Jones Beach Theater | |
Former names |
Jones Beach Marine Theater (1952-94) |
---|---|
Address | 1000 Ocean Parkway Wantagh, New York 11793 |
Location | Jones Beach State Park |
Coordinates | 40°36'03.6"N 73°30'08.2"W |
Owner | New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation |
Operator | Live Nation |
Type | Amphitheatre |
Genre(s) | all |
Seating type | stadium |
Capacity | 15,000 |
Construction | |
Built | 1950 |
Opened | 1952 |
Renovated | 1992, 2013 |
Expanded | 1998 |
Website | |
www |
Jones Beach Marine Theater (1952-94)
Jones Beach Amphitheater (1994-2000)
Jones Beach Theater (2000-02)
Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theater (2002-06)
Nikon at Jones Beach Theater (2007-16)
Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater (originally Jones Beach Marine Theater) is an outdoor amphitheatre at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, New York. It is one of two major outdoor arenas in the New York metropolitan area, along with PNC Bank Arts Center. The theater was designed to specifications provided by Robert Moses, who created Jones Beach State Park.
Opened in 1952 as the Jones Beach Marine Theater, the venue originally had 8,200 seats and hosted musicals. Moses had several boxes designated for his own use, and Moses' friend Guy Lombardo performed often in the early years.
The opening show was the operetta extravaganza A Night in Venice by Johann Strauss II, produced by film producer, Mike Todd, complete with floating gondolas and starring Enzo Stuarti, Thomas Hayward (tenor), Norwood Smith and Nola Fairbanks. Lombardo's final show was the 1977 production of Finian's Rainbow, with Christopher Hewett in the title role. After Lombardo's death in 1977, the series resumed in 1978 with Annie Get Your Gun, starring Lucie Arnaz. Beginning in the 1980s, the primary focus of the venue would change to concerts.