The Loew's Wonder Theatres were

movie palace A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 192 ...

s of the Loew's Theatres chain in and near

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. These five lavishly designed theaters were built by Loew's to establish its preeminence in film exhibition in the metropolitan New York City area and to serve as the chain's flagship venues, each in its own area. All five theaters are still standing. One operates as a community performing arts center; one is a commercial live entertainment venue; and three are currently used as churches, with one of those also used for entertainment.

Background

Paramount-Publix head Adolph Zukor acquired the successful

Balaban and Katz Balaban and Katz Theater Corporation, or B&K, was a theatre corporation which owned a chain of motion picture theaters in Chicago and surrounding areas. It was founded by Barney Balaban (later long-time President of Paramount Pictures), his six ...

theater chain in 1926. Partner Sam Katz would later run the Paramount-Publix theatre chain in New York City from the

Paramount Building 1501 Broadway, also known as the Paramount Building, is a 33-story office building on Times Square between West 43rd and 44th Streets in the Theater District neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Rapp and Rapp, it was ere ...

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

. Balaban and Katz had developed the Wonder Theater concept, first publicized around 1918 in Chicago. The

Chicago Theatre The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban ...

was created as an opulent theater with many amenities for its patrons and was advertised as a "wonder theatre". When Publix acquired the Balaban and Katz chain they embarked on a project to expand the wonder theaters, and started to build in New York in 1926. While Balaban and Publix were dominant in Chicago, Loew's was the major player in New York, and did not want Publix theaters to overshadow their own. The two companies brokered a non-competition deal for New York and Chicago, and Loew's took over the New York area projects, developing the five Loew's Wonder Theaters. Publix continued Balaban and Katz's wonder theater development in its home area.

Theaters

Loew's 175th Street Theatre The United Palace (originally Loew's 175th Street Theatre) is a theater at 4140 Broadway in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The theater, occupying a full city block bounded by Broadway, Wadsworth Avenue, and W ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of counties in New York, origin ...

(opened 1930) - Operates as a church and an entertainment venue under the name United Palace. *

Loew's Jersey Theatre The Loew's Jersey Theatre is a theater in Jersey City, New Jersey. Opened in 1929, it was one of the five Loew's Wonder Theatres, a series of flagship Loew's movie palaces in the New York City area. It was designed by the architectural firm of Ra ...

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Loew's Kings Theatre The Kings Theatre, formerly Loew's Kings Theatre, is a live performance venue in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. Opened by Loew's Theatres as a movie palace in 1929 and closed in 1977, the theater sat empty for decades un ...

, Brooklyn (opened 1929) - Reopened January 23, 2015, following a complete renovation. * Loew's Paradise Theatre,

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Yo ...

(opened 1929) - Between 2005 and 2012 it operated as a venue for live entertainment. It is currently a church. * Loew's Valencia Theatre,

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

(opened 1929) - Remains open as a church, the Tabernacle of Prayer.

References

External links

Photographs of the Loew's Kings Theatre before renovation by Matt LambrosPhotographs of the Loew's Valencia Theatre by Matt Lambros

Blueprint NYC: Wonder Theatres
Season 5, episode 1 of Blueprint NYC from

NYC Media NYC Media is the official public radio, television, and online media network and broadcasting service of New York City, which has been called the media capital of the world. The network oversees four public television channels, a public radio sta ...

{{GeoGroupTemplate Cinemas and movie theaters in New York City Culture of New York City Theatres in New Jersey Movie palaces *