RKO Proctor's 58th Street Theatre

154 East 58th Street at Lexington Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10122








This spectacular Thomas Lamb atmospheric first opened on December 20th, 1928, on the same site as Proctor's Pleasure Palace & Palm Gardens, which dated back to 1895 and was demolished to make way for what F.F. Proctor termed his "Greatest Triumph."

The theatre had two entrances and two marquees: one on East 58th Street and the other in mid-block facing the Third Avenue El. Tunnel-like lobbies connected them to the theatre's high-vaulted Grand Foyer, which had ornate staircases at each end that lead to the mezzanine promenade and balcony. The Spanish Renaissance auditorium with its "midnight sky" ceiling was similar to that of Lamb's Keith-Albee in Flushing, Queens, which was built simultaneously with the 58th Street and opened five days later. The 58th Street was especially notable for its huge balcony, which had almost as many seats as the orchestra floor and rose from above the latter's 12th row to afford good views of the stage attractions. That was unfortunate for patrons sitting further back in the orchestra because they could only see the balcony's underbelly and were cut off from the sky effects on the ceiling.

Proctor's 58th Street opened with vaudeville and a feature movie that was first-run for its neighborhood but had already been shown in one of the Broadway-Times Square showcases. There was a complete change of program twice a week. Perhaps because it was the first atmospheric theatre to be built in Manhattan, the 58th Street drew crowds for several months, but once the novelty wore off, attendance plummeted.

In 1929, the aged F.F. Proctor decided to retire and sold all his theatres to the RKO circuit. Out of respect, RKO kept his name on the 58th Street Theatre, and it remained RKO Proctor's 58th Street for a couple of decades before being shortened to the RKO 58th Street. RKO soon dropped the vaudeville and switched to double features, which were still first-run for that neighborhood. The nearest theatres on the East Side showing the same movies as the 58th Street were the Academy of Music on 14th Street and the RKO 86th Street.

Situated in a busy shopping district that included Bloomingdale's department store, the 58th Street did good business but rarely enough to fill its 3,163 seats. In 1956, RKO did some modernizing and reduced the seating capacity to about 2,000. However, that was still too large for that area of Third Avenue, where it had to compete with several new art theatres of 600 seats or less. Its operating costs were too high, and the value of its underlying ground was sky-rocketing.

In 1966, RKO closed the 58th Street and put a sign on the marquee that said "Go to the RKO 86th Street for the Best in Entertainment." The 58th Street was sold and demolished for a 39-story luxury building. To make up for its loss, RKO built a new twin cinema on 59th Street, which is now also ancient history.

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