Pequa Theatre
4450 Sunrise Highway,
Massapequa,
NY
11758
4450 Sunrise Highway,
Massapequa,
NY
11758
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 44 of 44 comments
The only one left is the Mid Island
Geez…are ANY of those theatres in that “Sound of Music” ad still around?
The Pequa ran “The Sound of Music” for the entire summer after it ended it’s run at the Rivoli (1967?).
1973
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I vividly recall seeing Return of the Jedi here back in 1983. The line stretched around the theater and down the block, down Sunrise Highway and up Lincoln Avenue. It drizzled on and off that day, the first time I could ever remember waiting in line to see anything. The theatre was so packed I had to sit in the aisle to see. I remember wondering what the heck a “Lexus” was once the theatre shut down and turned into a car dealership…
I was employed at the theater when it closed. UA owned it in the end (they also owned the Sunrise Mall 8). The last movie we showed was RAINMAN in 1988 and I gave the last two customers the one-sheet. I always loved that theater (still in the business). UA dumped it because single screen houses were not profitable enough, and because UA (in my opinion) was garbage. I had written (and spelled incorrectly) a farewell message on the peg board in the box office that night. It was printed in the Pequa Observer that week (local paper) – “Goodbye Farewell Amen” (stole that from MASH finale).
A difference of 250 seems to be a lot. When the
rocking chairs were added the seat count must have
come down some
The last few rows in the center were removed for the Sensuround with the movie midway the count may have been durring the removal. I do not remember if they were replaced or not. It was just to long ago.
The seat count listed is innacurate.
It was more like 599-600
I remember the special lodge seating section in the rear of the theatre that was marked off with railings. Great rocking chair seats. I think “Rainman” was the Pequa’s last movie.
Any one remember the Midnight Shows “Pink Flamingos” in particular? I was the Manager of Pequa at that time. On one particular Midnight show (I think it was a Friday) the police showed up went through the theater looking for under age customers. They confiscated the film. I had to go befor a grand jury in mineola. The whole thing was dismissed but a wierd deal to say the least. Does anyone remember the circular staircase to the projection booth?
On the night of November 27th, 1985 the Pequa theatre is swarmed for the opening of Rocky IV. Another cinemateasures poster, BobT attempts to open the doors to let the crowd in, but the hype is too much and the wait too long to endure for even a second more. Upon seeing this opening there is a mad rush forward. The wood door frame bends in an arc around poor BobT who only wished to make it easy for them to enter.
A group of young adults are horsing around outside, hoping to get a seat for the next show. Apparently ,one of them gets pushed and is sent through the plate glass wall of the theatre. Incredibly, he is unharmed by his encounter with the massive shards of glass and when EMS arrives he can’t be found, he had fled into the darkened auditorium because didn’t want to miss the movie.
The police commander arrives and says we have cars all over the place, traffic is blocked and we have created a mob scene. If we don’t do something about it he might have to close us down. If we wanted to,
we could have ran the last (midnight) show, but I decided that closing
down was really a great idea, so I say close us down. The police then dispersed everyone outside.
In Rocky IV, the heathen atheist Commies make Rocky fight on Christmas day for free, in Moscow, to avenge the death of Apollo Creed who died from punches measured at 2,000 lbs because Americans might not
know what a kg is. The American boy trains in nature by dragging rocks and running around in snow while Ivan gets all the high tech cheating. The Soviet people are then all converted from a life of evil robothood by the example of the Italian American Rocky rising from Russian Ivan’s slogging. The audience goes insane and they all throw their popcorn in the air at the same time when Rocky is finally winning. He beats down the Russian goliath and ends the cold war. Audience cheers like mad.
The Jerry Lewis Twin (I saw Annie Hall there) was (I believe) a liquor store after the theatre closed. The Massapequa Drive-in was a tad west of there. In 1964, the drive-in’s wooden marquee on Sunrise Highway burned. A new modern green and white marquee with flashing balloons atop was built and debuted with the double feature “A HARD DAY’S NIGHT” and “SIX BLACK HORSES”.
Don Rosen: The Pequa was always a nice theater up until it closed. Never could understand why they closed it.
As for the Massapequa Drive In, where it was they did build a Jerry Lewis Twin. Do you remember that one? It was all the way in the back. I think the building is still there but I don’t know what it is now. That was the first theater that didn’t have a curtain and I hated it.
I spent 24 years living not far from the Pequa. It showed a Russ Meyer film, “Cherry, Harry & Raquel”, in 1969, and the X rated Frankenstein, but never porn. It had a special section for comfy seating, at an extra charge. I saw tons of films there from the early 60s. It’s now a Lexus dealership. It’s the original building.
The Massapequa Drive-In was a few miles east on Sunrise Highway. There is a Sears on that site. The Massapequa Drive-In was next to my high school, Berner HS. I use cross through the drive-in to get to school, until the manager chased us with a bat. The Massapequa Zoo & Kiddie Park was next to the drive-in in the 60s. The monkey mountain was next to the ticket booth. They shot off fireworks near the 4th of July.
Nice theater. Saw “Full Metal Jacket” here in 1988 and the theater was packed. I was surprised to see it closed. When I was younger I saw “True Grit” here.
i wonder if this is where the massapequa drive in was…my father Jim told me tonight that that was the theater where he had his worst chinese eggroll of all time.
of course just why they sold egg rolls at a drive in theater is anyone’s guess…
always liked this theater only saw 2 movies there but the theater HAD a good vibe now a SATURN DEALERSHIP
The Pequa opened in 1964 by Prudential Theatres and operated for about 24 years. The theatre building and entrance canopy dropoff area are still evident and the raised eastern portion backwall for the big screen. In 1977, the opening of the nearby Sunrise Mall hurt this and the Amityville Theatre.
I just found an ad for Star Wars playing here in 70mm.