or kung-fu action double features). With no drive-ins on the isle of Manhattan, it was only on this block that one could find “The Five Deadly Venoms” playing alongside “Count Dracula and His Vampire Brides” or “Invasion of the Blood Farmers”“”