8th Street Playhouse
52 W. 8th Street,
New York,
NY
10011
52 W. 8th Street,
New York,
NY
10011
23 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 110 comments
I seem to remember seeing “Fantasia” here in 1960s.
Vaguely. :)
I personally witnessed the city kill this street in the early nineties by harassing teenagers (read BLACK) who were the life the street after dark in this neighborhood.
Ethnic cleansing, Rudy Guliani style, at work.
dr. brown, it was also SOP (standard operational procedure) for fans to smoke “whatever” during “Rocky Horror,” and on at least one occasion I got a contact high from “whatever”! Smoking was allowed in the last ten rows and the rear aisle; the seats in those rows had ashtrays.
The first time I saw “Rocky” there (06/29/1984) it was in a double feature with “Repo Man.” The latter would play there in first run for at least six months.
It had a small entrance but the auditorium seated at least 490.
Ok,exactly how big was this theatre? From the pictures of the outside of the building,it looks no bigger than one of your average multiplex shoebox theatres.
I first saw “The Song Remains The Same” as a midnight movie there in 1982. We were driven in by a friend’s parents, who went with us. I was 12 and this was my first-ever “concert” experience. I clearly remember someone coming over the PA before the show and saying “we’ve cleared it with the fire marshals and you’re all allowed to smoke- WHATEVER YOU WANT!!!” you can imagine the applause. It was a monstrous sound system and my ears were ringing for days.
Fifteen years later I ended up working at Electric Lady (I was there when the wall went down), and there was a trap-door that opened from our third-floor storage that went down to the second floor of the theater. I was afraid to go down there but one day the studio cat got loose and ended up in the theater so I wandered through and it was a very surreal experience. I grabbed some ticket stubs, and found a blue plastic bong with a Jerry Garcia sticker on it that I still have. Anyone can shed light on where that came from? Also was there one Sunday morning when they pulled the marquees down. The plastic side marquee was laying on the ground and I grabbed all ten feet of it and still have it as well! Very interested in the history of the building going back to 1929- anyone doing a serious project on it please email me at I have a huge pile of papers on the history from the beginning to the present.
Belated reply to KingBiscuits and M. Kuecker: “Rocky Horror” ran at the 8th St. Playhouse from July 1978 to late summer 1989. It then moved to the Eastside Cinema (3rd Ave. & 55th St.) from 1989 to spring 1991, and next to UA Movieland 8th St. (formerly the Art) from 1991 to November 1996. The Waverly run was from April 1976 to early 1978.
Checkerphil: Steve Hirsch died in July 1986. The subsequent order of operation was BS Moss (1986-88), UA (1988-89), then City Cinemas (1989-closing).
Mikeoaklandpark: Theatre of the Living Arts is at 334 South Street. Now a concert venue, it’s also been known as the Fillmore. TLA Video was a subsidiary of the theatre. “Rocky Horror” (movie) played at TLA in the early-mid 1980s, and the play also ran there several times in the late-80s/early-90s.
Everyone else: 8th Street Playhouse was equipped with a Sensurround system – two massive subwoofers were placed in the back row. Sensurround was turned on for EVERYTHING, including “Rocky Horror”!!
Brazil in Dolby Stereo
View link
Metropolis and Pee Wee look about right. The poster for the latter even appears.
A strange double bill.
View link
Tom Snyder’s “Tomorrow” Show (1979) – 7 minutes 29 seconds (540x418, 30 fps, 50.1 MB). Tom Snyder presents a segment on the Rocky Horror Picture Show phenomenon. Includes interviews with fan club president Sal Piro, Dori Hartley, Mark Hopper and Steve Hirsch of the 8th Street Playhouse in New York City, and Ashley Boone Jr. of 20th Century Fox.
Daytime view.
View link
Looks like “METROPOLIS” and “PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE” on the marquee.
View link
I own some of the seats from the playhouse. I was looking for pictures from the inside of the playhouse. I also was wondering if anyone knows what happend to the rest of the memorbilia from the playhouse.
KB: If my memory serves me correctly Early mid 1980s to Early mid 1990s. It was constant in the 80s and slightly interrupted in the 90s I believe it bounced back and forth to The Waverly. HEH :)
I can’t remember – I was usually spaced out on sensation – among other exotic things. :)
How long exactly did Rocky Horror run at midnight and was it consecutive or was the run interrupted?
It ran as the Film Guild for a little over a year, changing to the 8th Street Playhouse in May 1930.
LostMemory posted:
“NYC issued a C/O to a building at 52-54 West 8th St on February 1, 1929 for a 490 seat motion picture theater. I’m not sure who "Frederick Kiesler” the arcitect listed at the top of this page is, but he architects name on the C/O is Eugene DeRosa."
Frederick Kiesler was the architect, but was not licensed in NYC at the time the building was done; DeRosa’s name was likely put on the building permit to fulfill legal requirements. Kiesler was the only designer.
Hello,
I have just published a historical article on the Guild (with a lot of photos!) if anyone is interested…
here is the reference info and abstract:
McGuire, L. M. A Movie House in Space and Time: Frederick Kiesler’s Film Arts Guild Cinema, New York, 1929. Studies in the Decorative Arts v. 14 no. 2 (Spring/Summer 2007) p. 45-78
Abstract: Part of a special issue on the study of American Modernist design. In 1929, Viennese artist and architect Frederick Kiesler constructed the most innovative cinema in the U.S. Lacking perceptible walls, curtains, and a stage, Kiesler’s design for the International Film Arts Guild’s Guild Cinema on West 8th Street in New York City, completed in 1929, was meant to transport the audience from total darkness into a drama of light unfolding not only in front of but all around them. As going to the movies was a regular experience for most people, Kiesler hoped that his new concept for the cinema would popularize Modernism, and in this way, he intended to mobilize mainstream capitalism in order to permeate an everyday entertainment with avant-garde ideals. This was a building in which Kiesler attempted to create a vessel for the movement and perception of waves and particles in time and space—the perfect environment, he felt, for an experience with the fourth dimension. The writer describes the building in detail.
I, too, saw Rocky Horror at 8th St. It was only 2 or 3 times in the mid-80s, but, being part of the Staten Island-UA/Island Rocky crowd, it was like going to nirvana.
I remember that you had to get there during the day to buy tickets because they sold out. We then had time to wander around. I spent most of my time at “It’s Only Rock & Roll” across the street. It was an upstairs store that sold records (mostly imports), cassettes (mostly bootleg concerts) and memorabilia.
I also remember the pizzeria across the street. My wife thinks the name was Ray’s, but she’s not sure. I just can’t remember.
AIAlvarez, I hear you. But as much as I love owning DVD’s, in a way, I think the ease and the speed at which one can own their favorite movies has killed the movie-going experience. When I was a kid, my favorite movies like KING KONG, STAR WARS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (remember the 1979 re-released PG version?) and GREASE somehow took on a more special meaning when they were periodically re-released in movie theaters over a period of several years before eventually ending up on HBO and then broadcast television.
It was only a few years ago that what seemed like one last attempt at a theatrical double feature was made, when I saw an add for HOSTAGE and SIN CITY on the same bill.
As for GRINDHOUSE, I’ll give it a look when it becomes available through Netflix.
Love movies, Tarantino tried doing just that with GRINDHOUSE. It didn’t work. Established titles have no subrun life either with DVDs two months later. Most multiplexes have no staffing control for those who have time for a double feature and they are well aware it happens.
While too young to have ever attended, I recently moved within the neighborhood to a building directly across from the theater without ever realizing the history of the site. To update some of the above posts, the TLA Video store closed about 10 months ago. It is unclear who the owners of the space are, whether they have put it up for rent again, or what their intentions are – perhaps one-last revival of Rocky Horror? Apparently the additional theater space behind it (The Independent) is also no longer operating. Lastly, for those who commented on the studio below – check out their website at http://www.electricladystudios.com/index.html – includes a number of great pictures of the recording space below.
This theater was classic; in it’s history, it’s small intimate marquee & interior setting and it’s fantastic double-bills! I remember seeing A CLOCKWORK ORANGE & BLADE RUNNER and KING KONG & CITIZEN KANE, just as examples . In 1990, I suggested a double feature of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and STAR WARS. Several months later, there they were and I was one of the first ones on line!
Why, oh why, doesn’t somebody bring back the double features??? It would be a mild step in justifying movie ticket prices as high as $11.00!
That Stage! Oh yes! I banged my knee many times on it running up to do Time Warp! Tim Curry Shorts: In addition to “I do the Rock ” The also showed “Paradise Garage” which has a cameo of Dori Hartley as Frank N. Furter. (It’s up on youtube for those who need to see it this second) As for the aformentioned Neon lights, There’s a photo of them on the NYC RHPS Supporters/Survivors Society website http://www.rockyhorror.cc/viewtopic.php?t=204 I also reccomend you register and share some of your memories there too! You may even see pics or run into folks you might remember fom back then. (Plus I notice you cant see the pics if you don’t sign in, oh drama!)
Oh well. I used to love attending the summer rock and roll film festivals here. Man, they really cranked the sound up at those – and usually obtained awesome prints. I remember a screening of the “Grateful Dead Movie” here that blew my socks off. I thought Phil Lesh’s bass notes would lift me right out of my seat. Many memorable screenings of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” are also fondly remembered – I recall they used to screen Tim Curry’s music “video” for his minor hit “I Do the Rock” before “Rocky Horror” in the early ‘80’s.
Most memorable feature of the theater itself had to be those neon zig-zags on the side walls near the screen recess. They’d be lit up until showtime. Was there a small stage in front of the screen – perhaps a foot (or less) up from the auditorium floor? Sometimed the memory plays tricks!