Cultural Arts Playhouse
714 Old Bethpage Road,
Old Bethpage,
NY
11804
714 Old Bethpage Road,
Old Bethpage,
NY
11804
5 people
favorited this theater
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Raided by the cops
Bethview theatre police raid 17 Feb 1969, Mon Newsday (Nassau Edition) (Hempstead, New York) Newspapers.com
Became Ciné-Capri on December 30th, 1977. Grand opening ad posted.
The Old Bethpage was an okay theater in a tucked away place.There I saw Buck Henry in the satirical movie Taking Off.I also saw The Exorcist,featuring a promising Jason Miller,Oscar winner Ellen Bursten,Igmar Bergman favorite- Max Von Sydow;and that poor little Linda Blair with the pea soup and the crucifix.I preferred the The Omen,“Yea Gregory Peck!”
Updated pics added. I worked there with projectionist Pat Ryan and his brother Bobby from 79-81. Do any of you guys know them and how they’re doing? Thanks
As a kid in the late 70s and early 80s, I remember riding my bike to this theatre (and left it outide unlocked!) The last movie that played here was 1986’s The Money Pit. The theatre closed after that run, and that movie poster hung in the window for quite some time. I then started working at Richie’s Discount right next door, and remember seeing them pulling all the theatre seats out and bringing in new ones to a new playhouse, around 1989. I went to see the very first performance there, it was Evita, which as a 14 year old kid, thought it was awful, but I just wanted to see the inside of the theatre. This space operated as a live performance venue for many years under a few different names. Most recently, it was the Cultural Arts Playhouse, which has since moved up Old Country Road in Plainview. Currently, there is a sign in the window that says “Gym Coming Soon”. The box office lobby has remained in tact all these years, even the phone booth in the front corner. However, I’m sure it will all be torn out, if they are building a gym.
Ed, it was in the “L” shaped corner. I had forgotten where this theater even was and found it when my wife took me to see a production of “Chess” there (I believe they called themselves the Broadhallow Theater and and they are now located in the Elmont public Library, the new library on Hempstead turnpike).
Wow. Haven’t been on this page in 5 years! Glad to see the activity here. So, where in the shopping center was this little cinema located? In the “L” shaped corner? Or out on the end somewhere?
Tis,he is from our theatre generation.Hope for some good stories.
Hello Friend, my projection experience was from 1993 through ‘98, which was real late in the game, and I worked the Long Beach, Oceanside, Malvern, and interned at the Green Acres theater. I practiced in many a booth, was in the Hewlett Theater booth in'79, but my best stories really come from the guys who trained me. I was a patron of movies and virtually lived in the theaters through the very late 70’s and early 80’s.
When you get time “Former” could you tell us about the Booth? Or any other stories,I am sure you have some.Thanks.
I hear that Mike, proud to be in the age group I am…
Former Projectionist thanks for the ad,The Good old days.pity these Kid moviegoers today.
My pleasure Sir, any time! Love re-living it!
Thanks for posting formerprojectionist.
Ok, here’s an ad from that Night of the Living Dead and Freaks combo. Don’t remember Mondo Cane on the bill though…
View link
That’s correct, I took my wife to see a production of Chess there and that’s exactly how it was set up.
To set the records straight this theatre originally opened as the Bethview under the AIT banner. After it slipped into porn it was given new names as the owners tried to reinvent it. First Cine Capri and then Old Bethpage. When Cultural Arts Playouse took it over they gutted it and reconfigured the seats. What had originally been the left wall was a semit-thrust stage with the audience in front and slightly to the sides.
I saw Night of the Living Dead and Freaks on a double bill at midnight at the Cine Capri on the 4th of July weekend in 1978. I actually have a newspaper ad for this, I’ll also photograph this and post it in the near future. The theater was also going to be showing Hi Mom and Norman, is That You. They showed a trailer for Norman, is That You. I was blown out by the show, it really shaped my interest in cinema, a true defining moment for me!
In February of 2008, the Cultural Arts Playhouse left the Old Bethpage site and moved next door to Plainview. The former Old Bethpage theatre is now vacant.
…and those Cine Capri t-shirts were a spectacular copyright or trademark violation too! Glad to see you alive & well, JVC. -Randy
I’m looking for first hand accounts of seeing The Night Porter at this theater in connection with film history research I am engaged in. Anyone with memories of The Night Porter, however vague, please feel free to get in touch with me. .co.uk
Cine Capri was owned by GG Theatres and was staffed by a bunch of former employees of the Westbury Theatre as a repetoire theatre running an average of 30-40 films per month. Formerly the Old Bethpage Theatre, we featured midnight shows, old cult movies and lots of concert movies once we upgraded from the carbon-arc projectors to the new state-of-the-art platter system with a quadraphonic audio setup to run The Grateful Dead Movie. Paraphenalia at the candy counter, absolutely. Concert movies, cult classics and a whole lotta fun older movies that hadn’t been seen in theatres in years. Similar in attitude to Uniondale’s famed Mini Cinema, the Cine Capri changed films more often and didn’t run Rocky Horror for 134 consecutive years. The manager was Randy Warren, his wife SueEllen helped out, John Sheifer of Hicksville was the Asst. Mgr. and along with myself, Tony, Sandy, Lew and a few others, we made the Cine Capri a rockin little theatre. Thanks for the memories, makes me want to go dig out my old Cine Capri T-Shirts… JVC
Yes, the Cine Capri was the Old Bethpage theatre. It was like the mini-cinema in Uniondale I remember going there to see “Romeo & Juliet” on a school trip. By the mid 70’s it became an alternative movie house, showing concert movies, rock movies. Did a lot of business during the winter, as it was cheap and the local kids would go there basically to smoke dope inside(smoking was allowed, back then), they even sold pipes and rolling papers at concession.
Outstanding, Lost. Glad to see you back in action. That would certainly flesh out the history for this theater some, inlcuding an AKA, an actual street address and, perhaps most importantly, a correction to the current use.
Other questions remain as to the date this theater opened and whether it ever had stage facilities prior to conversion to live peformance. But, I jump the gun.
Does anyone know if this is the same theater advertised in the following clipping as the “Cine Capri”?:
New Mgmt New Prices – Newsday 9/23/85
Creator – Newsday 10/5/85
I’ve never heard of “Key Theaters” and I don’t know if they owned any other screens on LI, but at least this one theater was a late-run discount house. Interestingly, the film “Creator” was only in its 3rd week of release at the time, so this engagement was not exactly late-run… unless the movie tanked right out of the gate and was rushed into $1.00 houses as a last ditch.
So is the Cine Capri an aka for the Old Bethpage or do I have the wrong theater? The location given is Old Bethpage Road at Round Swamp Road.