Loew's Kameo Theatre
530 Eastern Parkway,
Brooklyn,
NY
11225
530 Eastern Parkway,
Brooklyn,
NY
11225
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Will you schedule a tour to commemorate its 100th anniversary?
This is the 100th Anniversary of the former Loew’s Kameo opened in 1924 as the Cameo Theatre and taken over by Loew’s several months later. It closed in September 1974 with the double feature of “Uptown Saturday Night” and “Cotton Comes To Harlem” which would have started this Wednesday Sept. 25, 1974… 50 years ago. After a short closure it was taken over by the Sabbath Cathedral. P.S. “Cotton Comes To Harlem” played here during its' initial showing on the neighborhood run in 1970-71 for four weeks with the co-feature “Gaily, Gaily” which was the theatre’s longest running movie at that time. That record was broken in 1974 when “The Exorcist” played six weeks in June 1974 as a first run feature.
Grand opening ad posted.
Tour apparently never took place due to onset of the pandemic. Any plans to re-schedule?
The Sabbath Cathedral tour is Saturday, April 4th 2020, just caught the error, thanks to the gentleman who already joined the tour and theatrefan for the Loew’s Paradise Theatre review….looking forward to meeting you both on April 4th, Saturday along with others. There are still about 16 reservations available. E-mail and phone # above along with information.
This sounds really awesome Orlando, I will definitely be there. Your tour of the Loew’s Paradise was one of the best theatre tours that I have ever been on, looking forward to it.
Here’s some good news… Bring your cameras, PHOTOS permitted! during the last 15 minutes of the tour ONLY!, however not during the tour speech as this will be a guided tour.
Here’s some good news!!! I will be conducting tours of the Sabbath Cathedral (as it’s known now for 45 years), formerly Loew’s Kameo Theatre and Roof, which celebrated its' 96th Anniversary this past Sabbath (Saturday). The tour is going to be on Saturday, April 1, 2020 at 3 P.M. and will last about an hour and fifteen minutes. It is limited to 40 people and the tour will cost $10. for each person, all ages. There will be a short slide show on the Kameo and a few local theatres nearby. The tour will include the lobby and the auditorium with its dramatic dome intact, as a matter of fact excepting the marquee its' 90% intact and good condition. The Sabbath Cathedral is holding this tour and maybe adding further dates if groups are interested. The proceeds will go to purchase of a new boiler and repairs on the one that is currently in use. For more information you may contact me at or 631-225-7071 between 11 AM to 7PM. Please Note: Tour is limited to 40 persons, on the date above. If there is an overwhelming response due to the New York Times article, which many people flooded our phones at the Cathedral that we all felt a tour was needed. Again e-mail me or call me, as the Cathedral is not in use at all times and calls to Sabbath Cathedral may go unanswered. Don’t miss this one as the building approaches its' Centennial!
Pickup today’s “New York Times” bad news for the former Loew’s Kameo…will it be demolished…or saved! This one needs to be saved. The nearby Savoy set the precedent for this I’m quite sure. Loew’s still owned the building in 1977 and had guard’s on the Loew’s Kings payroll. Loew’s usually sold their buildings for the sum of $1.00- (Note Valencia and the Gates both went for a $1.00)
New old picture added to the Gallery.
I wish I had snagged some of the photos off that blog before it went defunct.
As of this date, scaffolding is in place on the street level and a NYC Dept. of Bldgs. notice on the front doors. Also graffiti on the left yellow brick up high but fortunately not on the glazed terra cotta. I hope it will not be torn down. (I believe the church owners won’t let it go!) I’ll keep posting!
This was the first Place I ever saw a movie. My Mother use to take me when i was very young, anywhere between and 1 yrs old and up. The first movie i remember seeing that made an impression on me was ‘Song Of The South" I guess this was back in the late 40’s. My Mom use to go in the summer time and sit on the roof. Also there was always dish night. That was a long long time ago,
Nice blog with good interior photos. Direct link
Hey there. I actually just had the privilege of going in and seeing the interior of the theater, including the auditorium, projection room, and rooftop. The blog post with more info about is experience is here: http://nyunplugged.net/2012/10/15/a-cathedral-grows-in-brooklyn/
Had not seen the interior photo and am blown away. Much credit to the current owners that they have gone through the trouble and expense to maintain the auditorium in such pristine condition.
I remember being driven past this jewel on Eastern Parkway when I was a boy, and it seemed that “I, a Woman” played here for a long time. (It’s funny how my childhood theatre memories are; see Loew’s Hillside listing for my burlesque marquee memories.)
Relinking.
He was not appearing on stage. That was a listing for a 1929 Vitaphone short with Reisman.
It’s remarkable that the renown Leo Reisman Orchestra played the Kameo in 1929. Clearly the Eastern Parkway section of Crown Heights was in its heyday as a fashionable middle class community.
Crusing my homepage Mike? Thats a good way to find the good stuff.
Good old FRED WILLIAMSON movie is playing “HAMMER”.Couldn’t make out the second hit.
You can VERY clearly see the old rooftop theater on the roof of the building when you look at a bird’s eye view of the building:
View link
Originally the Loew’s Kameo had nude plaster cherubs along the walls but when the elders of the Philadelphia Church took over they thought that this was inappropriate. Therefore they went out
and got ornate plaster people to ‘dress’ the cherubs.
The companies who designed theaters were also in the business of building churches so you can
see how a one time theater could easily become a church!
I am very glad to have stumbled over this page. Thr Kameo must rank with the old Woodside – and very few other sites – as a great example of what a loving community can do to preserve a wonderful site. Ken Roe et. al., thanks so much for the wonderful pictures.