1/24/2024 0 Comments Starlight billiards nyc![]() ![]() ![]() It was thrilling and exciting, there was a sense of immediacy that was wonderful. But nothing prepared me for the my first real musical theater at The Tent. I was raised in a family with a love for theater, especially musical theater.My brother and I were weaned on Rogers and Hammerstein LPs and gorgeous Technicolor movie musicals. The memory of the sights and smells of The Tent are right up there with Coppertone, swimming pool chlorine and orange Popsicles when I think of summer. My family went to the Tent at least 3 or 4 times each summer. Other nights, the excitement of the show vied for attention with the crashing and booming of thunder and flashes of lightning. Some nights it was hot and steamy and still, but there always seemed to be a slight breeze blowing through the flaps of the brightly striped orange and green iconic tent. When it opened, there were only about 2,000 seats. It was summer theater at its best. It was the place many baby boomer kids saw their first theater production or professional musical act. It went by many names over the years: the Colonie Musical Theater, the Colonie Summer Theater, the Colonie Colosseum, and the Starlite Theater, but to locals, it was always “The Tent”. The Colonie Summer Theater was THE place for summer entertainment in the Albany area in the 1960’s. Not Just Names on the Wall Albany NY on the Vietnam Virtual Wall Albany NY See my blog post about the other 35 from Albany who died. They were 2 among a group of about 7 boys, all friends, who went off to the War, 3 of whom died, as did others from Albany. He sensed his own imminent death, and begged Rich’s mother to allow him to be buried next his buddy when the time came. Marine, Mike DeMarco, killed in Vietnam in April, 1968, who wanted to be buried with his buddy, Rich Rockenstyre, another Marine and good friend, killed in Vietnam in August, 1967. Bicentennial Billiard Ball (Courtesy of Joseph Caruso, whose mother worked in the factory at that time.)Ī U.S. Bob Richey Photo Archive) Billiad Ball Co factory workers late 1970s (Courtesy of the Albany Times Union. The Billiard Ball Factory c 1985 (Courtesy of the Albany Times Union.) Billiad Ball Co factory workers late 1970s (Courtesy of the Albany Times Union. Women inspecting and packing billiard balls in the 1930’s. It went out of business in the mid 1980’s. The Hyatt “composition” ball, with a celluloid base, dominated the sport until the 1960s. Celluloid, besides being the base of photographic film, was a substitute for ivory, long the prime substance in billiard ball manufacture. John Wesley Hyatt (1837-1920) was the inventor of the celluloid billiard ball. It was a fixture of my childhood, belching smoke (God only knows what was in it.) The Billiard Ball factory was in my neighborhood when I was growing up. ![]()
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