Five years after the Westhampton movie theater shuttered and three years of renovations under new ownership, the marquee is once again shining bright.
Now called the Sunset Theater, the cinema reopened its doors on Friday, April 25, with a ribbon-cutting celebration at the location of the original theater, built nearly 100 years ago.
“What kept us going throughout this project was a deep belief that small-town or village movie theaters have a uniquely positive impact on their communities. They contribute to the cultural and social heartbeat of a village and make it more vibrant and engaged,” said Inge Debyser, one of the project’s founders. “It was important to us to revive the space with charm and character. We hoped to create an experience that felt personal and inviting, distinct from the corporate, high-volume feel of larger cinema venues. That intention guided every design decision, from the materials we selected in the screening rooms to the layout of the concession stands.”
Debyser was one of four women who formed a company called Enthusiasm LLC to purchase the theater at 2 Brook Road in April of 2022 for $1.15 million. Then called the Hampton Arts Cinema and one of the last independent movie theaters operating on Long Island, it had been closed since mid-2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The last known owner, Harvey L. Kaylie, an innovator in the radio-frequency/microwave industry who had a home in the area, died in 2018, and the theater’s future was unclear. Marketed as retail space when it went up for sale, the 8,580-square-foot building sits prominently at the gateway of the village’s business district, at the head of Brook Road on the traffic circle diagonally across from the Westhampton Police Department and Village Hall.
The new partnership quickly formed plans for a gut renovation, working with Westhampton Beach architect Nicholas Vero to modernize the building, while also retaining nods to the theater’s past. They debated names, but ultimately decided to go with Sunset Theater, a name inspired by the discovery of arches made to look like sunsets when old wooden wall paneling was dismantled in the lobby.
Not Just a Westhampton Beach Movie Theater
The Westhampton Beach movie theater dates back to the 1920s. Harry E. Nugent built the Hampton Star Theatre, at Six Corners, as the area was known, in 1927 and the original building contained not only the theater but the first Westhampton Beach Village office, as well as a candy and ice cream business, according to the Westhampton Beach Historical Society.
A fire gutted the structure on February 13, 1933, according to research from Briana Halsey Rogers, a genealogist and local historian, whom Behind The Hedges spoke to in 2022. The roof and rear wall of the theatre collapsed, and flames spread to a candy store and an oil burner showroom in the same building, The Daily News reported at the time. Nugent, his wife and their two children were asleep in a second-floor apartment when the fire broke out. They barely had time to make it outside, after passersby awakened them, before the walls collapsed.
Nugent eventually rebuilt the theater and is said to have reopened in 1947.
The building became home to theatrical groups and performances. In 1951, Ron Rawson, a radio and television announcer, opened the Westhampton Playhouse. A newspaper clipping showed it was billed as the largest summer theater as it sat over 700 people, “putting it in the same class with Westport’s (Conn.) famous Country Playhouse.”
It was a place to see and be seen. Famous actors, actresses and singers took to its stage. Paula Laurence, a Broadway musical comedy star who worked with Orson Wells and Cole Porter during her career, performed in “A Connecticut Yankee.” Kay Francis starred in Funny Reflections at the theater, following her 1930s film career when she was the highest-paid actress at Warner Bros. studio. Rise Stevens, a Metropolitan Opera star and East Quogue summer resident, “launched the 1952 Subscription Drive” at the Playhouse.
In 1952, a “show bus” was added “to transport patrons from Patchogue and waystops to the Westhampton Playhouse,” Newsday reported.
Casting a New Era for the Movie Theater
The new design embraces its Art Deco past as the owners restored elegant, old-Hollywood aesthetics.
Sunset Theater features two screens with seats for 143 and 141. They will primarily showcase first-run films alongside a rotating repertory of curated classics and contemporary gems during quieter release weeks.
Opening weekend featured The Legend of Ochi as the new release and a rotation of ET, The Iron Giant, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Bridesmaids, The Fifth Element, Mad Max: Fury Road and Pulp Fiction, as the well-curated selection of repertoire movies. Tickets can be purchased through the website at www.sunset-theater.com.
They aren’t worried about competing with streaming services, as Debyser said she views them more as a replacement for traditional television than movie theaters. “Streaming a good film beats watching random television, but going to the movies is something fundamentally different. It is about stepping out of your home, sharing a moment, engaging in a collective experience. That sense of connection is irreplaceable.”
“The future of movie theaters lies in that intersection of cinema and connection,” added Samantha Adam, a co-founder. “The theater becomes more than just a place to watch films — it becomes a space where people gather, reflect and connect — with each other and with the stories on screen.”
A new upstairs cocktail bar offers guests a place to meet and unwind.
“To become more than a movie theater, creating space for a bar was a very important part of our vision and we are thrilled with the result,” Debyser said. “The Sunset Social Club has a warm and personal ambiance, a full liquor license and a small bites menu. Live music on the weekends and a great martini is something we are personally looking forward to.”
While owned by Enthusiasm LLC, the theater is being operated by Sunset Theater LLC, which promises to collaborate closely with a forthcoming nonprofit arts organization to bring special programs, film education and community-driven cinema initiatives to Westhampton Beach. They have hoped to model the structure of the theater after seeing the successful Sag Harbor Cinema restoration, which was undertaken by a nonprofit after the fire in the building in 2016.
The reopening celebration on Friday included a ribbon-cutting with the Westhampton Village Board and, of course, free popcorn. The Westhampton Beach Historical Society also honored the owners with an award recognizing their preservation efforts and their role in safeguarding a piece of the village’s architectural and cultural heritage.
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