RKO Prospect Theatre
327 9th Street near Fifth Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215
B.F. Keith’s Prospect Theatre opened as a vaudeville house on September 14, 1914. As designed by William H. McElfatrick, the auditorium had a "baroque" interior and 2,381 seats. For the first years, its programs came from Keith’s Palace Theatre on Broadway, Manhattan. In 1916, films were added to the program.
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| Interior (c.1946) |
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In May 1929, the theatre dropped vaudeville and became a movie palace. The name was changed to RKO Prospect Theatre in 1930, and in 1933 vaudeville shows returned to the theatre. In the 1940s, the interior was stripped of much of its decoration.
The RKO Prospect closed in 1967 and the building was converted to have apartments on the upper floors and a supermarket on the ground floor. |
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Wurlitzer Organ Company
North Tonawanda, N.Y. – Opus 1497 (1926)
Electro-pneumatic action
Style H Special
2 manuals, 11 ranks
The second organ in the RKO Prospect was built in 1926 by the Wurlitzer Organ Company. Known as a "Style H Special," Opus 1497 deviated from the standard "Style H" 10-rank specification because it included an additional one-rank Echo (8' Vox Humana) and did not have a Piano. Wurlitzer's Opus 1497 had a factory date of October 30, 1926.
In 1960, the Wurlitzer organ was removed and put into storage. About 14 years later, it was moved to Pittsburgh, Penn., and rebuilt and enlarged to three manuals and 19 ranks. The organ was subsequently installed in the Keystone Oaks High School just outside of Pittsburgh, where it is maintained by the Pittsburgh Area Theater Organ Society. |
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Pedal – 32 notes
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16 |
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Tuba Profunda |
8 |
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Flute |
16 |
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Bass Diaphone |
4 |
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Octave |
16 |
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Bourdon |
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Bass Drum |
8 |
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Harmonic Tuba |
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Kettle Drum |
8 |
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Diaphone Diapason |
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Crash Cymbal |
8 |
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Tibia Clausa |
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Cymbal |
8 |
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Clarinet |
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8 |
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Cello |
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3 Adjustable Combination Toe Pistons |
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Accompaniment (Manual I) –- 61 notes
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16 |
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Contra Viol (TC) |
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Chrysoglott |
16 |
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Vox Humana (TC) |
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Snare Drum |
8 |
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Harmonic Tuba |
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Tambourine |
8 |
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Diaphonic Diapason |
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Castanets |
8 |
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Tibia Clausa |
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Chinese Block |
8 |
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Clarinet |
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Tom Tom |
8 |
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Kinura |
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8 |
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Orchestral Oboe |
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Accompaniment 2nd Touch |
8 |
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Viol |
8 |
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Harmonic Tuba |
8 |
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Viol Celeste (TC) |
8 |
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Diaphonic Diapason |
8 |
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Flute |
8 |
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Clarinet |
8 |
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Vox Humana |
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Cathedral Chimes |
4 |
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Piccolo |
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Xylophone |
4 |
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Viol |
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Triangle |
4 |
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Viol Celeste |
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4 |
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Flute |
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10 Adjustable Combination Pistons |
4 |
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Vox Humana |
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2 2/3 |
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Twelfth |
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2 |
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Piccolo |
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8 |
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Echo Vox Humana |
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Solo (Manual II) – 61 notes
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16 |
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Tuba Profunda |
4 |
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Viol Celeste |
16 |
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Bass |
4 |
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Flute |
16 |
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Tibia Clausa (TC) |
2 2/3 |
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Twelfth |
16 |
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Bourdon |
2 |
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Fifteenth |
16 |
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Contra Viol (TC) |
2 |
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Piccolo |
8 |
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Harmonic Tuba |
1 3/5 |
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Tierce |
8 |
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Diaphonic Diapason |
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Cathedral Chimes |
8 |
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Tibia Clausa |
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Sleigh Bells |
8 |
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Clarinet |
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Xylophone |
8 |
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Kinura |
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Glockenspiel |
8 |
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Orchestral Oboe |
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Orchestra Bells [re-it] |
8 |
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Viol |
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Chrysoglott |
8 |
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Viol Celeste (TC) |
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8 |
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Flute |
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Solo 2nd Touch |
8 |
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Vox Humana |
16 |
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Tuba |
4 |
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Harmonic Clarion |
8 |
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Tibia Clausa |
4 |
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Octave |
8 |
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Clarinet |
4 |
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Piccolo |
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4 |
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Viol |
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10 Adjustable Combination Pistons |
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Tremulants (4)
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Main |
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Tuba |
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Solo |
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Vox Humana (Echo) |
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Vox Humana |
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General
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Balanced Main Pedal |
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Balanced Solo Pedal |
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Balanced Echo Pedal |
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Effects
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Surf |
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Bird |
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Fire Gong |
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Train Whistle |
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Auto Horn |
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Horse Hoofs |
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M.P. Möller, Inc.
Hagerstown, Md. – Opus 1361 (1912); installed 1918
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 14 stops, 14 ranks
Automatic Player
This organ was built in 1912 by the M.P. Möller Company for the Mecca (14th Street) Theatre, Manhattan, at a cost of $3,000. The organ included a 65-note roll player, and had a wind pressure of 6". In 1918, the organ was moved to the Prospect Theatre in Brooklyn. |
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Great Organ (Lower Manual) – 61 notes, enclosed
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8 |
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Horn Diapason |
61 |
8 |
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Oboe |
61 |
8 |
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Violin Dolce |
61 |
8 |
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Clarinet |
61 |
8 |
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Doppel Floete |
61 |
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8 |
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Violoncello |
61 |
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Swell Organ (Upper Manual) – 61 notes, enclosed
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8 |
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Violin Diapason |
61 |
4 |
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Flute d'Amour |
61 |
8 |
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Concert Flute |
61 |
8 |
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Cornopean |
61 |
8 |
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Oboe d'Orchestre |
61 |
8 |
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Vox Humana |
61 |
8 |
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Viole Celeste (TC) |
49 |
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Pedal Organ – 30 notes
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16 |
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Contra Bass |
30 |
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Couplers
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Swell to Great 16', 8', 4' |
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Swell to Pedal |
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Swell to Swell 16', 4' |
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Great to Pedal |
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Great to Great 4' |
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Mechanicals
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Tremulant |
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Wind Indicator |
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Crescendo Indicator |
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Combinations
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Pistons No. 1-2 affecting Swell Stops |
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Pistons No. 1-2 affecting Great Stops |
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Pedal Movements
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Great to Pedal Reversible |
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Balanced Swell Pedal |
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Grand Crescendo Pedal |
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Sources:
Cinema Treasures web site: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1390
Here's Park Slope web site: http://www.heresparkslope.com/home/2009/4/23/then-now-thursday-rko-keiths-prospect-theater-327-ninth-stre.html
Junchen, David L., comp. and ed. by Jeff Weiler. The WurliTzer Pipe Organ – An Illustrated History. Chicago: The American Theatre Organ Society, 2005.
Junchen, David L. Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. 1. Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1985.
Kaufmann, Preston J. Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. 3. Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1995.
Pittsburgh Area Theatre Organ Society web site: http://www.theatreorgans.com/PATOS/index_files/PATOSWurlitzer.htm
Trupiano, Larry. Factory Specifications of M.P. Möller organ, Op. 1361 (1912).
Illustrations:
Brooklyn Collection, Brooklyn Public Library. Prospect Theatre (1914) and RKO Prospect Theatre (1966).
Here's Park Slope web site. Exterior (1940s) and Interior. |
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