Steel Pier Theatre & Steel Pier Ocean Theatre
1000 Boardwalk,
Atlantic City,
NJ
08401
1000 Boardwalk,
Atlantic City,
NJ
08401
2 people
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The Midway was the Tony Grant Theater. When they demolished the music hall they changed the name of the Casino to the music hall. Yes, the one time I went in 77 the screen that fit the size of the stage was gone. They had a small screen that they hung in the wall so they could use the stage for the show. If I remember correctly they built the stage out a little too.
So it sounds like the Midway Theater was what I knew as the Tony Grant Theater. I am a little confused regarding “The screen they put in the Casino when they changed it to the Music Hall was horrible. It literally was a screen about the size of a screen you would use at home for home movies.” The last time I was in the Casino Theater was in the early/mid 70’s to see some closed circuit boxing and the screen seemed to be normal for a theater of that size. Do you mean the screen in the Music Hall?
The Midway was literally half way between the marine Ballroom and the Music Hall. I never remember it as the Ocean theater. It was a decent size theater with a nice stage and curtains that said Tony Grant Stars of Tomorrow. The whole demolition of the center of the pier was so stupid. They put international thrill rides there and the first summer it was open a hurricane came through and destroyed them and the back of the pier. The Music Hall had side balconies. The screen they put in the Casino when they changed it to the Music Hall was horrible. It literally was a screen about the size of a screen you would use at home for home movies. I went to the pier once and never went back after the demolition.
It doesn’t surprise me that the Casino Theater had masking, etc. as it was used exclusively for movies (at least back in the heyday before it was used for boxing matches, etc). I do recall that the Casino was a relatively wide theater while the Music Hall was longer and had the orchestra pit and big stage. I just don’t have any memory of the Ocean/Midway Theater. My Dad was the manager of Trilling Paint Store on Atlantic Ave and the Hamid Family, owners of the Pier, were customers so we always had free tickets to the Pier. One summer in the mid 60’s my older brother worked at one of the Pier food stands and on more than a couple occasions basically walked in with him and had the run of the Pier for the day. It was a different world back then and the Pier was a family business and the Hamids were very nice people.
The Marine Ballroom had a small balcony. The main floor was standing room only.I also spent summers in ACT and at the pier from 67-78. When George Hamid sold the pier to the owners of Million Dollar Pier they ruined it especially destroying the Music Hall and Midway theaters. The Casino did not cut it for movies and stage shows. The Marine Ballroom was destroyed by fire in the early 70 and replaced with the Golden Dome Ballroom. The music hall had lots of curtains but no masking. The screen in the 60 was moved from the Virginia Theater across the boardwalk to the music hall. The screen was pulled up for the vaudeville shows and you could see Virginia Theater on the bottom metal of the screen. The Casino had both masking and curtains and eventually the main curtain was used for the masking.
I was born and raised in Atlantic City and virtually grew up on Steel Pier in the 60’s. In fact, one of the apartments in the building I grew up in was shared by a couple of musicians from the Steel Pier Orchestra. I actually saw my first two movies in the theaters on Steel Pier in ‘62. The films were “The Underwater City” in the Music Hall and “The 300 Spartans” in the Casino. As I recall, the “A” pictures typically played in the Casino Theater, which was generally only used for movies. The Music Hall, had the vaudeville style stage show which was typically followed by a lesser “B” film. I don’t recall the Ocean/Midway Theater on the Pier but it’s been a long, long, time. Many of the popular rock, R&B and Motown acts that played the Pier in the summer performed their many 25-30 minute sets in the Marine Ballroom which also held the televised Ed Hurst Record Hop/Dance Show “Summertime on The Pier”. The Marine Ballroom was standing room only except (if I remember correctly) for a small elevated area of bleachers in the back. I do recall the “Little Theater” which by the 60’s if I’m not mistaken was called the “Tony Grant Theater” after the gentleman who ran the “Tony Grant Stars of Tomorrow Show” that played there. Tony Grant also hosted the show and ran a performing arts/dance school that produced most of the kid performers who appeared on the show. He also ran a weekly talent show on nearby Garden Pier in the summer. I also recall “Cowboy Fridays” at the Pier. During the daytime on “Cowboy Fridays” cowboy films were shown non-stop all day. Without a doubt Steel Pier was a very unique place (even beyond the Diving Horse) and I’m really surprised that it has not been commented on more in Cinema Treasures
The Music Hall and Ocean/Midway theaters were both demolished in 1976, leaving a gaping hole on the pier that was replaced with rides. New owners left a remodeled Casino theater as a replacement for the Music Hall. The pier closed in 1978 and was destroyed by fire on December 10, 1982.
OK. First of all, I wrote the definitive book called “Steel Pier, Atlantic City: Showplace of the Nation” for Down The Shore Publishing in 2009. There was no such thing as Steel Pier theatre. Steel Pier opened on June 18, 1898 with the front building holding the Casino theater. It was a pier that offered military and light classical orchestras, minstrels, and dancing in the huge ballroom located at the ocean end. In 1925, Frank Gravatt bought the pier and turned it into the world’s greatest entertainment complex. He expanded it, widened it, remodeled it, and built theaters. He brought in John Philip Sousa and big stars and dance bands of the day. This continued after George Hamid bought the pier in 1945 and continued until the pier closed in 1978. Besides the famous diving horse and water circus, Hamid brought in the Rolling Stones, the Allman Brothers, Glenn Miller, Three Stooges, Frank Sinatra, Supremes, and anyone else who was “hot”.
Here are the theaters and their approximate capacities:
Casino (front boardwalk building, second floor, no balcony —minstrels until 1943 and movies) 2,000 seats
Music Hall (center of pier, second floor, remodeled in 1929 for vaudeville and movies) The remodeling was in an Art Deco motif and removed side balconies. When again remodeled in 1952, side balconies were once again erected. about 2,500 seats
Ocean/Midway theater (in back of Music Hall, ocean side, no balcony)built in 1929 for movies, renamed Midway in 1953 with complete remodeling. 1,400 seats
Little theater (between Casino and Music Hall) built in 1930’s for live kid shows, no balcony) 1,000 seats
That’s basically the theater history of Steel Pier in a nutshell. My book explains much more in detail. Hope this helps.
The information should be updated there were actually 2 screens at the Steel Pier. The music hall had movies with a vaudeville show and then there was the Casino was just showed movies.
Hard to believe there were no photos or comments on this theatre.