[1] Adapted from the former Theaterama at the 1964 New York World's Fair, the theater was part of Philip Johnson's then $6 million construction project that also included observation towers and an open-air pavilion called the "Tent of Tomorrow.

[3] The theater is next to the Unisphere at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, an area that also includes Citi Field, the Queens Museum of Art, and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The audience stood and viewed a travelog of New York State projected on screens lining the inside of the circular room.

[10] The theatre suffered financial setbacks in 1974, Kutrzeba blaming a lack of support by the New York State Council on the Arts and the Queens Cultural Association.

[11] In November 1974, Kutrzeba left Queens Theatre to pursue a career as a Broadway producer with The Lieutenant, a musical based on the trials resulting from the Mỹ Lai Massacre.

[12] The production had started at the Queens Playhouse before it moved to Broadway where it was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical but closed after a short run.

[4][5][14][15] The conversion was a "wonderful success" according to Queens Borough President Claire Shulman, who said she was an attendee at the 1939 World's Fair (held at the same site) as a little girl.

The theater has been a venue for the Independent Film Showcase and is intended to meet the various interests of the diverse population of Queens.

[18] The work completed in 1993 improved acoustics and added a public elevator, additional lighting and rigging, "front-of-house catwalks", and reworked the facades.

[21] During the 1996–97 season it had attendance of 90,000 people at more than 300 performances of theater, music, dance, children's shows and workshops, films and festivals.

[30] Based on "testimonies of borough residents as they contended with the early days of the pandemic," curated by the Queens Memory Project, "I See You And You See Me" was directed by Harris Doran and starred Deirdre Lovejoy, Deborah S. Craig, Pooya Mohseni, Khalid Rivera, James Seol, and others.

Contributing writers included Harris Doran, Douglas Lyons, Kaffy Abdul, Seo-Young Chu, Sto Len, and Sheena Pachon.

[31] The theater building's facade originally contained rectangular openings at ground level, which have been variously infilled with masonry or glass bricks.