Syosset Triplex
565 Jericho Turnpike,
Syosset,
NY
11791
565 Jericho Turnpike,
Syosset,
NY
11791
11 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 156 comments
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ARCHITECT-E.C.A. BULLOCK
The thing that most impressed me about the theatre was the way they emblazoned the name across the entire facade. The only two other theatre that utilized the facade, to a much letter degree, were the Sag Harbor, I believe there is an image at that site, and the Salisbury, which, unfortunately spent most of it’s career featuring porn.
The architect of the Syosset Theatre was E.C.A. Bullock, who also designed the Meadowbrook Theatre in East Meadow, NY., as well as the U.S. Theatre in Hoboken, New Jersey, and the Mars Theatre, Mars, Pennsylvania. Bullock was a nephew of George and Cornelius Rapp, and worked in their firm for many years following his graduation from the University of Illinois in 1910.
The Syosset Theatre was featured in a two-page spread in the January 5, 1957, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
I did not recall Carols last name but that sounds about right. She she was a part of the wonderful family of people I worked with.
Yup that’s Toms last name, I recall that now. He was very protective of the booth door to cinemas 1 and 2 on the lower level. Used to tell me “Vito when you go upstairs to Cinema 3 never leave that door unlocked”, he was one of the best.
Tom was also financial secretary on the union executive board.
I worked there for 4 years (HS/College) about 30 years ago and several co-workers are still among my closest friends. It’s a little like an old fraternity for us. We went through several managers, including Earl Logue, Lenny Kaplan, Big Ed Healey (Ed was probably an assistant) and Mary McCarthy.
Vito asked about someone named Carol that worked with Mary in 1984. Could it have been Carol Schier? Also Tom’s (the operator’s) last name was, IIRC, Cuccaro. He had a daughter who worked there as a candy girl for a while.
I worked there when Schindler’s list was playing. What a nightmare. It was one of like 4 theaters on Long Island showing it, so it was always sold out, and people would show up 15 minutes before and then be belligerent that there were no tickets left, screaming that they had driven from so far away and how could we not sell them tickets. Most of the shows would sell out just from phone orders so it would be sold out before we even opened the theater, it was fun explaining that to the customers… Jurassic Park was probably the busiest craziest I ever saw it but that was all families and kids so it was still fun, Schindler’s list it was all people with no sense of humor and was just miserable dealing with those crowds!
I went there only once, and saw Shindler’s List. I recall the parking lot was full and I had to park behind McDonalds.
Anyone have access to microfilm of NEWSDAY or another Long Island newspaper? I wish to verify the closing date of the SYOSSET’s run of “This Is Cinerama” and the title of the film that followed it. (I believe “This Is Cinerama” premiered at the SYOSSET on June 25, 1959.)
The Syosset had 1,400 seats in the Cinerama/70mm days, according to this article from Motion Picture Herald, found on Roland Lataille’s Cinerama website:
http://cinerama.topcities.com/syosset.htm
Just for kicks (and to pick up on discussions in other pages on CT), those 1960’s prices would translate as follows in 2006 dollars:
Interesting to how that stacks up to today’s prices – although, we are talking about a hard ticket at a large deluxe suburban theatre. Has a seating capacity ever been noted on this page for any of the Syosset’s configurations? The data up top is blank on that score.
The dollar conversion is as per this website’s calculator.
They’re both doing well—both happily married. I keep in touch with both of them and see Sue about once a month for dinner. I’ll tell ‘em both you said hi.
yes i remember them! everyone in that group was so much fun, i have wondered over the years where they all ended up. that’s cool that jill wrote for tv. if you’re in contact with them tell them “accent girl” says hi :)
Erica, I think you might’ve been there when Sue Ferziger and Jill Rothblatt were there. They were really close friends of mine and I used to visit rehearsals when I’d come home from college (I graduated 1990 and was ACT president ‘89-'90). Still keep in contact with both of them, in fact. Jill’s out in California (just wrote an episode of the ABC Family episode “Lincoln Heights”) and Sue’s here in New York working for Playwrights Horizons (we get together for dinner every month or so). Haven’t seen Gaf in well over a decade. Always wondered what happened to him…
i worked there when we had rising sun! i probably sold you your tickets :)
capt ron, yes i was in ACT now that you mention it… haven’t thought about that in a long time! the other names don’t sound familiar but i’d prob know them if i saw them.
I simply loved this theater. It was an event to come here and see a film. Both of my sisters worked there, so I often caught a ride with them. Sometimes I had to see the film more than once while waiting to go home. I don’t remeber ever minding at all. I saw West Side Story so many times I learned all the words to the songs. It makes me sad to remember such good times.
Exclusive Long Island Engagement.
Those magical words. My parents were fairly regular movie-goers, and it was a great treat to head to the Syosset on a Sunday afternoon.
I saw Mary Poppins here (the greatest movie ever made, to my 10-year-old mind). Also: How the West Was Won (in Cinerama!); It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (hysterically funny sequences); The Sound of Music (of course); Gone With the Wind.
What a grand place it was! Heartbreaking when it became a triplex. I think the last movie I saw there was “Rising Sun”, with my parents, and my mother gasping at every curse word. Movies, as well as theaters, had undergone a big change by then – and not necessarily for the better.
DAVE GAFNEY?????? To quote Obi-Wan Kenobi, there’s a name I have not heard in a long time…a long time. He and I were really good friends back in high school. Haven’t seen him in years, though. Also used to hang out with Josh Bentley, Paul Ianotti, Bryan Coffee…Erica, were you in ACT? I think we probably have a lot of mutual friends…
Jim Ebersold:
I’m afraid the passage of time may have created a memory lapse. “Star Wars” did not play at SYOSSET…at least not in the original ‘77 showings. The Long Island engagement you are probably thinking of was at TWIN SOUTH in Hicksville.
I remember the Syosset with affection. In 1977 Star Wars was released. I was 17 and my brother had a car. We wanted to see Star Wars in Stereo. We lived in Bellerose in Queens and that was our best bet. So off myself, John and our friend Michael went to Syosset. I remember seeing the huge curved screen and watching those classic words roll across the screen. We went back to see it several other times and other “big screen” kind of movies. Its sad that big movie houses like that have been swept aside by the changing movie business. I too am reminded of the song “Come Dancing” by the Kinks when I think of places like the Syosset Theatre.
I saw both The Sound of Music, and Funny Girl here, both were advanced, reserved seating.
hmmm i think i was there for wolf. i know when i started there were some people that had been around a while. did you ever work with sue? she was the asst mgr when i started. i think someone on here mentioned tom the projectionist and i’m pretty sure that was the name of the guy when i worked there. did you ever work with dave gafney? he was a few yrs older than me and i know he was working there a while before i did. or he may have just been at the 150. i’m trying to remember the last time i saw ms. mccarthy, i think it was at the 150 about ‘99 or so. she was exactly the same. “get to work! this isn’t a party!” i like her tho, she drove the kids nuts but she could be so funny and she meant well!
Erica, I only worked at the Triplex in 1989 but for years after I went back to visit I saw a lot of the same faces. We probably worked with at least some of the same people. The last time I went to the Triplex was to see “Wolf” with Jack Nicholson. Nice symmetry because “Batman” played on all three screens my first month at the Triplex. I last saw Ms. McCarthy at the UA stadium-seating theater in Westbury about three years ago… she hadn’t changed a bit!
I was maybe 7 years old at the time, but it seemed like “2001: A Space Odyssey” (which I thought was pronounced “odds-eye,” whatever the heck that meant) played at the Syosset a very long time.
Also, is it my imagination, or did they not have a gigantic, cheesy-looking, canvas clock face on the front of the theater to promote “A Clockwork Orange?”
PS I believe the 150 was called The Syosset for a while when I still worked there, before the Triplex was gone. It was the same company and a lot of times staff from one would work at the other if needed. We also would work at other UA theaters like East Meadow or the drive-in. Ms. McCarthy was a real trip. I wonder where she is now.