Though Manhattan is a wonderful place to be a movie lover -- there is ALWAYS something to see between the first run multiplexes and the rep theaters -- it's also filled with the ghosts of movie theaters past. The Paris closed down just about a month ago and the Ziegfeld died in... well, we'll always be mourning the Ziegfeld. It was Moulin Rouge! and Chicago premiered in the early Aughts, and seeing the movie musical return to prominence in two consecutive years in a massive old school movie palace was heaven. It's also the site of the first time we saw Michelle Pfeiffer in the pflesh. Needless to say it was part of our soul.
Speaking of old movie houses. On this 116th day before the 92nd Oscars we randomly found that there was once a grand movie theater on 116th street and 7th avenue (not so far from where we live) called The RKO Regent...
Before it was the RKO Regent it was the BS Moss Regent Theatre and it had vaudeville performances AND movies. So much showbiz happened there.
Apparently it's now a church which is too bad because Harlem has endless buildings of worship but almost no churches for movie worshippers. We have the Magic Johnson, a mainstream multiplex, and the teensy tiny Maysles Documentary Center that's not a regular movie theater.
Have any movie theaters you loved closed right before your eyes in your lifetime?