Monday, April 21, 2025
For years, Tony Leone, 53, said he had an obsession with vacant commercial properties, and every time he walked past a building with a For Sale sign plastered on the window, he’d have the same thought: Could this be a theater?
About five years ago, while he and his wife, Marla D’Urso, walked past a restaurant for sale in Valley Stream, Leone voiced his longstanding thought. He recalled her casual, yet sincere suggestion that he try to buy the building.
“I was just dreaming,” Leone recounted telling his wife. “You mean this dream could come true?”
That particular building didn’t work out, but Leone and D’Urso eventually turned his fantasy into a reality with Strongbox Theater, at 40 Main St.
Strongbox, a name that nods to both the banking term for a safe-deposit box and its role as a black box theater, now occupies the former East Rockaway National Bank and Trust Company building, which had been vacant for seven years before the couple purchased it in 2020.
The pair plans to open the professional theater with a bar and lighter fare in spring 2026, which will host local creatives in theater, comedy and music.
In May, Strongbox will produce a short play festival directed by John Torres, of Long Beach, in collaboration with Bethany Congregation Church at 100 Main St.
Torres and the actors have rehearsals at the theater, and will join the stage at the church to celebrate the theater’s full-scale construction date.
Torres and a panel of judges chose six 10-minute plays out of the 450 received submissions.
He said the various plays— a curated blend of comedies and dramas — will utilize a minimalist set design to provide the audience with a seamless showcase of acts.
“That way people can let their imaginations go wild,” Torres said.
Torres said festivals allow him to unearth theatrical gems that otherwise wouldn’t be perfomed.
“What that experience showed me was that there were so many plays on this earth that are on bookshelves, and until you actually do them, it's just literature,” Torres said.
Torres said his collaboration with Leone hinges on their mutual pursuit to offer a new theater experience.
For Leone, that means using his 5,300 square-foot space to respond to the community’s ideas and provide a relaxed alternative to the herd of theatre-goers in Manhattan.
“In a traditional theater in Manhattan, you’re like cattle coming in, and cattle going out,” Leone said.
While the average Broadway show in Manhattan is $150 per ticket, Leone said the average ticket at Strongbox will be less than $70.
Before buying the theater, Leone worked in logistics at World Courier, a pharmaceutical company in New Hyde Park.
He started the theater business through a combination of his own retirement savings and family inheritances. But he admitted that he didn’t anticipate how much the carrying costs, such as building the theater and implementing the designs, would accumulate.
In 2023, Leone said, he and his wife, started renovations from scratch when it became apparent previous architects were not suited for developing a theater.
The over 100-year-old building requires a massive overhaul of leveling floors, gutting bank infrastructure, and maintaining insulation.
They hired theater consultants, and ultimately brought in a new team from Think! Architecture and Design and East End Building Co.
“Do your homework,” he said. “I didn’t do enough homework. But we’re a lot smarter now than we were four years ago.”
Leone said the learning curve taught him to surround himself with supportive people, and the East Rockaway community and village have been an accessible vessel of knowledge throughout the process.
“We really appreciate everyone’s patience because we got off to a bad footing, but we’re on track now,” he said.
Raised in Bellerose, Queens, Leone said he was introduced to East Rockaway when his house caught on fire as a child.
His family friends, living in the area, welcomed the Leone family into their home, and he attended Rhame Avenue Elementary for a semester.
After living in Valley Stream for over 20 years, he and D’Urso moved to Rockville Centre a few years ago.
“This is our geography, so I want to be a part of it and leave a legacy,” Leone said. “I think we’re resurrecting this building.”
For tickets to the show running Friday and Saturday, May 2-17, at 8 p.m., visit StrongBoxTheater.com.
