Historic Theater Recalls Dramatic Past

It was a 75-year-old historic movie theater in trouble. There was a town-wide petition to save it. A momentous rescue effort by two homegrown heroes followed and a modern performing arts center now shines on the small, downtown strip.

Very fittingly, the history of the Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts is a perfect script itself.

"This was where people went, this was the place to be," said Ken Washington, who currently owns the theatre with his wife, Laura.

The original one-screen movie house with over 500 seats and balcony first opened in 1932, in a time before Long Island was populated with sprawling mall complexes, multiplex cinemas and corporate chain restaurants.

The theater was a center of cultural life in Smithtown, playing classic productions like Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, and possibly some vaudeville shows. In 1968, United Artists purchased the theater to show second run movies for just $2 a ticket.

But over these 70 years, life slowly moved away from the downtown area and in 2001 United Artists put the Smithtown Movie Theater up for sale, unable to compete with the commercializing Suffolk County economy.

Rumors circulated throughout town that it was going to be demolished and it was then that the History for Our Children committee of the Historical Society brought a Save The Theatre petition to the town council. More than 8,000 residents signed the petition.

According to Washington, the rumors of demolition actually ended up being untrue. But the building was up for sale and Washington made the decision to purchase it.

"It was something I had been looking to do for 20 years," Washington said.

Over the next several months, the theater underwent renovations to transform it into a performing arts center. A stage, sound, lights and other additions were added, but "nothing that would upset the theater's original aesthetics," Washington said.

In October 2002, the former historic movie building opened as a live theatre and more than 1,500 performances premiered on its stage in the first six years alone.  The center also hosts workshops and camps for aspiring actors and separate youth productions.

In 2008, the theater's history took another turn – Washington transferred the operations of the Smithtown Center of the Performing Arts to the Smithtown Performing Arts Council, a non-profit organization. Laura and Ken continue as managers under the newly formed Board of Directors.

The decision was for the center's future. "The primary purpose of this action was to create a coalition in the community bound by the desire to see the performing arts always be available in Downtown Smithtown and to see this historic building always remain as a centerpiece to the landscape of the Smithtown Community and Long Island," Washington wrote on the theater's Web site.

The center is currently showing The Marvelous Wonderettes until Aug. 29, and this fall Annie and Man of La Mancha will be performed.

Tickets are available online as well as by phone at the Smithtown box office, 631-724-3700, or TheaterMania, 866-811-4111.