Queens Theatre began as the Theaterama, one of three structures designed by renowned modernist architect Philip Johnson to comprise the New York State Pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair. Its neighbors were the triple Astro-View towers, with its 226 and 181-foot high observation decks and 85-foot high restaurant and lounge, and the Tent of Tomorrow, a massive open-air pavilion with a multi-colored fiberglass roof and large-scale map of New York State on its terrazzo floor.