St. George Theatre
25 Hyatt Street,
Staten Island,
NY
10301
25 Hyatt Street,
Staten Island,
NY
10301
25 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 245 comments
I just came from the film fest. Of course they were DVD’s and the balcony was once again closed. I was not amused.
I’ve seen 2 concerts at this theater in the last couple years. The last one, featuring Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Bobby Rydell, was last October. This is a magnificent golden age theater, the archetecture is beautiful beyond belief. Sort of reminds me of the Loews Kings in Brooklyn, which I went to numerous times growing up in Brooklyn. I hear that they are trying to renovate that for live performances as well. About time, I’ve thought that they should have done that years ago.
I am surprised that this has not been noted on this page previously, but Mayor Bloomberg held his State of the City Speech at this theater earlier today. Though this had nothing cinematic about it – and the Mayor is hardly an idol of the silver screen – it is certainly worth noting.
I remember the St. George Theater during the 1950’s and early 1960’s.
I went to McKee High School right down the street on St. Marks Place, and would pass the St. George literally every day (at least those days when I’d actually show up for school).
In fact, as an aspiring singer (at the ripe old age of 14) I actually performed as part of a doo wop signing act in a rock ‘n roll stage show in October 1960.
The show included The Shirells, The Videos, Tony Orlando, The Marcels, Freddie Cannon, among others.
At just 14 years old, I nearly wet my pants standing out on that stage. But, I wouldn’t have missed that opportunity for the world.
What a HUGE place; almost 3,000 seats. Just looking up at that ceiling gave me a feeling of being so small in comparison.
But, when that blue-white spotlight hit me, and the whole audience disappeared into a black background, I was in another world; I’ll never forget that moment. It was a combination of total fear and total adulation … I LOVED IT!
I’m very happy to see that the St. George Theater has been restored. It’s a beautiful place with history absorbed into every fiber of its many surfaces.
I hope it lives for many, many decades to come.
Ken Jones
I second that.
DVDs so I am not interested.
Theatre of Terror at the St. George Theatre on Saturday 30th October 2010.
Tour the Haunted Theatre at 2.30pm
“Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” at 4.00pm
Tour the Haunted Theatre at 7.30pm
Bela Lugosi in “Dracula” at 9.00pm
Tickets $18 each performance
Further details on the St. George Theatre official website above.
In fairness to the wonderful peole running the theatre now the decision to use DVD comes from the Festival organizers. In most of those types of festivals etc, DVD and Digital is the popular choice.
I believe there was some 35mm used at Tribecka and Sundance but most of the movies were not shown on film.
As to the booth at the St. George I wonder what has been going on up there. I left when the new owners took over and the booth was in faily good working condition, only some work on the #2 projector gear train needed work. Anyone know if the equipment is still intact?
Well there was a movie event here tonight and I’m sorry to say I am still disappointed. Of course it was still worth the trip just to be in the magnificently restored theatre. But the balcony was closed for a private party , and the films were once again DVD presebtations. I thought a projection system was being installed. Maybe next time….
I am disappointed that there still has not been a movie event at the theatre.
My thoughts and prayers to the family of Mrs. Rosemary
I had the pleasure of meeting her when she first took over the St George; I had been working on projection and stage portion of the restoration with the previous owners. I was struck by her warm personality and absolute love of the dance. She was excited about the possibilities the theatre had to offer, and I new immediately she was going to do right by the theatre and would be successful in resorting it and not fail as others had. All who knew of her commitment to save the St George would agree that it could never have been done without her total dedication and love for this wonderful old theatre. She fought and won so many battles in getting the theater restored. Her patience was tested many times but she fought all the pitfalls that were thrown at her and persevered to restore this great theatre.
Staten Islanders and movie palaces lovers from all over should rejoice in her life and the wonderful job she and her daughters did to save the St George.
Rest in peace Mrs. Rosemary
“Mrs. Rosemary” Cappozalo passed away this past Sunday, June 28. She was 69. Here’s more:
View link
Many HS graduations were held at the St. George as well
Pretty common in the 40s and 50s, also at the Paramount and Ritz
I graduated from Richmond College (CUNY) in June of 1976. The college (now relocated and renamed “The College of Staten Island”) was around the corner in rented space in an office building on Stuyvesant Place. It had no auditorium, so it rented out the old St. George Theater for that purpose.
I am a bit confused by the post by StGeorge.
He mentioned the electrical in the booth had been compromised by the previous owner and is nor longer working. I was there during the first attempt at renovation prior to Ms Rosemary coming in, and at that time I ran film on the two Century projectors, I found the
1 machine to run perfectly. However the #2 machine needed work on the intermittent movement and also had a sloppy main drive gear assembly which concerned me. I could not access the Xenon lamp house because it was locked and the keys were no where to be found, the plan was to have a locksmith come in and replace the keys. Both lamps fired up powered by the rectifiers in the room next to the booth and worked perfectly. The Altec single channel sound system, although rather old, also worked well. It is a mono system which would serve perfectly for the showing of classic movies which as we know were all optical/mono prints. There was an Altec A4 speaker system on stage and it also worked just fine, the last time I saw that was when I covered it in a blanket and stored it away stage right next to the rigging. We also had a full size screen which was in the fly space. I lowered on a couple of occasions and found it in decent shape. The screen could be lowered/raised by the second set of ropes on the rigging. The first was labeled â€Rag†which was the stage curtain and the second was labeled “sheet†for movie screen. The lenses in the projectors were for flat 1:85 projection only, the anamorphics were missing.
The gal I was working with on the restoration turned out to be a phony and suddenly disappeared without notice. Shortly after that, the marvelous Ms Rosemary and her family came along and saved the theatre with a magnificent restoration.
My question is who was the “previous owner†who dismantled the electrical system? It was fine when Ms Rosemary took over and I would not imagine she would have bothered with the booth at all. I say that because I spoke to her a few days after she too the place over and offered my services to finish bringing the booth up to snuff. However when asked if she intended showing movies her response was “not really†I then told her should she ever decide to change her mind about movies I would be available to help. I understand Ms Rosemary’s position, she wanted the theatre for live shows and that turned out quite well. We can never thank her enough for all she has done to save the theatre.
So bottom line is when Ms Rosemary took over, the booth was in reasonable shape with only a handful of things that need attention in order to show movies, all of which would not have been a major expense. Certainly the #2 projector would need rebuilding.
I would love to hear more about how the situation deteriated as much as has been written in the previous post. I put a lot of time and my own money to fix the booth and up to know thought it was as I left it.
Down the road, if the theatre does begin showing movies again, a new modern sound system should be purchased as well as the two projectors as well, no platter please. Possibly a pair of rebuilt 35/70mm projectors, a Dolby processor and six channel sound system. But for classic film showings the current mono system would suffice for now, assuming of course the screen and speaker have not been removed.
Unfortunately, there currently is no electrical power going to the projection room. A previous owner ripped out all circuits to the room in preparation of running a new service up there: it was never completed. In order to show films again, the two circa 1970 projectors would need a complete overhaul, the electric would need to be completed, additional modern equipment would have to be purchased and a new, full size screen would need to be insatalled. Also, the decission would need to be made regarding digital equipment and/or 70mm. All told, about $50-$100,000.00. Anyone out there feeling generous??? Without it, the best you could possibly
hope for would be a movie night featuring a small screen and a rear projection DVD, sorry. The project is on the wish list for the St. George but, not near the top at this time.
Still waiting for a movie night…….
Yes, Doreen had told me about the funding for the marquee, air conditioning and rigging.
Thanks Jean. The Mickey Mouse and Popeye ads have survived but, unfortunately, all of the other items that you mentioned seem to have been “lost”.
By the way, funding has been approved for a new marquee but it will take some time for it to be designed and installed; hopefully within the next year.
When I volunteered several years ago at the theatre ( then run by a person who didn’t know much ado about nothing ), in the glass transoms, were original ads including Mickey Mouse and Popeye ads. You can inquire with Doreen or Mrs. Rosemary about their current whereabouts. Uncovered in the walls of one room were wallets, usher’s uniforms, bits and pieces of ironwork frm the theatre, and a Snow White cardboard ad, etc. There still exists a children’s section sign as well.
I am currently working on compiling an extensive history of the St. George Theatre. With the exception of old S.I. Advance stories, there is virtually nothing available. I am looking for the history of the building, its' operators and the origin of the paintings within. I also would appreciate any old photogrphs (primarily interior shots) that I can safely scan and return. Any interesting stories and/or information regarding the Proctor & Gamble shows of the 30’s and 40’s would also be of assistance. Please reply here if you can help. Thanks!
That marquee is one of the worst I’ve ever seen! :–) The steel grates don’t give off an inviting vibe either.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the work done so far on the inside of the theater is incredible, but the theater must be inviting from the outside as well and, hopefully, as financing permits, they will be able to restore or replace the marquee with something more fitting with the stature of Staten Island’s lone remaining “Palace”.
Part of The original marquee is still under all that new covering.
It’s too bad they took they easy (cheap) way out when they covered it up instaed of restoring it.
This was not done by Rosemary’s family, it was done by a previous owner, it just looks sad. I’ll bet Rosemary, had she been a part of the thatre then, would have tried to return the marquee to it’s past glory.
Whew!
Well thank you Warren..