Theater Honoring Fallen Soldier

This theater located in Long Island is the only year round theatre company in the area. Many of the actors come from those who have tried out for Broadway productions. The theater pays these actors well and brings them into Long Island by limo. The theater is in the heart of the Northport village and is in the middle of restaurants and shops. The theater was recently renovated and it now offers stadium seating, a full bar and piano lounge, and an orchestra pit. Tickets are $60 for musicals and $50 for plays. There are season ticket packages available. Performances are Thursday through Saturday nights 8 pm, Saturday matinees at 3 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm and 7 pm. The seating capacity is 400 people.

The theater is an old movie house that was built in 1912. It not only showed movies but Vaudeville performances, political rallies, kid recitals, graduation ceremonies, and even a basketball game. The movies shown in the theater started as silent films and were shown for a quarter for kids and 50 cents for adults. In 1913, the trolley added a trip to and from the theater. In 1932 the theater was damaged in a fire started in the car dealership next door but was restored with 754 seats, as a "fireproof'' construction the same year. The theater featured many of the most popular films of the day and continued to be a cutting edge destination for years to come.

In 1950 the theater began another set of major renovations and a steel marquee was added to the theater. There was a lobby remodel, stage curtains added, new seats added, and air conditioning was installed. The renovations cost nearly $100,000, which was the cost of the construction of the replacement building following the fire. In 2006, after several more renovations and building sales, the theater was purchased by the O'Neill family. They renamed the theater after Patti O'Neill's brother Chief Warrant Officer Four John W. Engeman who died in Iraq in May of that year.

The theater remains a strong part of the community and makes for a wonderful tribute to O'Neill's brother. People from all over Long Island visit the theater for some of the best performances in the area. The theater makes it a priority to treat the performers with great respect and pay them a salary that makes working in Long Island worth their time. Many of the performers are talented enough to work on Broadway. Recent performances have included Miracle on 34th Street, Run for Your Wife, Rent, Smoky Joe's Cafy, Barefoot in the Park, Jekyll and Hyde, A Wonderful Life, and Always... Patsy Cline.

The theater offers a variety of children's programs that aim to get children interested in not only enjoying theater performances but performing in the theater themselves. Programs include Creative Dramatics for 4 to 6 year olds, Introduction to Broadway for various age groups, and Musical Theater: How to be a Triple Threat for 13 to 17 year olds.

For a unique theater experience in Long Island, visit the John W. Engeman theater.