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RKO Mayfair

AKA: RKO Mayfair Theatre / Loew's Mayfair / DeMille / Mark I-II-III / Embassy 2-3-4
Cine 1 & 2 / Agee 1 & 2 / West Side Cine 1 & 2
Doll Theater

This block was once home to three movie theatres. The RKO Mayfair Theatre (seats 1,735) was built in 1930 in the gutted space of the old Columbia Burlesque Theatre, a Beaux-Arts theatre that opened in 1910. The name was changed to the DeMille around 1960 when the space was used for reserved-seat "Road Show" blockbuster films. The theatre was crudely triplexed by blocking off the balcony and dividing it in half - leaving a space in the middle so the projection room could still be used for the main floor screen. The Embassy 2-3-4 name was used since the Embassy I was one block south at 1560 Broadway. The theatre closed in 1998 and remained vacant when I took these photos in Fall 2006.

The Cine was a 488-seat twin that started life in the 1970s as a Spanish-language twin. The theatre was down a flight of stairs with only the box office at street level. The theatre later descended into live porn as the Show Follies until being closed in the 1990's conversion of Times Square into Square Times. When I visited it was a rental space run by Sage Theatre with the old marquee used as an advertising billboard.

The 160-seat Doll Theatre was the northernmost of the three theatres and featured a live sex show between features. It became a deli - Bon Appetit!

Next: RKO Madison