Bay Shore Theatre
200 W. Main Street,
Bay Shore,
NY
11706
200 W. Main Street,
Bay Shore,
NY
11706
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 67 comments
The Bayshore was 70mm capable with two Norlco 35/70 projectors in the booth.
I’ll second that. In fact, Jeff, now that the new photo submission system is working, it would be great if you’d upload a couple of your photos to the site.
Yes, I did get some photos from Jeff Morrell, kudos to him, and many thanks as well. Jeff, if you’re keeping up with this, I’ll take any more you might want to share.
The Bay Shore was a lovely theater, I went there many times growing up, and even though it was past its prime then, there were no other theaters close by that compared; most were boxes thrown up to keep pace with the baby boomers.
Some of the auditorium seats had little tabletops between them. There was gold leaf on all the woodwork. The ladies room had three separate areas, one with a huge velvet settee, one with mirrors and vanity tops for touching up hair and makeup, and of course the toilet area. It was easy to imagine movie stars like Jean Harlow slinking around in 1930s evening gowns, dangling cigarette holders.
Wow. Gorgeous interior! I was mistaken when I though this was a theater I had attended in the mid 1980’s to see “Return of the Living Dead.” The theater where I saw that flick was nowhere near as ornate as this one.
Apparently Jeana found some photos, because there’s one of the lobby, one of the screen and one of the building after it was closed all beginning on page 10 of her album. Link is in her 5/29/08 post. Here’s the link for the lobby photo:
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2846794510067676325xfgTOy
I gather that posting is a no no because of space constraints. The preferred method is to load them onto your Flikr, or whatever account, and link them.
Continuing; The 1929 Film Daily Yearbook listed the Bay Shore seating at 2500! Both figures were probably inflated. The Regent became the Bolton Center. Others have posted details of that. To answer Jeana’s question I have scanned some of the Bay Shore pics into my computer. Most of what you will see in the article are the B & W versions. Are we able to post pictures on the website yet? Bye for now. Jeff
If anyone cares to read the article I had written that appeared in the June 1983 issue of The Console email me at and I will send a PDF copy to you. In so far as the confusion between Bay Shore and Bayshore I used the latter throughout my article and The Console copied it verbatim. Oh well..If you read my post from 7/22/09 I cover the pipe organs that were in the Bay Shore & the Patchogue. It is accurate info. John McNamera was the architect and contractor George Clark built it. My 1932 Film Daily Yearbook lists the Bayshore as 2000 seats, Regent 770. & town pop Windsor Theater. Patchogue
seated 15000 & town pop was 6850.
Catching up to this rather late, but Jeff, did you ever scan your pictures of the Bay Shore Theatre? If so, they are probably the only ones. The Bay Shore Historical Society only has a postcard with two small lousy pictures, one inset in the other. Neither they nor I have ever been able to find any, and we’ve both been looking for years. Jeana
Back in late 1982 I believe, to the best of my knowledge, that I was the last person allowed into the Bay Shore Theatre with a camera. The theatre’s last manager, Mary Costello, still had the keys and allowed me to take pictures for a short period of time. I then had an article published in the Console Magazine in June 1983. Although some have said that the Bay Shore was a twin to the Patchogue Theatre it was more of a more ornate sister. Having opened sometime in 1927, 4 years after the Patchogue, the Bay Shore was much more ornate in style. Both possessed 2-8 Moller organs although the Bay Shore’s was voiced on 7" of wind rather than the 5" of Pathogue organ. In this writer’s opinion the Bay Shore was the most ornate house east of Queens, NY. I have quite a few good color pictures of it and, aside from layers of dirt that were too difficult to clean and some plaster damage, the house was in decent shape for its years. It closed in August 1982 showing a re-run of Starwars. Century was the last operator leasing from RKO who had plans to triplex the house but the town refused to allow it. It remained closed for approx. 10 years during which time the entire interior fell apart. I believe they were attempting to sell off whatever was salable prior to renovation into the YMCA. Last I knew the YMCA had an area where the box office and other artifacts were housed commemorating the old theatre. I will try and scan my pictures and make some available. JEFF MORRELL
Robert’s posting clarifies the matter once and for all. The marquee reads BAY SHORE. When one sees the theatre for the first time you are struck by the lobby protruding a significant distance from the auditorium which runs parallel to the street. I know of some circumstances where this was done deliberately for monetary considerations. The street frontage cost more. There was certainly room for a large retail space between the lobby and the next intersecion. But Bay Shore built east of Fifth Avenue and this was never realized.
One good thing about the “Y” taking over – gone was the horrible pink color.
The Bay Shore sure looked shabby by that point. it was originally supposedly a real showplace in it’s day.
A 1986 picture
View link
If anyone has pictures of the Bay Shore Cinema on Main Street (it is now a YMCA), please post here or email me at (take out the trash). I have a large collection of photos of Bay Shore and Brightwaters, but I have never been able to find any pics of this theater. My album is here:
http://news.webshots.com/album/309685971nJUqJc
I would appreciate any photos. Thank you.
I passed down Main Street in Bay Shore earlier today. This is definitely a theater where I caught at least one movie in 1985. It is on the southwest corner of West Main Street and South Clinton Avenue, directly across from St Patrick’s Church and Catholic School and now a YMCA. The former Regent (now Boulton Center), which had been a XXX porn theater back in the ‘80’s, is located further to the east mid-block and on the north side of West Main Street.
One thing that struck me is the size of this building. Much work has been done to the place and I had to stop and wonder for a bit if they didn’t tear the old place down and start from scratch. However, it seems that the main building is definitely the old theater structure, though I believe they may have added to that structure near the corner of the inetersection.
This is my guess on how they closed from that almi newspaper ad…..
Plaza
bayshore
farmingdale
brookhaven
amityville
This closed somewere between 83 to 85 …The last manager hear was Mary(cant remember her last name)she was here for years….
Did this theater survive into the RKO Century acquisition of ALMI? I’m still trying to ascertain if this theater was open in 1985. I’m pretty positive this is where I saw “Return of the Living Dead” – but as BobT noted, age is a bitch and the memory gets bitch-slapped around!
This was for sure an ALMI theater as i worked for them at the time and this was on the list a very short time………
This is not conclusive (a shot of the marquee would be best) but this 1980 ad clearly advertises the theater as the single word “Bayshore” – even though the town is most definitely named Bay Shore.
ALMI Theaters
Because the town in which it is located is Bay Shore!
Hopefully not the dumpster…..
Does anyone have any info on where they took the old box office when they gutted the theatre?
My earliest memory of this theater (early-60’s) is that you could park across the street when the parking lot was full. I saw “My Fair Lady” there, and it was really elegant. The lobby was mirrored, there were curtains and old-style glass doors. There was a chandelier above, and the seats were plush. The sound was good, and sometimes you enjoyed the sound in what may have been six-track stereo. I remember seeing really great films there like “You Only Live Twice,” “Patton,” “Planet of the Apes,” “The Odd Couple,” and many others. I recall “Patton” was in multi-track sound, and the planes seemed to fly past and above you, which was novel in those days. I also saw the “Battlestar Galactica” movie, but the Sensuround wasn’t that impressive. One of the last films I saw there was “Star Wars” in a re-release in 1979 or 1980. I still miss going to that theater. It should have been saved and renovated. Does anyone have a picture of it? Why didn’t I take one years ago??
JG… there is a seperate listing for the Regent Theater – which became the Hollyrock according to the Times article you linked.