Honeymooners_Myspace
03-18-2009, 12:27 AM
Hello everybody,
I just thought I would share these photos with Jackie's fans. Some of you know me, and some of you don't. My name is Ralph (aka Ralphie Boy), and I created The Honeymooners Official Myspace Fan Page about three years ago now. I am a Miami, Florida native and still live in South Florida, just a few minutes from Miami. This past weekend, my wife, son, and myself took a trip down to Miami Beach (South Beach).
The main parking garage for the area is literally located right next to the theater that Jackie used to broadcast his Miami Beach show from in the late 60's to early 70's. In 1987 when Jackie passed away, in tribute to him for all he did for the city of Miami and especially Miami Beach, they put his name on the theater, which became known as 'The Jackie Gleason Theater of The Performing Arts'.
It remained with his name on it since, and in 2007, the mega live concert promotion company Live Nation bought the theater. After talking to some people at Miami Beach city hall on the phone back at that time, they indicated to me that even they were unsure whether Jackie's name would still remain as part of the name of the theater after Live Nation took it over. I definitely crossed my fingers because you're talking twenty years worth of Jackie's name being part of that theater. I mean, Jackie's the one who put Miami Beach on the map, and the least they could do would be to continue the tribute to him using his name on the building. As you all know, after he left NY in the 60's, Miami and Miami Beach was HIS TOWN! Since I talked to the muckety mucks at Miami Beach's city hall in 2007, I noticed over the past year, every time there was a promotion on the local radio for a live concert at that theater, they were still including Jackie's name as part of the name of it, which was a HUGE relief to me.
So when I arrived down by the theater on Sunday, we took a walk over to the front of the building. When you see the front of it, it's like going back in time to the 1960's. It's just a cool feeling! The outside of the building has never been changed. If any of you have ever seen pictures of the outside of this theater from the MPI special production, 'The Great Gleason Express' (From The Color Honeymooners/Collection 1/Disc 3), the theater looks exactly the same on the outside. For any Jackie Gleason fan, it's just an awesome site. As you will see from the photo I took of the front of the building below, Live Nation has now named the theater, 'The Fillmore, Miami Beach, at The Jackie Gleason Theater'.
In addition to seeing the theater itself, outside on the grass of the front lawn lies another awesome site. This is a tall standing metal replica of the famous 'And Away We Go' stick figure that was used many times on television during the closing of many of his variety shows. If this isn't enough, the road that comes in from 17th Street on Miami Beach into the front of the theater is appropriately named, 'Jackie Gleason Drive'. I have photos for you to see of this below also. Enjoy everybody!
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/6422/gleasontheaterfront1h.jpg
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2483/ralphgleasonfigureresiz.jpg
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/5717/jackiegleasondrive1.jpg
Here is a REALLY cool shot of the theater that I found online (4/28/09) that I wanted to post here with the ones I took myself. Notice the difference in the name on the front than the photo I took above recently. This picture was obviously taken before Live Nation took it over, and when it was named 'The Jackie Gleason Theater of The Performing Arts'. Anyway, it looks REALLY COOL from a distance with Jackie's 'And Away We Go' stick figure in the foreground. Enjoy!
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/1640/jgtheater1n.jpg
I just thought I would share these photos with Jackie's fans. Some of you know me, and some of you don't. My name is Ralph (aka Ralphie Boy), and I created The Honeymooners Official Myspace Fan Page about three years ago now. I am a Miami, Florida native and still live in South Florida, just a few minutes from Miami. This past weekend, my wife, son, and myself took a trip down to Miami Beach (South Beach).
The main parking garage for the area is literally located right next to the theater that Jackie used to broadcast his Miami Beach show from in the late 60's to early 70's. In 1987 when Jackie passed away, in tribute to him for all he did for the city of Miami and especially Miami Beach, they put his name on the theater, which became known as 'The Jackie Gleason Theater of The Performing Arts'.
It remained with his name on it since, and in 2007, the mega live concert promotion company Live Nation bought the theater. After talking to some people at Miami Beach city hall on the phone back at that time, they indicated to me that even they were unsure whether Jackie's name would still remain as part of the name of the theater after Live Nation took it over. I definitely crossed my fingers because you're talking twenty years worth of Jackie's name being part of that theater. I mean, Jackie's the one who put Miami Beach on the map, and the least they could do would be to continue the tribute to him using his name on the building. As you all know, after he left NY in the 60's, Miami and Miami Beach was HIS TOWN! Since I talked to the muckety mucks at Miami Beach's city hall in 2007, I noticed over the past year, every time there was a promotion on the local radio for a live concert at that theater, they were still including Jackie's name as part of the name of it, which was a HUGE relief to me.
So when I arrived down by the theater on Sunday, we took a walk over to the front of the building. When you see the front of it, it's like going back in time to the 1960's. It's just a cool feeling! The outside of the building has never been changed. If any of you have ever seen pictures of the outside of this theater from the MPI special production, 'The Great Gleason Express' (From The Color Honeymooners/Collection 1/Disc 3), the theater looks exactly the same on the outside. For any Jackie Gleason fan, it's just an awesome site. As you will see from the photo I took of the front of the building below, Live Nation has now named the theater, 'The Fillmore, Miami Beach, at The Jackie Gleason Theater'.
In addition to seeing the theater itself, outside on the grass of the front lawn lies another awesome site. This is a tall standing metal replica of the famous 'And Away We Go' stick figure that was used many times on television during the closing of many of his variety shows. If this isn't enough, the road that comes in from 17th Street on Miami Beach into the front of the theater is appropriately named, 'Jackie Gleason Drive'. I have photos for you to see of this below also. Enjoy everybody!
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/6422/gleasontheaterfront1h.jpg
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2483/ralphgleasonfigureresiz.jpg
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/5717/jackiegleasondrive1.jpg
Here is a REALLY cool shot of the theater that I found online (4/28/09) that I wanted to post here with the ones I took myself. Notice the difference in the name on the front than the photo I took above recently. This picture was obviously taken before Live Nation took it over, and when it was named 'The Jackie Gleason Theater of The Performing Arts'. Anyway, it looks REALLY COOL from a distance with Jackie's 'And Away We Go' stick figure in the foreground. Enjoy!
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/1640/jgtheater1n.jpg