Movie House to Cultural Beacon: Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center
By Gavin Fontanez
In the summer of 1996, the Village of Westhampton Beach was known less for family charm than for late-night chaos following a racially motivated attack outside Club Marakesh, which closed soon thereafter. Then, in September the United Artists Cinema, which had been a Main Street fixture since 1932 that was struggling, closed its doors. What happened next was a miracle that transformed the village’s character.
A determined group led by retailer and president of the Westhampton Beach Village Improvement Society (WBVIS), Lon Sabella, and investor Len Conway refused to let the old movie house become another casualty of modernity. Sabella had tracked the property for five years.
“I thought if we could get a performing arts theater, it would reinvigorate the businesses and restaurants” Sabella told 27east in 2018. The WBVIS bought the rundown theater in May 1997 for $300,000 and in just one year, volunteers raised 60% of the $2.8 million needed for renovations. The Mollie Parnis Livingston Foundation also provided a $250,000 lead gift to support the renovation.
Legendary composer Marvin Hamlisch, a founding board member for the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center (WHBPAC) who’s well-known for iconic scores for James Bond films and Broadway classics like A Chorus Line, performed the first benefit concert. Daytime TV star Susan Lucci, best known for her portrayal of Erica Kane on ABC drama All My Children, introduced him, rehearsing her lines in the ticket booth because no dressing room existed. A week later, she donated $10,000 to have one built.
General contractor Roger Stevens worked at cost, completing renovations in seven months. Architects and a theater consultant (whose credits included Carnegie Hall) donated their expertise, preserving the building’s Colonial Revival and Greek Revival details including sconces, chandeliers, woodwork, and the period marquee. The building originally opened in June 1932 as the Westhampton Theatre, with Governor Alfred E. Smith attending the premiere. On July 4, 1998, the WHBPAC opened.
The impact was immediate. New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., then village attorney, called the theater “the anchor of the entire business district,” shifting the village’s reputation from nightclub haven to vibrant downtown, according to 27east at the time. Today, the 425-seat theater hosts up to 60 performances annually, drawing 35,000 visitors who dine and shop locally. The Nancy and Frederick DeMatteis Arts Academy, funded by a $1 million gift, serves 10,000 students yearly.
A 2018 New York State Council on the Arts capital grant funded restoration of the original marquee with new neon and LED elements. When executive director Julienne Penza-Boone took over in April 2020, she steered the organization through COVID keeping all nine full-time employees working without furlough by pivoting to virtual and outdoor performances. “We truly are a world-class entertainment venue.” Penza-Boone told Dan’s Papers in 2024.
Current expansion plans include a flexible performance space, dressing rooms, teaching spaces, and a gallery. To facilitate this work and guarantee that the restored theater building remains a permeant part of the community, in 2023 the WHBPAC sought and obtained Town of Southampton designation as an historic landmark. This designation enabled the PAC to obtain funding in the form of an historic façade easement from the Town’s Community Preservation Fund (CPF). These actions ensure that the theater building will continue to anchor the Village’s Main Street in perpetuity and that funding will be available for maintenance and growth.
From a shuttered movie house slated for demolition to a cultural beacon that helped rescue a village’s Main Street, the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center proves that the most transformative acts begin in a community’s refusal to let its heart go dark.
Be sure to join the Greater Westhampton Historical Museum this summer for their upcoming events! And check out out WHBPAC Summer 2026 Guide here.
May 30, 10 a.m.–2 p.m., Great Lawn, Westhampton Beach
Join WHBPAC for their Colonial Americana Craft Fair – free admission! Watch colonial demonstrators bring 1776 to life with flax and wool spinning, basket weaving, candle dipping, jam making, colonial cooking, and more. Fun for all ages!
June 11, 4–7 p.m., Anchored in History Summer Fundraiser at the Westhampton Yacht Squadron
Enjoy hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and auctions for memorabilia, trips, and treasures – all supporting a great cause. Tickets: $75 Members, $100 non-members. Purchase online via Zeffy or mail a check to P.O. Box 686, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978.
Gavin Fontanez is the Executive Director of the Greater Westhampton Historical Museum.
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