Kings Theatre

1027 Flatbush Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY 11226

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ZiegfeldMan
ZiegfeldMan on April 2, 2011 at 11:17 am

Way out of my league. The only news I care about is stuff like this about the Kings….and the weather report. Or as the Who once sang, “Meet the new boss same as the old boss.”

Bobby, go outside, it’s a beautiful day and then watch a good old movie.

Peace

BobbyS
BobbyS on April 2, 2011 at 10:28 am

Ziegfeld Man, you sure come up with cool videos. As far as “hope” is concered, I bet you won’t hear “hope” & “change” anyhwhere to be found in the presidental election of 2012!

ZiegfeldMan
ZiegfeldMan on April 2, 2011 at 10:19 am

I did go on a private tour of the Paradise when it was in the process of restoration, but never got back there, want to. Check out the web site. Looks Great.

http://www.paradisetheaterevents.com/

I must say that given the 175th Street is both a church, a concert venue, and still really a grand movie palace gives one hope and as Tim Robbins said in “Shawshank,” hope is a good thing.

BobbyS
BobbyS on April 2, 2011 at 10:10 am

Thank you for the video. I will attend opening night in 2014. Have you been to any show at the Loew’s Paradise? What did you think? When I mentioned I was at Rev Ike’s 20 years ago, I meant to say only one time. I was snooping around the looby when a patron said I should come during services, everybody welcome. Well I did, but I must confess during the service I kept an imaginary silver screen showing a hollywood movie in my mind!

ZiegfeldMan
ZiegfeldMan on April 2, 2011 at 8:25 am

Thank you, now imagine going to a concert there (as I did) or a church service, in all that original (restored) movie palace splendor and keep your eye on the resurrected Kings. It’s almost like that line from “Citizen Kane”-I think I have this mostly right-“Take a good look Jedediah, it’s going to look a lot different one of these days.”

That’s how I felt last August standing on Flatbush Avenue, looking at the Kings.

By the way, Mr. Orlando Lopes, who appears in that video, is the world’s leading expert on the Kings.

Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83NOdIXot3s

BobbyS
BobbyS on April 1, 2011 at 10:52 pm

Thanks Ziefeld man for the video link. I loved it. I was in Rev Ike’s Church 20 years and thought it was amazing and wished more movie palaces would have the same fate rather than a parking lot or some bland office building.

ZiegfeldMan
ZiegfeldMan on April 1, 2011 at 10:28 pm

Yes, Flatbush Avenue is as multicultural as NYC itself, and is thriving….and it doesn’t matter what the building is called.
Check this out and you will see what I mean:

View link

BobbyS
BobbyS on April 1, 2011 at 10:12 pm

Ziegfeld Man, I am glad to hear Flatbush Ave is thriving. It was not the case when I was there in the 80’s. Maybe this King’s project will be a success. Do you think they will call it Loews’s Kings or just Kings?
WilliamMcQuade, you said Chicago lost many palaces in the past. Three of the most beautiful that are close to my heart was our B&K Paradise(which I thought was so much more beautiful then the one in the Bronx), the beautiful Marbro & Granada which were located on the west and north side of Chicago . These were movie palaces in every sense of the word!!

WilliamMcQuade
WilliamMcQuade on April 1, 2011 at 9:44 pm

The Uptown is awesome

I was in it many years ago on a theater tour. That majestic lobby needs to be restored along with the rest of the theater. To think of the many palaces Chicago has lost is mind numbing.

ZiegfeldMan
ZiegfeldMan on April 1, 2011 at 8:03 pm

I’m optimistic. 42nd street between Broadway and Eighth Ave. was once the hell hole that you see in “Midnight Cowboy” and “Taxi Driver.” Today it is the magnet of Times Square with fabulous theatres, hotels, restaurants, shops, and throngs of people, and it all started when Disney decided to have a presence on Broadway at the “New Amsterdam.” Along came “The Lion King” and the rest is history.

I stood outside the chained up Kings last August and envisioned opening night 2014. I walked a thriving neighborhood bristling with people, culture, and enthusiasm. If you build it, they will come.

BobbyS
BobbyS on April 1, 2011 at 7:11 pm

Ace Company must have a optimistic view of the economy to intend on filling the seats of the King’s for 200 shows in a year. I wish them all the luck. They must be planning on making quite a return on all the money they will be spending in the next three years. I only hope in years down the road their company doesn’t go into receivership and once again NY gets the King’s for back taxes! If they are successful beyond their dreams, I have another palace right here in Chicago for them to get involved in, our own beautiful Rapp & Rapp Uptown Theatre. We need their help!!!!!!!!

WilliamMcQuade
WilliamMcQuade on April 1, 2011 at 6:32 pm

I was in the Kings right before it closed. The lobby is as big and imposing as a train staion. The auditorium was never twinned as there was basically no balcony, The company that took over after Loew’s had the misfortune of having that dog The Exorcist Part 2 as its first booking. I believe it closed shortly thereafter. The Wonder of the Wonder theaters is that they are all still standing Having seen pictures of the way it looks now it has experienced severe water damage. I look forward to seeing it resurrected. There was a basketball court underneath the orchestra seats. I wonder what has come of this.

ZiegfeldMan
ZiegfeldMan on April 1, 2011 at 4:59 pm

The pictures of the Kings interior, however disheartening, are certainly not as bad as the New Amsterdam looked before its glorious resurrection. In fact, I’m I’m surprised the interior looks as good as it does. When done, the Kings is going to be AMAZING. The Ziegfeld is NY’s last single screen movie palace, and I love the place, but the Kings will be something else, again.

Something worth waiting for,

Best

Gary

WilliamMcQuade
WilliamMcQuade on April 1, 2011 at 4:50 pm

Not many icons left. The years from 55 thru 85 were brutal. Many of the best5 were lost . The worst tragedy was the loss of the San Francisco Fox.It was probably the most palatial palace ever built in the US.

Panzer65
Panzer65 on April 1, 2011 at 3:36 pm

I hope the restoration of this beautiful palace from the past will save more of this American Icons!!

Matt Lambros
Matt Lambros on April 1, 2011 at 3:19 pm

Here’s a blog post with some recent photographs of the interior of the Kings Theatre.

View link

markp
markp on March 29, 2011 at 8:45 am

LuisV, I couldnt agree with you more. Too many theatres were lost during the years 1960-1975 to senseless stupidity. Im glad the Kings is finally getting done, lets hope for the best for the rest. If you are ever in Jersey, see if you can get over to Elizabeth and check out the Ritz Theatre on Jersey St. Its one I was involved with helping to restore the projection room a few years back, till a car accident pulled me away for a while. When I returned all the people I knew were gone, and I havent been back in since. I know the owner spent a few years renovating it, and now its for sale for almost $4 million. I just wish all the great old theatres could have been saved insted of demolished as so many were.

Luis Vazquez
Luis Vazquez on March 29, 2011 at 8:05 am

Tlsloews, the renovation is well under way. It is a multiyear process, but rest assured, it is happening. it is very exciting. BobbyS, the RKO Keiths Flushing deal has been approved and the results for that theater are far worse, though I am somewhat conflicted. The Keiths had sustained major damage and there was no real plan in place to save it. Again, a real plan is one that pays for the complete restoration that is also able to support itself after the work is done. Alas, what was salvaged is that the lobby will apparently be saved and restored by the developer at a cost of $8MM and it will become the entrance to the condos to be built where the auditorium now stands. Though not happy with the outcome, I believe this is still better than the complete destruction of the theater. There are still other theaters that are in better condition and CAN be saved such as the Loew’s Canal in Manhattan, the RKO Keiths Richmond Hill, the Ridgewood, The Jackson, The Brooklyn Paramount, etc. New York has an embarassment of Theater Palace riches and though we should try to save them all, the reality is that they won’t be.

BobbyS
BobbyS on March 28, 2011 at 10:43 pm

I am under the impression Loews Corporation has nothing to do with movie theaters. They spun them off years ago along with the studios in Hollywood. Marcus Loew started it all. Will they call the King’s Loew’s Kings? I would think that would be a copyright issue. I read on the RKO Keiths in Flushing site that the Loew’s Kings re-hab has begun and all systems are a GO…….

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on March 28, 2011 at 2:38 pm

BobbyS, Yes Loews is still around,just not in the theatre business,they still have their hotels one of them being the Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel here in Nashville.Any new word on the rehab of the Loews Kings anyone?

BobbyS
BobbyS on February 3, 2011 at 2:56 pm

Thanks for the update on Loew’s Kings. Sounds so good. Do you think there is a chance Barbra Streisand would actually might do a concert there in 2014? Maybe the first show as a fund-raiser? Also is there a Loews company anymore? I know they were bought or merged with AMC theatres. I look so forward to attending a show at the Kings. I must go to something at the Loews Paradise. Do they still call it Loews Paradise or just Paradise?

Oceana
Oceana on February 3, 2011 at 1:57 pm

from today;s NY POST:

LONG LIVE KINGS OF FLATBUSH

Plans to turn Brooklyn’s biggest movie theater — the once-majestic Loews Kings in Flatbush — into “the next Apollo” should become reality by 2014, officials say.
Borough President Marty Markowitz is expected to announce during his State of the Borough address tonight that architects and contractors have finally begun site-preparation work on the city’s $70 million plan to restore the 82-year-old historic jewel to its former glory. The theater, which seats 3,195, closed its doors in 1978.
Construction is set to begin next year.
Markowitz â€" who has led a community effort to restore the theater â€" says in prepared remarks that when complete, the site will be “a state-of-the-art, 21st century performance venue” and “the pride of Flatbush and all of Brooklyn.”

Part of the Loews Kings' legacy is its A-list of former employees — among them Barbra Streisand and Sylvester Stallone, who worked as ushers.
It’s also where Markowitz attended high-school graduation and took his first date.
After decades of failed attempts to rejuvenate the site, the city last year tapped Houston-based ACE Theatrical Group to restore the historic theater to its original French-Renaissance-style, so that ACE could present up to 250 concerts, theatrical performances and community events annually.

Luis Vazquez
Luis Vazquez on February 3, 2011 at 1:41 pm

To all of the naysayers, the Brooklyn Borough President will announce tonight during his State of the Borough address that site prep work has begun and full restoration will begin next year with a 2014 opening of this $70MM project! YAY!!!!!!

News clip from Curbed.com below:

In the long life of Brooklyn’s neglected Loew’s Kings Theater, which shuttered in 1978, a year is practically nothing. So fans can start getting excited right about now for the theater’s restoration and reopening as a performance venue. The site prep work for the Flatbush project has begun, Brooklyn Borough Prez Marty Markowitz is expected to tell the world in tonight’s State of the Borough address, and construction on the $70M project should start next year, right on (the delayed version of the) schedule. The venue could ultimately host 250 events per year.

BobbyS
BobbyS on January 29, 2011 at 11:00 pm

That is correct. That is where I heard it. The console is beautiful and sounds fabulous. I am sure he would sell to the people who are refurbishing the Kings and perhaps a deal could be struck. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see the original wonder organ back in its home?
Lets hope they can come to terms…

TonyM10036
TonyM10036 on January 29, 2011 at 8:25 am

A note about the organ. The original organ, which was stored by the city when it was removed from the theater, was mostly lost and/or stolen. The only piece that remained was its console which is now owned by Paul and Linda Van Der Molen of Wheaton Illinois. It does control 26 ranks of pipes and is almost identical in specification to the original Kings instrument.