The queen of Motown is going to let the good times roll at the Loew’s Kings Theatre in Flatbush at its grand reopening.
Diana Ross is set to reach out and touch a few thousand somebodies as the first act to take the stage on Feb. 3. The big show will reopen the picture palace that has been shuttered for nearly 40 years and is in the closing weeks of a nearly $100-million overhaul. A Brooklyn booster hailed the news.
“It is only fitting that the crown jewel of Flatbush, and one of the finest theaters in America, will have one of the greatest artists ever as its inaugural show,” said Chamber of Commerce head Carlo A. Scissura. “By bringing Broadway back to Brooklyn, the Kings Theatre will be a destination for people across the country — and Diana Ross is the perfect performer to raise the curtain.”
Opened in 1929 as a movie theater, the Kings Theatre was one of New York’s five sumptuously decorated Loew’s Wonder Theatres, and operated for decades alongside several other massive cinemas on Flatbush Avenue. It stopped operating, in the name of money, not love, in 1977, and in subsequent years lost light fixtures to thieves, ornate plaster-work to water damage, and red-velvet drapes to mildew.
In 2012, Ace Theatrical Group inked a deal with the city to restore the cinema to its former glory. The woodwork and marble floors were largely intact and the restorers, convinced that the mountain was high enough, but not too high to surmount, began a $94-million restoration of their love child, with taxpayers footing half of the bill.
Tickets for “An Evening with Diana Ross” are on sale now.
“An Evening with Diana Ross” at the Loew’s Kings Theatre (1027 Flatbush Ave. between Duryea and Regent places in Flatbush, www.kingstheatre.com/shows/an-evening-with-diana-ross). Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $100.
