Trylon Theater
98-81 Queens Boulevard,
Rego Park,
NY
11374
98-81 Queens Boulevard,
Rego Park,
NY
11374
18 people
favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 100 of 207 comments
All I could think from my Upper Reserved box seat at Shea Stadium last Sunday, while the Mets completed the implosion of their season, was how ironically appropriate it was that Melinda Katz, of all people, was chosen to sing ‘God Bless America’ during the 7th Inning Stretch…
Thanks, EdSolero and SchineHistorian !
The next issue of Theatre Historical Society’s quarterly journal MARQUEE will have a piece on the Trylon, written by Trylon advocate Michael Perlman. Copies can be ordered by non members at www.historictheatres.org or better yet JOIN and get them delivered automatically to your mailbox!
Just to follow up on Warren’s July 12th response to Queens Logic’s comments, the interior of the Trylon remained pretty much as it was on opening day – normal wear-and-tear notwithstanding – right up until the day it closed.
Thanks for posting this, Warren. I enjoyed looking at it.
I remember going to the movies with my friends at the Trylon in the early 1980’s when I was in high school. What’s the latest on the preservation efforts? Was the interior of the Trylon still art deco-ish by the 1980’s or was it modernized by then? I don’t remember it being art deco at all, is why I ask. If it was modernized, is it just a matter of removing drop ceilings and revealing original ceiling, and removing old paint to reveal original paint, or was it completely destroyed inside when renovated, and nothing left intact?
Can the Trylon still be restored?
VA (82) was Van Dyke. Ridgewood Savings Bank’s phone # used to be VA1-4600.
Thanks for posting the link to the ad for the Trylon, Warren.
Ed Solero, I remember the old phone exchanges very well, including HA for Elmhurst (prep school classmate of mine). Thanks for mentioning what it stood for.
Also AP for APplegate (Cypress Hills, Bklyn), GL for GLenmore (my old home Ridgewood exchange) HY for HYacinth, EV for Evergreen, and VI for VIctoria (Richmond Hill, VA for Virginia ?
I’ve also seen HA for a home in Bayside.
I love seeing the old telephone exchange names in these ads. The “HA” in the Trylon’s phone number stood for HAvemeyer – which, interestingly enough, was the same appelation used in the exchange for my childhood home in Elmhurst. The Trylon was HAvemeyer 3, however, and we were HAvemeyer 6.
Joseph E Levine was the pioneer of mass bookings, it was almost never that the Trylon, Forest Hills and Drake would day and date.
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HEADS UP FANS OF THE TRYLON! Theatre Historical Society’s 3rd quarter issue of Marquee will feature a story and photos on the Trylon Theater written by Michael Perlman. This issue should be mailed to the members by the end of November, early December. Non members can reserve a copy now by contacting THS at www.historictheatres.org or better yet, JOIN! and get your own subscription to Marquee!
Thank you very much for your feedback & helpful advice above. I posted the following questions on the homepage, but received no replies. I am in the midst of writing a feature story that is due in the end of this month, & I would appreciate your assistance tremendously. Some questions are as follows. Please e-mail Michael, Comm. To Save The Trylon founder/chair at
Well, at least you guys aren’t giving up. I have to admit I never saw a film at the Trylon. I am just a theater major interested in restoration, and maybe even conversion into performance space. These old theaters are a nice space for that.
Thanks, Warren. As per that Saturday Night Fever ad, it was still with Interboro as late as ‘78. When did that company fold? I know they operated a number of small nabes – including my old childhood haunt the Laurelton Theater.
I remember this under the Loew’s banner for along time and I know it was once part of the Interboro chain as well. Was this originally an independent? And if so, how long did it operate that way and what were some of the other chains that ran it?
Meanwhile… Native, here’s an assortment of clippings from my collection of old newspapers featuring ads for attractions at the Trylon:
Saturday Night Fever – Daily News 1/25/78
Ordinary People 12th Smash Week! – Daily News 12/12/80
Absence of Malice – Daily News 3/6/82
Compromising Positions – Daily News 9/12/85
Compromising Positions (still there) – Daily News 9/23/85
Compromising Positions (going strong) – Newsday 10/5/85
Out of Africa – NY Post 1/29/86
Children of a Lesser God – Daily News 10/16/86
Children of a Lesser God (still going)– NY Times 10/27/86
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – NY Post 7/4/86
A lot of the films advertised above appear to be late in their runs and possible moveovers – you can check release dates for each title on imdb.com to try and ascertain if any of these were initial release bookings.
I have a number of local papers (including the Long Island Press and Long Island Star Journal) from September and November of 1963 and May 1964 that include the old fashioned block ads for the big chains (Loew’s, RKO, Century’s, Skouras) as well as individual ads for many independent nabes like the Cinemart, Hobart, Earle, Fair, Polk, etc. Curiously, the Trylon is not listed in any of those, for some reason.
I have a few more papers from the ‘80’s and early '90’s to digitize… when I find more Trylon listings I’ll be sure to post them here.
In the 1960s The Trylon did show some first run films. “Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte” openened there which I saw at the Trylon with a sneak preview of “Quick Before It Melts.” I do recall one Sunday seeing lines outside the Trylon waiting to get in the theater to see a double feature: THE MUSIC MAN and GYPSY.
In my opinion, at least in later years, the Trylon usually played “different”, or weird movies. Perhaps artsy?
Perhaps they were trying to form a niche.
Thank you!
Well, I saw “A Stranger Among Us” there in the summer of 1992, so you can add that to the list….
The following is a list of films that were shown at the Trylon from 1989-1990, provided by RobertR.
I am doing research on the Trylon. I would appreciate it very much if someone can please post a list of as many films as possible that were featured at the Trylon between Dec 26, 1939 and late Dec 1999. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks! You can also e-mail
5/5/89 Scandal
6/9 Dead Poets Society
8/25 Uncle Buck (moveover)
9/15 Shirley Valentine
10/27 Sex Lies & Videotape (moveover)
11/3 Crimes & Misdeamenors
12/15 Blaze
1/5 My Left Foot
2/2 Stanley & Iris
2/23 Where the Heart Is
3/9 Madhouse
3/23 Pretty Woman
6/15 Dick Tracy
As a committee, we are not giving up!!! Councilwoman Katz is beyond hope, and is the most developer-friendly politician out there. She has refused countless times to meet with us, and her campaign contributions illustrate how she is heavily supported by the greedy “over-developers.” The Trylon-adorned ticket booth will be rebuilt even if it’s not at the site for the time being. It will be a symbol which says “We will not permit our history & culture to be torn apart by greed!!!”
It’s not that the theater was falling apart, it’s that the current owners ripped everythign apart. The Kings has been neglected, but it wasn’t ripped apart.
Wait, are you guys giving up? I haven’t seen any of the photos, but this could still be a diamond in the rough. There are people, myself included, not willing to give up on the Kings in Brooklyn, which is a few years older and hasn’t been used since the 1970s. Maybe you should just keep pressing. Any theater, like most historical buildings, is worth keeping. Furthermore, the politicians may be crooked, but sometimes they straighten out with the right coaxing.
“You can say that again!”