Ziegfeld Theatre
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
131 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 150 of 4,511 comments
The world premiere of Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was held here forty years ago today.
Even when the Ziegfeld was the go to site for premieres, they were held all over the city. Certainly big halls like Alice Tully or Radio City are popular, as are other special venue sites, but some are held in multiplexes (AMC Lincoln Square is a popular choice for that with its large Loews regular screen and its IMAX)
Where have NY premieres been held since the Ziegfeld closed?
I would check by once every couple months when I was by the space, and it looks like earnest progress is finally being made on the ballroom. I’ve seen full construction going on the last two times, and they now have a Ziegfeld Ballroom NYC banner hanging and a sign saying it is coming Fall 2017.
It obviously wouldn’t be the same, but I hope at least one end of the year release hosts a premiere there (those are done in hotel special events rooms sometimes, so this shouldn’t be that different).
I had recently seen those renderings online. Inside, nothing appears in those renderings from the movie theater.
I saw Grease at the Ziegfeld! I remember it clearly. The theatre was nearly full. I miss the Ziegfeld. :–(
Grease opened at Loews State 1 Loews Orpheum and the New Amsterdam on 42nd St. The 70mm reissue did play the Ziegfeld
Amen. This was the place to watch a movie. Also in 78, grease came out here and did quite well during opening weekend against Jaws 2.
Saw ‘Close Encounters’ at the Ziegfeld in 1978. Still have the movie program somewhere. Fantastic theater compared to the dumps we had in Brooklyn.
Even though this theater wasn’t THX-certified like others, it had the best screen and sound system in the area.
New Orleans' Whorehouse. Yes, exactly! That’s hilarious.
By the way I read somewhere in an interview with George Cukor probably sometime during the 70s and he couldn’t understand the love people had for the movie palaces. He thought they were pretty tacky!
I have to say the renderings have nothing of the old place left. I think its a real shame what its going to look like.
In those renderings, I don’t see anything from the Ziegfeld movie theater. Maybe the stairway is where it is, but nothing at all looks the same. Gutted. If it looks similar on the exterior, good! but we can forget about the interior.
There’s a stage in the diagrams, which is probably where the screen will be, but it looks like the seating will be individual tables and chairs. I guess I should just be grateful they didn’t tear the place down.
Sounds interesting. I wonder if they’ll have new projection and recliner seats?
The Ziegfeld we knew and loved is gone, but here’s what they’re calling “the next act”. They mention movie premieres, so there must be a screening room somewhere in the building. Opens in the fall. Hope I get to go inside someday, but right now I don’t see how. Maybe they’ll have an off-hours tour for the general public?
Of course, I miss the Ziegfeld. In the Midtown area, there’s one other wonderful single theater still showing daily movies, the Paris, where I love to see movies. The marquee is always decorated with the movie title. There’s no multitude of black box auditoriums inside. There’s one wonderful auditorium with its balcony open, its curtains used, and 1st rate projection & surround sound. I hope people who miss moviegoing that’s not in a plex will attend the Paris!
Still hard to believe that the Ziegfeld is gone, along with almost all the other theaters vindanpar mentions (except Cinema I and II, I think). And in a city like New York. I wish NYC were more like Los Angeles in that regard.
I agree.
I think the love really came when it was the only one left…
By the way, the Cinema 1 & 2, Beekman, Little Carnegie and Baronet/Coronet always outgrossed it, so you may have a point there.
vindanpar, the opening was described as “NEW ORLEANS WHOREHOUSE”. The closing was called “CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR CRUSHED VELVET DECOR”. I loved the Ziegfeld.
Welcome to Cinema Treasures.
A large gaudy red wallpapered shoebox. With gold curtain and accents.
Never understood the love for this theater when there were the Rivoli, the Criterion and the Warner Cinerama still around into the 80s. Great theaters.
All of them were worth preserving but not this one. Yeah I know I’m in the minority but boy was I disappointed when I first entered it in ‘72.
I never got its mystique and I went quite a few times only because it often had movies I wanted to see. I just wished I was seeing them in other NY cinemas. Even east side places like Cinema 1, the Beekman, the Little Carnegie(ok midtown) and the Coronet were far superior.
Eisner wanted just that. Drabinsky did not.
I always thought Disney should’ve purchased the Ziegfeld and make it their East Coast version of El Capitan. What a shame, it could have lived on for longer then.