Adams Theatre

teecee on October 29, 2005 at 8:58 am

The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), Oct 22, 2005 p021
Jenny’s Dish. (TODAY)

Newark: The way it was

A CREW of carpenters, scenic artists and designers spent this week in Newark transforming a few blocks of the downtown into Broadway, circa 1960, for the movie “Across the Universe.”

An original musical film directed by Julie Taymor, “Across the Universe” is a love story set to a score of Beatles songs that defined the decade, according to publicity materials.

She loves him, yeah, yeah, yeah?

Taymor, who directed the movies “Frida” and “Titus,” and the Broadway smash “The Lion King,” is working with an ensemble cast led by Evan Rachel Wood (“Thirteen”). The film combines live action with animation as it moves from Manhattan to Detroit to Vietnam and Liverpool.

Lighting cranes and trailers were parked along Branford Place and Washington Street, while vintage cars and checker cabs lined Halsey Street in preparation for the nighttime shoot.

“They’re doing a good job,” said John Vaughan-Bey, owner of Moorish Fragrance at 214 Halsey St.

“Downtown Newark is not like it used to be. It was really, really busy,” said Vaughan-Bey, a lifelong resident who remembers what Newark was like four decades ago. “In that building across the street, there were offices and a restaurant and a bar downstairs. The other side of the street, there were law offices and two movie theaters.

“Newark was like New York. That’s the way it was,” he said.

Contributor: Peggy McGlone

CAPTION(S):

<p>1. A film crew works on the marquee of a movie theater on Branford Place in Newark, transforming the street into a stretch of Broadway in the ‘60s for “Across the Universe,” a movie being shot in the city this weekend.

teecee on September 18, 2005 at 8:30 am

Listed as a Negro Theater in the 1951 FDY.

teecee on June 30, 2005 at 6:51 am

“Newark’s last two movie houses, the Paramount and the Adams went dark in 1986 when their insurance rates increased 500 percent. Newarkers seeking mainstream popular movies had to go elsewhere.”

The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), Sept 26, 1996 p004

teecee on March 11, 2005 at 7:46 pm

Beautiful recollections at this site:

View link

cozmikchuck on November 19, 2004 at 12:05 pm

What’s left of the Adams Theater is on Branford, between Broad and Halsey Streets. The old neon sign is missing a few letters and there are some retail establishments in what was the lobby.

BobFurmanek on August 31, 2004 at 11:44 am

The Adams Theater has quite a history. When it was the Shubert, many big names played its stage, including Eddie Cantor, Sophie Tucker and the Marx Brothers. Most of the big bands played there in the swing era, and Jerry Lewis worked as an usher when he was a teenager.

We walked through this theater about 5 years ago, when I was working for the Loew’s Jersey. It needs a lot of help. There were early signs of water damage at that time, and plaster was beginning to fall onto the seats. We were surprised to see that it still many original light fixtures, including beautiful chandeliers over the side boxes in the auditorium.

Unfortunately, the owner at that time was allowing crews from film shoots to gut the stage of all the vintage lighting. He even offered to sell us some of the light fixtures, but with the leaky roof, none of us were willing to climb above the ceiling to see how to lower the chandeliers!

It was so sad to see this great Newark showplace rotting away while they were sinking millions into the nearby Performing Arts Center.