Kingsway Theatre
946 Kings Highway,
Brooklyn,
NY
11223
946 Kings Highway,
Brooklyn,
NY
11223
21 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Century Circuit Inc., Cineplex Odeon, RKO
Architects: R. Thomas Short
Previous Names: RKO Kingsway Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Opened on April 27, 1921 with 2,500 seats. It was equipped with an Austin 3 manual 27 ranks organ. The one time RKO Kingsway Theatre became a twin screen theatre on May 19, 1976. It became a triplex on June 20, 1980 with a 500-seat third screen built on the stage. From June 25, 1982 it was operating as a 4-screen theatre. Last operated as a five screen movie house from May 25, 1984 until its closure on January 25, 2001. It was transformed into Walgreen store, which had closed by summer of 2023.
Contributed by
Phil Goldberg, William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 109 comments)
Ed, click on the word photos at the top. There is a picture of the Kingsway as a chopped up function theatre.
To DJM78: That fifth theater with the separate entrance was the last theater to be carved out of the Kingsway which had been twinned then quaded. That fifth theater had to have been the stage once upon a time, given the way it was situated to the rest of the theater. If my memory serves and it has been over 20 years, the theater ran parallel to Coney Island Avenue but the fifth theater ran perpendicular to Coney Island Avenue. The old Strand on 47th street & Broadway had a similar conversion as the stage was used as a theater with a separate entrance on 47th Street.
GoBoy, Movieplace-Thanks for the info on the separate entrance. It’s a shame that almost all of these classic theaters are gone from Bklyn.
When i worked here it was a triplex 2 theaters downstairs 1 upstairs that was 78-81 3 theaters total The backstage was from when it was a vaudeville show there was dressing rooms upstairs and autographs on the walls going all the way back to the 50s and i think if i remember correct some a s far back as the 30s it was really cool .Behind theater 1 screen were stairs that went up to the dressing rooms for the vaudeville performers. A real shame they tore it down and built a walgreens.
The management of this theatre tried to do what they could with the upkeep of this house with the resources they had available to them. They would beg Cineplex Odeon for new seats, sound curtains, masking motors, carpets, etc. Unfortunately they would not get much help, due to the financial difficulties they were having at the time. When Loews took over, the writing was already on the wall for this faded beauty of Kings Highway. So sad that there are no Movie Theatres in this area except for the Kent Triplex & The Sheepshead Bay.
This was the only Cineplex Odeon Theatre in Brooklyn that still featured the RKO Century name one it’s marquee. It was never changed to Cineplex Odeon like the Fortway, Alpine & Kenmore were.
Grand opening ad posted.
It actually closed in January 2001, among the last titles that were listed on the Kingsway marquee were: Castaway, Dracula 2000 & Miss Congeniality all of which opened on December 22nd 2000. There were also other films listed like The Emperors New Groove & Vertical Limit which had opened earlier in that month.
Please update, became a twin on or about May 19, 1976, triplex on June 20, 1980, quad on June 25, 1982 (grand opening ad in photos section) and fiveplex on May 25, 1984. Theatre closed on January 25, 2001
Small update but the Walgreens that took over this space recently closed. Dare I hope it goes back to a theater. Yeah, probably not. Probably a bank or some such.