Loew's Paradise Theatre
2413 Grand Concourse,
Bronx,
NY
10468
2413 Grand Concourse,
Bronx,
NY
10468
63 people
favorited this theater
Showing 401 - 425 of 671 comments
Hey Warren,
The pictures look much better. I don’t mind you posting them at all.
Reigis and Kelly the morning show on ABC talked about both Radio City Music Hall and the Loew'Paradise. Regis talked about article in the New York Post which showed a restored picture of the Paradise. Regis talked about how wonderful it was to go to movies in these magnificient movie palaces. Reigis talked about going to Radio City as a child and seeing the Rockettes with his parents. Kelly also talked about seeing Disney’s Petes Dragon and stage show at the Mucic Hall. They also showed the new costumes for the Rockettes in the upcomming Christmas Show.brucec
Thank you for the photo links, Warren! If you look on page 21 of the Oct 17th NY Post, you will see an article entitled “Paradise Regained,” with a GRAND photo of the restored interior of Bronx’s Loew’s Paradise Theatre. http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/55515.htm Hot off the press & a theatergoer’s/history enthusiast’s splendor!!!! Loew’s Paradise has already been restored, & a victory is achieved!!!
Carpooling & attending the October 29th gala is a superb idea, but I wouldn’t be able to. I’m sure it will attract a decent crowd. I have no official memories of Loew’s Paradise, but my father always speaks highly of it, & from photos, it’s a delightful PARADISE!!!
Hello fellow movietheatre buffs.My name is Peter and I live in Rockalnd County NY.
I was wondering if anyone is intrested in going to the Grand Reopening of the
Paradise as a group.We could meet and carpool or meet and take public transportation,NYC
to the Bronx or from Westchester(Yonkers)
Fantastic News Everyone!
The Gala opening of the Loews Paradise is set for October 29th Featuring singing sensation Giberto Santa Rosa.
I will be there naturally!
Valet parking is available for $10.00 and tickets which can be purchased at the new theatre box office on Grand Concourse (a recent installment which is absolutely lovely) or ticketmaster. Tickets for the event will run from $40.00 to $75.00. It should be wonderful.
I hope to see everyone there!
In 1970 I worked at Mosholu Yard.In front of the maintance shop on the side of track 1 there was a fish pond full of large gold fish. I was told by the man that maintained the pond that they supplied the fish for the pond inthe Paradise Theater.
I’ve added a few additional photos up on webshots including one of the remaining portion of the fountain/fish pond.
View link
Hi Divinity, I’m pretty sure I didn’t meet you at the reception, although I did see the parrot. I didn’t know anyone there and pretty much kept to myself. I did speak to one man who had grown up seeing movies at the theatre, and he pointed out some of the changes made to it over the years. For example, he said that the auditorium ceiling was originally a lighter shade of blue than the sort of midnight blue it is now.
Hello All,
The reception on Saturday was absolutely divine. My parents and I arrived late and forgot our tickets but got free admission since my friends were at the door. I stood in the false balconies to the left of the proscenium arch and recited my favorite lines from Sunset Blvd. I wandered the halls in a trance and distanced myself from the people I knew in the crowds so that I could have a private moment with my beloved theatre. There were many good friends and neighbors in the crowd. I was the one wearing a grey jacket with text and an enlarged section of a paisley print on the right breast with the black sunglasses. Since you were there, Did we meet Chris? Rabbit? The emergency door was open so I had a chance to wander on the roof deck where the playground was, and admire the view. The fishpool will not be returning, however the statuary is still there thank goodness. There were indeed fish in the early days. There were even live canaries in the balcony opening night in 1929 as well as stuffed pigeons that were painted white suspended from the ceiling in mid flight. For the reception on saturday, an artist friend of mine brought her parrot into the theatre. After that I went to the “Paradise After Party” at Michael’s house. Since I got in late and woke up early on sunday for NYC Culture Fest where I volunteered as a representative of the New york Botanical Garden and mingled for five hours. So many cultural institutions and such little time! After that I went dancing until the wee hours of the morning. I had to reserve monday for rest, relaxation and pampering, which is why I posted so late.
However there is a fabulous exhibition on photographs of the magnificent Greta Garbo at Scandinavia House that I simply must see before it closes in November.
The date when “Refreshments” were introduced was around 1930 for most theatres as the Great Depression began and the quest for money became desperate. Gone were the glamorous days of newness and grandeur as the building boom of the palaces came to an end. Every theatre noticed patrons bringing in bags of sweets or popcorn from the nearby shops —sometimes right next door, since the merchants were not fools and saw the demand for such “refreshments” that every audience member wanted after sitting for around 2 hours at a time. The theatres thought ‘why let others get the profits; we can do it ourselves and keep the profits’ and so many noble interiors became besmirched by the often tawdry food stands. Candy led to popcorn and then to today’s mini-restaurants. The palaces became a lot less palatial as odors of hot food permeated the air, and sticky stuff ruined the carpets and glued one’s shoe to the floor. This food attracted rats and vermin, and it was a whole new world for the theatres which developed into the eateries of today’s cinemas. I know they are desperate to make a profit against the stranglehold of the film makers/distributors, but where does it end?
Loews, at the end, had their concession stand in the middle of the room too. I don’t think theatres built in those days had concession stands at all. I wonder when people started eating popcorn at the movies?
It’s interesting to compare those old photos of the inner lobby with what I saw there the other day. The white marble portion of that fountain is still there, but I don’t think the lower carrara marble part is. I actually took a picture of it, but it failed to load onto webshots properly after two attempts along with a couple others. If they install carpetting, drapes and furniture the lobby today would look very much the same as the photos. One big change is that they’ve installed a modern style bar in the center of the room.
When the Loews Theatres were sold off by the Loews Corp., and they were moving the home office from 666 Fifth Ave. over to Secaucus NJ, all the stuff they had in the way of old blueprints, photos and other miscellaneous items from the construction department was given to the THSA – even stuff for theatres they still owned and operated. About 5 years ago I was looking for blueprints for the Tower East in order to remedy some systems problem there, and a member of the THSA (who also posts on this site) came through with xeroxes from the THSA archives.
Those photos were taken for the architect near opening day and are duplicated in the ANNUAL of 1975 of the Theatre Historical Society titled “Loew’s PARADISE in the Bronx” by the late Michael Miller. On page 8 he writes: “In the center of the lobby’s north wall, beneath a statue of Winged Victory, a great fountain of Carrara marble bubbled water about a carved figure of a child on a dolphin.” Nowhere does the ANNUAL mention any fish in the fountain, and the photos make it appear that it was largely filled with artificail foliage. I sometimes wonder about the liveableness of fish in such fountains, and therefore how many of a finned friends gave their lives to be living ornaments, replaced like so many clay pigeons would be when used up in a shooting match. Portions of the blueprints appear in the booklet, so possibly the Society retains them and anyone wondering could look at the prints there to see if they designate on them: ‘fish fountain.’
In case anyone cares, here’s some interesting trivia: the Paradise Theater was used by Fine Recording as the test venue for their Perspecta Stereophonic sound process. Developed for MGM in 1954, this short-lived 3-speaker sound system was eventually installed in every Loew’s theater. It was pretty much abandoned in 1957.
You could probably get an answer as to the location of the fish pond by posting a message in backinthebronx.com message board. I think the fish pond was in the lobby possibly. Good source for other Bronx theater related questions.
Now that’s what I’m talkin' ‘bout!!! Finally some current px.
I’ve put some pictures up on webshots if people want to take a look. Unfortunately my camera doesn’t do well in low light conditions so the quality isn’t the best. It seemed like there was a lot of finishing touches to be done, but the majority of work appeared complete. It would have been nice if there was a tour to discuss the restoration and the future of the theatre, but it was still worth the $15 to get inside. I understand there was a fish pond somewhere in the lobby. Where exactly was that located? Also, I noticed near the bathroom entrances tiled sections on the floor that looked appropriate for fountains or something similar. Any idea what, if anything, was there in the past?
View link
Most of the ornaments (statues etc.) are in great shape. The blue sky on the ceiling looked like it needed some repair, as some very small parts seemed ripped. The ceiling above the stage needed some patch work. The lobby is excellent and the bathroom is beautiful with black marble counters. The seats looked great and were quite comfortable. The seats in the balcony still had plastic covering them, so I assume that they are the newest. All of the paintings looked great. The whole experience was almost surreal, as the theatre was dimly lit. It almost had the feeling of being in an amusement park attraction; I was a bit surprised that there was no organized tour per se, but rather you could wander wherever you wanted to, which was cool.
Went to the Paradise this evening for the tour. Not a tour in the traditional sense. Once you entered, you pretty much had free reign of the theatre. There was a bar set up in the lobby serving drinks and light refreshments. The restoration is magnificent, though there is obviously a bit more work to be done. According to a person I spoke with from the Bronx Museum, the expected opening date is in a month.
Hi Warren, the size reference is in commas, meaning it could be a parenthetical comment, allowing it to be in present tense while the rest of the sentence is past tense. I recall seeing on some website about the Bronx that the Paradise was the 2nd largest theatre in NYC. That’s probably where the comment above came from.
Hi Divinity, I can’t make it for this event. I would knock my front teeth out with a hammer if it meant I could make it. I’ll just have to come and drool when I’m able to.
One would assume “Mythical symbol” because it was like walking into a fantasy or, dare I say, Paradise.
“In the five boroughs, the Roxy, RCMH, Capitol, Brooklyn Fox, and Brooklyn Paramount were all larger than the Paradise, and that’s just from memory. There might have been others. I’ll have to check the list compiled by Theatre Historical Society of America if I can find it.”
“WERE” Thats the word! They WERE!
Hello Ziggy,
Will you be coming down?
Well, maybe they meant the largest intact NYC theatre? There’s nothing wrong with nitpicking, people come here to learn more about a given building. Accuracy is a good thing.
Thanks, Warren, for your usual nit-picking. I think they’re saying that it’s currently the 2nd largest theatre in the 5 boroughs. A statement which you will be commenting on soon, no doubt.
Warren,
Perhaps you should attend the closing reception after the walking tours in the Paradise to see the work yourself:
Saturday, September 24
1:00 â€" 2:30 & 3:30 â€" 5:00 pm
GRAND CONCOURSE WALKING TOURS
Starting at the Bronx Museum
Led by Evelyn Gonzalez and Sam Goodman, the tours will emphasize the avenue’s social as well as architectural history. The tour includes conversations with Concourse residents.
Limited space, please RSVP: 718-681-6000, ext. 120.
5:00 â€" 7:00 pm
CLOSING RECEPTION
Loew’s Paradise Theater
2417 Grand Concourse bet. 187th St. and 188th St.
This 4000-seat movie palace, only smaller in size to Radio City Music Hall, became a mythical symbol of an era to Bronx residents. Divided up and then closed, the theater is scheduled to re-open in fall 2005. Enjoy light refreshments while previewing its newly restored splendor.
Co-sponsored by Historic Districts Council.
Admission: $15 at the door. Free for attendees of public forums. (Pick up your closing-reception pass at any of the forum events.)
This link will again provide all of the information:
http://www.bronxmuseum.org/gc.htm
It shall be a fantastic event. I hope everyone can make it!