Elgin Theater

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The Joyce Theater in 2008; this building formerly housed the Elgin Theater.
The Joyce Theater in 2008; this building formerly housed the Elgin Theater.

The Elgin Theater opened in 1942 on Eighth Avenue in New York City. It was designed in the Art Moderne style by Simon Zelnik[1] and was a popular movie house for decades seating 600. It served as a home to cult films and revivals and later in its career as an adult theater. In the 1978 the community forced it to close. Even while it was an adult theater, it still kept up its program of midnight movies, of which the Elgin is best know for today and is credited with creating after putting Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1970 surrealist western El Topo into a midnight slot with the idea spreading to other New York theaters.

Contents

[edit] Notable Midnight Films

A list of films played at midnight during the 70's at the Elgin

[edit] Joyce Theater

It was returned to service as the Joyce Theater in 1982 and it is now a 472 seat Dance and Performance theater. The interior was completely gutted and the structure restored by architect Hugh Hardy. Hardy also preserved the marquee and façade outside. The theater hosts nearly 140,000 people a year and serves as a popular Dance venue in the city. The new name is in memory of the late daughter of LuEsther Mertz, who made possible the purchase of the theater in 1979, at a cost of $225,000.

[edit] References

  1. ^ White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot (June 2000). AIA Guide to New York City, 4th, NY: Three Rivers Press, 1088. ISBN 0-8129-3107-6. 
  • Kisselgoff, Anna. "Creating a Theater Just For Dance", NY Times, July 26, 1981, p. A18. Retrieved on 2006-10-19. 
  • (no byline). "Facelift Begins at Renamed Elgin", NY Times, June 26, 1981, p. C26. Retrieved on 2006-10-19. 
  • Armstrong, Leslie; Morgan, Roger (1984). Space for Dance. Publishing Center for Cultural Resources. ISBN 0-89062-189-6. 
  • "Children of the Sixties: An Interview with the Owners of the Elgin" (Summer 2000). Film Quarterly 53 (4): 2–15. doi:10.1525/fq.2000.53.4.04a00020. 
  • Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (2005) (for credits, see the film's IMDb page)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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