Lafayette Theatre (Suffern) facts for kids
The Lafayette Theatre is a famous movie theater in Suffern, New York. It was built in 1923. This special theater shows new movies. It also has fun events like its popular weekly Big Screen Classics film shows. A cool thing about the Lafayette is its Wurlitzer theatre organ. This organ plays music before the classic movie shows.
Contents
History of the Lafayette Theatre
The Lafayette Theatre got its name from Marquis de Lafayette. He was a hero from the American Revolutionary War. He fought with General George Washington near Suffern. The theater's story began when the Suffern Amusement Company wanted a new movie theater. They hired a famous architect named Eugene De Rosa. He designed the theater on Lafayette Avenue.
De Rosa's design mixed different styles. It had Adamesque features, which are elegant and classical. It also had touches of French Renaissance and Italian Renaissance styles. These were blended in a Beaux Arts way. The theater also had a special Möller pipe organ. This organ played music for silent films and live shows.
Early Years and Changes
The Lafayette Theatre opened in 1924. Its first movie was the silent film Scaramouche. The theater was very popular in the 1920s. It showed movies and hosted live vaudeville shows. In 1927, the theater was updated. They added special opera boxes. Soon after, new equipment was installed to play sound films.
In the mid-1930s, an air-cooling system was put in. This meant the original pipe organ had to be removed. The beautiful first chandelier was also taken out during this time.
Movies and Modern Updates
After World War II, people started watching movies differently. Television became popular. The Lafayette Theatre changed to keep up. In 1953, they installed equipment for 3-D films. Many 3-D movies were shown there. Later that year, the Lafayette was the first theater in Rockland County to get CinemaScope. This allowed them to show wide-screen movies with stereophonic sound. The first wide-screen movie was The Robe in late 1953.
The theater's popularity went down in the 1950s and 1960s. More people moved to the suburbs. Television became the main way to watch entertainment. But the Lafayette was lucky. It was not torn down. It also wasn't split into many smaller theaters, which happened to many old movie palaces. In the late 1980s, the old stage was fixed up. The New York Theatre Organ Society installed a new pipe organ. This was the Ben Hall Memorial Mighty Wurlitzer.
New Ownership and Restoration
In the late 1990s, the Lafayette's future was unclear. Then, Robert Benmosche bought the theater in 2001. He lived in Suffern and was a chairman of MetLife Insurance. He saw the theater's potential. He made important repairs to the roof and outside of the building. This stopped more damage from happening.
In late 2002, a company called Majestic Star Entertainment took over. Nelson Page ran this company. They agreed to operate the Lafayette as a single-screen movie theater. This made sure the unique building would not be divided. Page and his team fixed up the inside of the theater. They brought back its fancy pre-war style. They also added modern movie projectors and snack areas. In September 2003, a beautiful chandelier was put back in the ceiling. This was the first time since the 1930s.
Today, the Lafayette is a great example of a single-screen neighborhood theater. It is a popular landmark in Rockland County. It still shows new movies every day. It also has special programs to keep up with what people like. A weekly series of classic films started in 2003. These shows happen on Saturday mornings. They bring in many movie fans each week.
In 2013, JACA Entertainment took over the theater. Ari Benmosche runs it now. It has continued to be a single-screen movie theater since then.
The Wurlitzer Organ at Lafayette
The Wurlitzer theatre organ is a special part of the Lafayette. The New York Theatre Organ Society (NYTOS) owns and takes care of it. The organ is played every Friday and Saturday night. It is a favorite part of the Big Screen Classics shows on Saturday mornings. Jeff Barker was the main organist from 2002 until 2013.
The Wurlitzer Opus 2095 left the Wurlitzer factory on January 31, 1931. It was installed in the Lawler Theatre in Greenfield, Massachusetts. It was the last Style 150 organ that Wurlitzer ever built. Like many small-town movie theaters, the Lawler was closed and torn down in the 1950s and 1960s. The organ was moved to the Rainbow Roller Rink in South Deerfield, Mass. It was not used much there.
The rink owners sold the organ to Ben Hall. He was a famous theater historian. In 1968, he and some friends moved it to his home in New York City. Hall passed away in 1971, and the organ needed a new home again.
The American Theatre Organ Society received the organ from Ben Hall's estate. It was sent to California. The plan was to put it in a museum at the Harold Lloyd Estate. But the museum plans did not work out. So, the organ was sent back to New York City. NYTOS installed it in the Carnegie Hall Cinema. Opus 2095 played there for over ten years. Then, Carnegie Hall was restored. The cinema was changed, and the organ was removed and stored.
When Al Venturini and Good Samaritan Hospital worked to fix up the Lafayette Theatre, Dave Kopp from NYTOS contacted them. He asked about putting the organ in the Lafayette. Everyone agreed it was a perfect place for the organ. Work began in November 1990. Volunteers worked countless hours. Nearly $20,000 was donated. The organ played again for the first time in its new home in December 1992. Since then, it has entertained audiences at the Lafayette Theatre. It continues the grand tradition of the American Theatre Organ.
Honors and Recognition
The Lafayette Theatre has received special recognition. In January 2005, USA Today named it one of the "10 Great Places to Revel in Cinematic Grandeur." It was on a list with famous places like New York City's Ziegfeld Theatre and Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
