Theater Prepares for Rebirth on Ocean City Boardwalk

More than 90 years after it first opened as a movie theater on the Ocean City Boardwalk, the Moorlyn is preparing for another grand opening.

The new Moorlyn Family Theatre will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 25. A full schedule of first-run movies will follow, and the tentative schedule includes "Iron Man 3," "Epic," "Home Run" and "Star Trek: Into Darkness."

The revival of the small-town theater comes in the age of the multiplex and is made possible by the Ocean City Tabernacle, which purchased the theater in October 2012.

The four-screen seasonal theater on Moorlyn Terrace just off the Ocean City Boardwalk had been listed for sale for since January 2011.

“The theaters have reached their peak,” Bruce Frank, president and CEO of Frank Entertainment, said at the time. “They’ve seen flat growth or declining growth. Our focus is on the larger theater projects.”

But the Tabernacle sees an opportunity to maintain family entertainment on the Boardwalk — a mix of movies, live shows and community events.

The Moorlyn screens will feature family movies, nothing R-rated, according to Seth Bazacas, artistic director for the theater.

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the building had to be fully restored with new electrical, heating and air-conditionining systems, new floors and a new roof, Bazacas said. The theaters have been updated with a full digital projection system and new sound systems, and some of the spaces have been equipped with new lighting and sound equipment for live shows.

A professional Frankie Valli tribute show is scheduled to open July 1 and run Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evenings. An Ocean City Theatre Company musical revue will run Wednesdays. Ventriloquist and comedian Taylor Mason will perform on Thursdays.

Free late-night entertainment will start at 10:30 p.m. every Saturday and provide a safe place for teenagers to go.

Some movies will include post-screening discussions, Bazacas said.

"We want to create this idea that it's an event to come to the theater," he said. "Some of it will be Christian. Some just good summer family fun."

Bazacas said the theater has the potential to maintain a year-round schedule and certainly will include isolated events throughout the year.

For more information on the Moorlyn Family Theatre, visit www.moorlynfamilytheatre.org.

At the same time, the Strand Theater, a block away at Ninth Street and Boardwalk, will open for the season on Memorial Day Weekend and feature "The Great Gatsby" and "The Hangover Part III."

A different partnership involving the Ocean City Tabernacle has helped revive two of the Strand's five screens, and the theater will remain open for the summer season.

The building that became the Moorlyn Family Theatre was constructed in 1905 and contained a bowling alley, according to Ocean City historian Fred Miller. It was converted to a movie theater in 1922.

After the Boardwalk was reconstructed and moved following a devastating 1927 fire, the Moorlyn itself was moved 355 feet closer to the rebuilt Boardwalk in 1929, according to Miller.

The Moorlyn served as a movie theater, vaudeville theater and dance hall at different times. The building included a grand staircase to a hall heated by a fireplace in one corner. 

The 2012 purchase of the theater was made possible by a donation from a single group benefactor.

"The gift was conditional upon the purchase," a news release from the Tabernacle stated at the time. "The Trustees of the Tabernacle Association voted to accept the gift at a special meeting August 10, 2012, following two years of discussion with donors. The Trustees expressed 'great appreciation' for this generous contribution and indicated their confidence that it will be used with good stewardship to serve the residents and visitors of Ocean City. No mortgage was necessary, but the Tabernacle will need to raise the funds to convert to digital movies and to add a stage for live programs."

The property was initially listed at $5.5 million in January 2011 but included five commercial and one residential units. The Tabernacle purchased only the portion that includes the theater screens and lobby.