Smithtown Center Performing Arts

A Brief History: The Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts Theatre is located at 2 E. Main Street in Smithtown, NY. It opened in 1932. It was a one-screen movie house with over 500 seats and a balcony. It is not confirmed but a manager that used to work there said that vaudeville shows were performed at the theatre possibly before it was a movie house. It was purchased by United Artists and became a discount second run movie house. You could see films that had already been out for a while for about $2. It eventually closed up and could have been demolished, but over 8,000 Smithtown residents signed a Save The Theatre petition and it became a live theatre playhouse in October 2002. Now the theatre host concerts and live shows.

Haunted History: A little known fact it that when it was a discount theatre, the projectionist would operate both the Smithtown and Northport Theatres simultaneously by driving back and forth. Tragically one night somewhere in the Kings Park area, the projectionist was killed in a car accident. Another former projectionist who worked their later claims you could see his ghost on the balcony. Also claims were that if projection equipment were to break, it would mysteriously be fixed by the next day before the service technician would have arrived.