Kings Theatre
1027 Flatbush Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11226
1027 Flatbush Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11226
86 people
favorited this theater
Showing 426 - 450 of 1,564 comments
Greetings to all:
I recognize many of the posters here from the Ziegfeld site, and thank you all for your enthusiastic comments. I had the great fortune of touring the Kings in the late 1980’s with a local Brooklyn historical group. Even in it’s then current state, I felt the potential of what this theatre could be.
Shortly afterward, when Disney took an interest in the New Amsterdam, which was in far worse shape, I developed hope, and closely followed it’s restoration over three to four years. I was there for its opening production of “King David,” which preceded the opening of “The Lion King” in 1997. As we all know, this led to the complete redevelopment of 42nd Street.
I revisited the New Amsterdam for “Mary Poppins” again just to be in that marvelous interior.
This is an exciting time.
May we all live and be well as we look forward to the resurrection of the Kings.
Thank you,
Gary
Thanks Howard for your thoughtful comments. As I stated earlier, I am reserving my final judgement until I see the finished product, but I do believe that it might be New York’s most spectacular theater once it is fully restored; especially if they are able to restore the Blade outside.
Despite its tremendous loss of spectacular theaters (The Roxy, the Center, The Capitol, Loews East 72nd, to name but a select few) New York retains, in my opinion, the worlds greatest collection of Single Screen movie theaters in the world: The New Amsterdam, The Hollywood, Radio City, All Five Loew’s Wonder Theaters, The Apollo, The Beacon, The St. George, Loew’s Canal, Loew’s Metropolitan, The Elmwood, The Jackson, Brooklyn Paramount, The Ziegfeld, The Paris, The Ridgewood, Loew’s Shore, RKO Keiths Richmond Hill, RKO Keiths Flushing, The Jackson, The Staten Island Paramount, The Stanley (Yes it’s Jersey City but I still count it), The Empire, and I know that I probably missed several more.
The restoration of The Kings will be an incredible addition to the stature of New York’s remaining palaces. Sadly, most other cities have struggled to retain one of two of their original palaces. It looks like the effort to save those are are still remaining in New York is starting to pick up steam with the landmarking of The Ridgewood and plans underway to landmark the Jackson, Loews Shore and Loews Canal in the coming months. I’m confident that the Brooklyn Paramount will also be restored now that LIU no longer needs the space for its athletic facilty. It’s an exciting time!
Is there any word about replacing or restoring the Wonder Organ if the original can be found?
I agree with Brucec that the Loews Kings would be the most spectacular in NYC, in terms of former movie palaces. I haven’t been inside but have seen photos & reviewed Top 10 movie palaces in US lists made long ago by Theatre Historical Society of America founders.
New Amsterdam is an Art Nouveau masterpiece.
Radio City Music Hall is neat, and one of the world’s most famous movie palaces.
Loews 175th is very interesting.
The Hollywood (now a church) is equisite though not as huge as the Loews Kings.
That said, remembering that the style of Loews Kings is a far older style than Art Deco or exotic/atmospheric, the Loews Kings may be one the 2 best of its particular neo-classical styles among movie palaces in the US. (I’m using neoclassical in a broad way, more like ornate opera houses in Europe, with the gilt and marble). The other would be the Uptown in Chicago. Of course, there’s many other wonderful examples such as the Hollywood, and so forth, but in terms of grandeur, the Loews Kings is one of the nation’s greatest.
But will it show movies and live Broadway musicals ??? And Mitzi Gaynor in concert ??? AND BARBRA !!!
Will love to see it when it is done,supposed to be ready in 2014.
Great post Brucec! I was on the tours of the theater in 2007 and again in 2008 as the city opened the theater to potential investors. I agree, that even in its faded state, the Kings simply took my breath away. I will reserve judgement as to whether it will be the most “spectacular” of New York’s renovated theaters. there is some excellent competition (I am happy to say) The New Amsterdam and Radio City Music Hall are without equal though very different in stule from one another. I have not yet seen the Loews 175th Street, but from the pictures that I’ve seen it too would be in the running. I can’t wait to see the end result, and who knows, we may indeed see that the most spectacular movie palace in New York is actually in Brooklyn!
Loew’s did a very good job of documenting its theatres. Once restored the Kings will be the most spectacular theatre in New York City. It was home to M_G_M movies for most of its life, the greatest film studio during Hollywood’s Golden Age. When I visited the Kings on a tour in 2002 it was one of the most beautiful theatres I had ever seen even in its faded state. I grew up seeing movies in the 3500 seat Paramount and the 3300 seat Fox back in Oakland, California.The Paramount was restored back in the early 1970’s but I had to wait another 30 years before the Fox was restored last year. Sometimes we have to wait 30 years but the Kings will be worth the wait. These great movie palaces helped the greatest generation get through World War 11. The restoration of the Kings will be another step in the comeback of Brooklyn.
Technically, the “renovation” is already underway. The team is poring over old photos, plans, etc. to determine how the theater looked when it opened and determining the best ways to restore the damage that has been done. The physical work will probably not start for a while. That said, It IS happening and it is incredibly exciting.
Did you know that the stage lifts at the Loew’s Kings (built in 1929) were copied by the Radio City Music Hall. During World War II Secret Service Agents were stationed backstage and at the base of the stage steps. They were trying to protect the technology first used at the Kings. Why? Think
about an aircraft carrier and how the planes are hoisted from below deck. This technology came
from the stage lifts at the Kings!
I think it is to reopen in 2014 if no one screws up.I hope so.
Cool photos jwballer. Check out the LOEWS JERSEY site it has almost the same number of comments as this theatre at this date.
33 years closed and comming back to life,thats good news.
Thank you so much for this update Bruce1! This is incredibly exciting news. Please keep us posted on any additional info you come across.
I was inside the theater earlier today and can report that there was no further damage. The new owners share our love for these old palaces and fully intend on a faithful restoration. Entrances
and exits have been fortified and they are in the historical research stage.
After 23 years of effort the Save The Kings can say ‘Mission Accomplished.’
Any new wordon the restoration of the LOEWS KINGS?
Thanks for the info on Loews Shore/Coney Island CWalczak.
With all due respect to Tinseltoes, there is no comparison between a high school auditorium and a full fledged movie palace designed by Rapp & Rapp; one of the country’s premier theater architects! This is also not an either/or situation. Brooklyn Tech is one of the city’s premier public high schools, but it is a PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL, not a theater. While the photo linked makes the space look handsome, the Kings French Renaissance design is truly spectacular. Great architecture needs to be saved for future generations to enjoy and marvel at. Are you OK losing the original Penn Station, because we had a lovely Grand Central? Should we have torn down Saarinen’s TWA Terminal at JFK simply because it had outlived it’s original intended purpose? Of course not! Here we have the opportunity to save this incredible structure and have it be productive at the same time. Kudos to the NYEDC to make this happen. It took a long time, but everyone will agree that it will have been worth it when it is all done!
None of the old movie palaces can survive on movies alone. That is why none of them still operate as such. They require grants, tax breaks, community support, fundraisers, and the ability to serve multiple purposes and constituencies.
That said, it was amazing to find out that a high school has an auditorium of that size. I would love to see more photos of it and see more of the detail. I wonder if it is the largest high school auditorium in the country.
It is here: /theaters/595/
Cannot find the listing for Loews Shore/coney island.
Bernie,
Glad you got in touch.
Bruce1
I’m looking to contact Bruce Friedman of the Save The Loews Group to ask about the Theatre Pipe Organ installed at the Loews Kings. If anyone has that info, please contact me at the email address under my profile.
Thanks
Bernie Anderson
Great point Luis. When the historical preservation history of this era is written, this may very well be seen as the time when the usually staid landmarks crowd suddenly became interested in the preservation of these less than high brow old movie palaces. (Certainly, it would be difficult to take seriously the landmarking of a place like the Ridgewood only a decade ago!)
This new development may very well represent a more populist extension of the actions taken in the 1970’s and 80’s to preserve the aging but beautiful Broadway theaters including, in their case, their wonderful interiors.
Only time will tell whether this is a blip or a trend. But one can really hope, with more than a little justification, that the latter is the case.
Now, the Loews Shore Theatre is up for Landmarking at Coney Island! It’s amazing that in these tough economic times, we see the stirrings to truly save theaters like the Loews Kings, Loews Shore, Loews Canal, The Ridgewood, the Staten Island Paramount, and hopefully the RKO Keiths Flushing and Brooklyn Paramount.
Still slumbering, but probably the best preserved of them all is the RKO Keiths Richmond Hill.
This is good news I hope that it all works out.Hope to see it after everything is done lets hopr that it doesnt take a long time.