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Theaters
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October 2, 2002
Newly Restored Print Of “This Is Cinerama” Debuts Friday
HOLLYWOOD, CA — As we previously reported, the newly restored print of “This Is Cinerama” opens Friday for a one-week run at the Cinerama Dome at the Arclight Cinemas. TIC will be screened in its original 3-strip format!
For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit the Arclight Cinemas website. Michael Kinerk and Dennis Wilhelm, co-authors of “Popcorn Palaces”, recently wrote a commentary for the Miami Herald detailing the wonders of this first-ever Cinerama feature.
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Grand Theatre Conversion Project Continues to Expand
MUSKEGON, MI — Developers have expanded their plans for the shuttered Grand Theatre to include not only a conversion into hotel rooms, but additional space for 25 condominiums as well. According to the Muskegon Chronicle, the $15-20 million project has now ballooned from its original $5 million estimate.
The proposed project would transform the former movie house into a 60-80 room hotel with 25 additional condominiums. No timeline or financing information is yet available, but the Grand’s days as a movie house seem to be over.
The Grand closed in 1999 and laid dormant for three years until it was purchased in May 2002 by a local businessman and his wife. After spending $30,000 to determine whether the theater could be transformed into a 700-seat performing arts center, they quickly changed their plans and the theater has since been slotted for renovation into hotel space using the shell of the original building.
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Lombard Nearing Vote To Restore Historic DuPage Theatre
LOMBARD, IL — We received the following notice today from the Friends of the DuPage Theatre:
I would like to encourage anyone visiting this site to write to us at: . We are … a not for profit entity that has recently been formed to take on the task of educating the public about our little theatre. To update everyone interested, the theatre is still in limbo as of today, but a vote from the Village Board is expected within the month to go forward with restoration.
Current estimates are in the neighborhood of $6.1 million for the theatre and shops. The plan is to leave the theatre in its original 1928 form with a few modern conveniences (the bathrooms were non existant!), and turn the theatre into a performing arts venue for live programs, weddings, conferences, movies, art shows and just about anything else you could imagine.
Another minor addition would be a thrust stage to increase the ability for live performances. Seating capacity from 500-800 total. We currently have several theater groups who are in desperate need of space waiting in the wings to use the Theatre. We are always looking for donations, so if you would like to help out, or are interested in knowing more about our group, please e-mail .
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September 30, 2002
No More Movies At England’s Oldest Movie House
BEVERLEY, ENGLAND — England’s oldest cinema, The Picture Playhouse, has just suspended programming of its “pictures” due to increasingly difficult competition from a newly-built UGC multiplex in nearby Hull.
According to the Hull Daily Mail, the 91-year-old theater will continue on as a venue for live music and festivals, but movies, which have being exhibited at the theater since 1911, will be suspended.
Fewer and fewer patrons have been coming to the Playhouse since the UGC at Kingswood Leisure Park opened and the theater is now reviewing its operations with the possibility of bringing films back two nights a week in December.
The aging theater is also awaiting news on a 67,000 pound bid to the National Lottery for an 87,000 pound refurbishment scheme. Theater management has said that if movies do return, they will only remain if audiences turn out to support them.
We’ll keep you posted…
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September 27, 2002
World’s Smallest Movie Theater Opens Today In England
Nottingham, England — The world’s smallest movie theater, The Screen Room, opened today for only 21 patrons. Smaller than its Australian counterpart, the Terrace Theatre, by only one movie theater seat, The Screen Room will debut with the documentary, “Lost in La Mancha”.
According to www.icsouthlondon.co.uk, the tiny movie house has been constructed out of an old jeweler’s workshop and plans to show a mix of art house and second-run commercial programming.
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UTCA Working Feverishly To Secure Funding For The Uptown
CHICAGO, IL — The Uptown Theatre and Center for the Arts is working at breakneck speed to gather enough funds to purchase the palatial Uptown Theatre by October 4th. UTCA officials will be all over the radio in the coming days getting the word out to the public on:
- WUSN-FM 99.5 FM, on Sunday, 9-29-02 between 6-7 AM
- WNND-FM 100.3 FM on Sunday, 9-29-02 from 7:30 AM – 8:00 AM
- WLUW-FM 88.7 FM, on Friday, 10-04-02 at 2:30 PM.
- WBEZ-FM 91.5 FM, will air a report on or about 10-04-02
The group is also seeking any donations and recently sent in the following message:
The time to donate is now. We have only [ONE WEEK] left to raise the remaining funds to take ownership and begin restoration of this national treasure.
Your donations are secured in a bank account we opened solely for the purchase of the Uptown Theatre: “Uptown Theatre and Center for the Arts – Building Purchase Account.” If we do not close on the building, all monies will be refunded.
There are a number of ways to give:
- Online donations: www.uptowntheatrechicago.com (click on DONATE to the left and fill in the form)
- Mail checks to our office: Uptown Theatre and Center for the Arts, 4707 N. Broadway, Suite 315, Chicago, IL 60640
- Wire money into our deposit-only account, named “Uptown Theatre and Center for the Arts Building Purchase Account”: Harris Trust and Savings Bank, 111 W. Monroe Street, Chicago, IL 60603, Phone # (312)461-2121, Routing #071025661, Account #2960228589.
Time is of the essence. Be a part of the 2nd chapter of the Uptown Theatre and help “Bring Back the Brilliance!”
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September 26, 2002
Landmarks Commission Blocks Demolition, Saving Modern Theatre
BOSTON, MA — In another victory for local preservationists, the Boston Landmarks Commission voted on Tuesday to block the demolition of the Modern/Mayflower Theatre paving the way for its renaissance alongside the Opera House and the Paramount Theatre.
According to the Boston Globe, the Boston Redevelopment Authority is now working to purchase the theater from the Levin family or take it by eminent domain. Work on the theater is estimated to cost $5 million and could bring the theater back to life as a mixed use venue for movies and live performances.
Meanwhile, the $15 million restoration of the Paramount’s interior is about to get underway, and the Opera House, which won its court case this week, should soon begin a $30 million expansion, renovation, and restoration project.
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Foundation To Support Senator Theatre; Expand Operations
BALTIMORE, MD — Through a series of strategic legal and financial moves, the Senator Theatre will soon be leased and operated by a non-profit entity, the Senator Theatre Foundation, which will also assume operation of the long-shuttered Rotunda twin theater nearby.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the moves will help keep the Senator Theatre afloat and will give its operator, Thomas Kiefaber, a move-over house in the newly renamed, Rotunda Cinematheque. When the system is in place, the Foundation plans to show first-run films in the Senator and then move them over to the Rotunda.
The plan has been in place for nearly a year pending funding which is now coming in the form of a bank loan, half of which has been secured through the city of Baltimore. The theaters will be run by the newly formed foundation which is currently pending IRS approval. With the Rotunda, the Senator should be able to book more first-run movies by giving them a longer life with both theaters in operation.
The Rotunda closed last year as part of Loews Cineplex' bankrupcty reorganization. The Senator, meanwhile, is one of the best presentation movie houses in the country and has a cult-like following amongst its celebrity and everyday patrons. These moves should help future generations enjoy this Art Deco movie house treasure.
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September 25, 2002
Hawaii Theatre Posts A Profit; Plans Restoration
HONOLULU, HI — The Hawaii Theatre has finally posted a profit in its sixth year of operation after reopening in 1996 following a seven year restoration effort. According to the Pacific Business News, the theater ended the fiscal year with a net profit of $178,000 and has reduced its outstanding debt to $1.5 million.
The theater’s $10.5 million capital campaign recently received a $500,000 Kresge Foundation grant and $1 million from the state and is now within $2 million of completion. With the funds, the theater hopes to first pay down the remaining debt and then restore the exterior of the former movie palace and install a new “movie marquee”.
The Hawaii Theatre was originally opened in 1922 by Consolidated Amusements which operated the theater until 1984 when it was finally shuttered. Saved from the wrecking ball, the theater was carefully restored and then reopened as a performing arts center.
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No Fat Lady Singing At This Opera House
BOSTON, MA — The final legal hurdle has been removed in Clear Channel Entertainment’s battle to restore and reopen the aging Opera House/Keith’s Memorial in Downtown Crossing thanks to a Superior Court judge who ruled in favor of the city and against a condominium complex which had sought to block the theater’s expansion efforts.
According to the Boston Globe, with the ruling, Clear Channel now plans to spend $30 million to redevelop, renovate, and restore the 2,500-seat palace into a venue for touring Broadway productions. The theater has been closed for over a decade and is need of substantial repair.
The early Thomas Lamb theater was built as a memorial to B.F. Keith and was a popular vaudeville venue for years. The theater later switched to movies as part of the RKO circuit and was the jewel of the Sack Theatres empire when it was known as the Savoy.
It was taken over by Sarah Caldwell in 1991 as a venue for opera, but the project ran out of money and the theater has changed hands and arrangements several times over the last decade. It appears, thankfully, that the Opera House will be back and better than ever.
Mayor Thomas Menino, who helped spearhead its revival, is proving to be one of the best friends a movie palace could have in goverment office and is now moving ahead with more plans to “revive” the Paramount and Modern theaters which are just a few doors down from the Opera House.
If all three of these theaters go back in operation and the Wang Center, Orpheum and Majestic are still delighting patrons, Boston would become a must-see destination for historic theater fans. When was the last time you could say that?