Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre Celebrates 90th Year With Diverse Slate

The 3,000-capacity venue first opened its doors in 1929 as a Loews Theatre, dropping the curtain on the silent film era and ushering in the talkies. 

The theater was renovated in 2015, and will embark on an ambitious expansion to raise the capacity by 500.

The Kings has launched a series of intimate performances in their ornate lobby space, featuring everything from their Kings Comedy Lounge, which premiered on July 19, to music, literature, spoken word and other eventsto be announced. The venue’s street-facing courtyard space was opened last year and most recently housed a fair and fitness series with next-door neighbors, Crunch Fitness, but it routinely functions as a hang space for theatregoers, offering open air food and drink from local vendors. 

The upcoming schedule includes dates from Phantogram (9/5), The Raconteurs (9/7) as well as a special 90th birthday weekend Happy Hour Tour (9/6) and additional Historic Tours (9/21, 9/28)

Flastbush native Kerby Jean-Raymond and fashion brand Pyer Moss’ “Collection 3” will be the first foray into fashion for Kings Theatre (9/8). 

Other special appearances include best-selling authors Malcolm Gladwell (9.10) and Ta-Nehisi Coates in conversation with N.Y. Times’ investigative journalist Nicole Hannah-Jones (9/24).

Finding Ashley Stewart 2019, back for its third year (9/14), will feature The Real’s Loni Love, seminal hip-hop homies Salt N’ Pepa, icon Faith Evans and Kid Capri, among others. while the following evening sees comedian Eric Andre’s Legalize Everything Tour.

Also on tap: Andrew Bird (9/17), Paulina Rubio (9/27), The Wailers (10/2), The Head and the Heart (10/4), Bethel Music (10/12), Dermot Kennedy (10/22), Jenny Lewis (10/24), Sleater-Kinney (10/30), Sugur Ross’ Jonsi and Alex Somer (10/31), King Diamond (11/7), EDM/EMB House Music featuring French DJ/producer, Gesaffelstein (11/21/22) and podcast mavericks, the McElroy Brothers (10/17-18). 

Film takes the theatre to its roots with two nights of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Live (9/19-20), as well as screenings of Napoleon Dynamite (10/15) and The Blair Witch Project (10/16), both featuring post-screening Q&A with actors and filmmakers. 

Theater-wise Baby Shark Live! (11/8) and  two performances of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer the Musical (12/1) are on tap, as well as the annual  Kings Cares Thanksgiving Luncheon (11/28) in the Courtyard and a Thanksgiving Comedy Fest (11/30). Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker (12/7) and the Brooklyn Nutcracker (12/14) also return.

To climax the celebration, Bon Iver returns (12/4-5) in collaboration with nine-member contemporary dance company TU Dance, featuring choreography by Uri Sands and new music by Justin Vernon.