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The latest movie theater news and updates
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October 18, 2016
Dunwoody, GA - When will the historic Brook Run theater in Dunwoody be demolished?
From The Atlanta Journal Constitution:
The 102-acre Brook Run Park in Dunwoody includes a dog park, a community garden, a skate park, a playground, a trail and even a zip line course.But one thing it soon will not include: a beloved 34,000-square-foot building built in 1966 that served as the “de facto town center for the Georgia Retardation Center for more than 30 years,” according to a July letter to city officials from the nonprofit support group, Brook Run Conservancy.
Hundreds of people — including Rodney Mims Cook Jr., who is credited with saving the Fox theater in the 1970s — wanted the building to be saved.
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Flint, MI - Historic finds uncovered as Capitol Theatre renovations continue
From Mlive.com: It’s a landmark that’s been around longer than most Flintstones.
Yet, not even experts leading the restoration know all the hidden secrets the historic Capitol Theatre holds.
“Very often on historic restoration projects, we hear about the conditions that you find that make things more complicated or add time or add money,” said Jarret Haynes, CEO of the Whiting Auditorium. “But sometimes, you find things that you say, ‘Wow, we didn’t know this was here, and we could refurbish this restore this and even more bring back the character of this lobby of what the original design intent was.’”
Haynes said the latter has mostly been the case with the $32 million Capitol project, which began when The Whiting and Uptown Reinvestment Corp. acquired the building in July. The Whiting will manage operations at the Capitol.
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Clarksville, TN - After Three Decades, Film Returns to the Roxy Regional Theatre
From BroadwayWorld.com: In 1980, after the last credit rolled off the big screen at the final showing, the Roxy movie theater closed it doors, reopening three years later as a live performance theatre.
Now, over three decades later, Roxy Regional Theatre Executive Director Ryan Bowie is bringing film back to the corner of Franklin and First in historic downtown Clarksville with the “Planters Bank Presents…” film series.
“After years of our box office fielding calls about what movies were being shown, and with the introduction of many new programs at the theatre this season, the timing was perfect to bring film back to the Roxy,” Bowie notes. “Our goal, moving forward, is to try to appeal to the needs and wants of the entire community. If Clarksville wants film back in this iconic theatre, then we are going to work that into our programming for the future.”
Sponsored by Planters Bank, the series will feature vintage flicks and modern classics, presented on Sunday afternoons in the theatre’s 153-seat auditorium.
“Planters Bank is thrilled to be involved with film being introduced back at the Roxy Theatre,” says Suzanne Langford, Middle Tennessee Senior Marketing Executive for Planters Bank. “There are many people who have fond memories of going to the movies at The Roxy and Capitol Theatres in downtown Clarksville so many years ago. The film series will provide a great way for family and friends to spend Sunday afternoons in downtown Clarksville, making new memories while enjoying the jewel that is our Roxy Theatre. Planters Bank is delighted to play a part in this exciting new endeavor.”
In anticipation of Halloween, the inaugural showing in the series will be the 1993 comedy Hocus Pocus on Sunday, October 23, at 2:00pm.
Originally purchased for a project through the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Creative Placemaking grant program, the equipment for screening the films is on permanent loan to the theatre from the Clarksville-Montgomery County Arts & Heritage Development Council.
“The Arts & Heritage Development Council recently collaborated with the Roxy in airing a film series about Clarksville’s past, present and future. The series was produced through a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission, and funds from the grant purchased a projector and screen,” says Ellen Kanervo, Executive Director for the Clarksville-Montgomery County Art & Heritage Development Council. “We thought there could be no better way to continue the spirit of the grant than by bringing downtown Clarksville’s past — when locals gathered at the Roxy to see the latest "picture show” — into its present and future — when locals can again gather at the Roxy to see some of those same productions. We are pleased to offer the projector and screen to the Roxy to show movies once again in this historic venue."
Admission to each film in the “Planters Bank Presents…” series is $5 (cash or check only). Tickets will only be available at the door one hour prior to showtime, and popcorn and bottled water will be available as concessions. Upcoming films include the following:
HOCUS POCUS Sunday, October 23 @ 2:00pm
Halloween night will never be the same after three 17th century witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy) are accidentally conjured up in present-day Salem, where they brew a hilarious cauldron of mischief and mayhem!
Rating: PG
Runtime: 95 minutes
Release Year: 1993
Director: Kenny OrtegaABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN Sunday, October 30 @ 2:00pm
Two hapless freight handlers (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello) find themselves encountering Dracula (Bela Lugosi), Frankenstein’s creature (Glenn Strange) and the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) in this 1948 American horror comedy classic.
Rating: NR
Runtime: 83 minutes
Release Year: 1948
Director: Charles BartonTHE WIZARD OF OZ Sunday, November 6 @ 2:00pm
In this much-loved musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s classic novel, Kansas girl Dorothy and her dog, Toto, are whisked by a tornado into the magical land of Oz, where they are joined by the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion on an adventure down the Yellow Brick Road to persuade the Wizard to help her find her way home.
Rating: G
Runtime: 101 minutes
Release Year: 1939
Director: Victor FlemingE.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL Sunday, November 13 @ 2:00pm
Elliott, a lonely young boy, summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home-world in this classic sci-fi adventure which captures that strange moment in youth when the world is a place of mysterious possibilities, and the universe seems somehow separate from the one inhabited by grown-ups.
Rating: PG Runtime: 115 minutes Release Year: 1982 Director: Steven Spielberg
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK Sunday, November 20 @ 2:00pm
Archaeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis in this action-packed adventure, the first in the original trilogy cooked up by the dream team of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
Rating: PG Runtime: 115 minutes Release Year: 1981 Director: Steven Spielberg
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE Sunday, November 27 @ 2:00pm
In Frank Capra’s classic holiday comedy/drama, an angel (Henry Travers) helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman, George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.
Rating: PG Runtime: 129 minutes Release Year: 1946 Director: Frank Capra
WHITE CHRISTMAS Sunday, December 4 @ 2:00pm
A successful pair of nightclub entertainers (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) become romantically involved with a sister act (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen) and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general in this musical romantic comedy featuring the songs of Irving Berlin.
Rating: NR
Runtime: 120 minutes
Release Year: 1954
Director: Michael Curtiz -
Decatur, IL - Decatur’s Lincoln Square Theatre to mark 100th birthday
From The Miami Herald: —
A historic theater in downtown Decatur is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a birthday party and a variety of shows.
The Herald & Review reports (http://bit.ly/2e8OcdQ ) the Lincoln Square Theatre is showing Halloween-themed movies throughout October. The birthday party, with live music, snacks and dancing, is set for Friday.
Adam White is president of the theater. He says while the building is old and needs work, when people come in “it’s like visiting an old friend.”
Lincoln Square Theatre first welcomed guests on Oct. 27, 1916, when more than 1,000 people dressed in suits and gowns filled the seats to watch the play “Hit the Trail Holliday.”
Over the years it drew performers such as Louis Armstrong and comedian Bob Hope.
Restoration of the building began in the 1990s.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/celebrities/article108653777.html#storylink=cpy
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Ashtabula, OH - Shea’s remaster moving forward
From The Star Beacon: After buying Shea’s Theatre earlier this year, Dominic and Dom Apolito of DMS Recovery, have spent the past four months renovating it.
They plan to restore the theater and turn the front part of the building into a bar and restaurant, said Dom Apolito, vice president and chief of marketing.
“We found marble floors underneath the carpet at the main entrance,” he said. “We are going to clean it up and make it look brand new.”
A few weeks ago, workers discovered several old newspapers well preserved inside the walls.
“We have been working little by little,” he said. “We have the original projection camera, ticket boxes and many other historical pieces.”
He believes the $3 million project will be done in about two years.
Earlier this year, Dom’s father, Dominic Apolito, bought Shea’s from Ashtabula County Council on Aging for $20,000, according to the Ashtabula County Auditor’s Office.
The Apolitos then gave a donation to the Ashtabula Senior Center, he said.
“We are cleaning the building to ensure that it will be ready for construction,” Dom Apolito said. “In the process, we are finding and recovering historical artifacts and pieces."
They are hoping to raise $50,000 at a GoFundMe account at www.gofundme.com/sheastheater for the renovation of the actual movie theater in the back of the building. So far, they have received $400.
They are paying out of their own pockets to restore the front of theater, where they are going to have the restaurant and bar.
At one time, Shea’s Theatre, 4634 Main Ave., had thick carpeting, plush seating, wall murals and a water fountain. Built in 1949 in an architectural style called Streamline Moderne, Shea’s Theatre is one of the last of its kind.
Most recently, it served as the Ashtabula Senior Center.
Two years ago, the Senior Center moved to a vacant bank building at 4184 Main Ave., donated by Ashtabula businessman Ken Kister.
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Augusta, ME - Augusta developer pitches plan to expand, revitalize Colonial Theater
From CentralMaine.com: A plan to restore and reopen the neglected but historic Colonial Theater includes adding a 13,000-square-foot, multi-story building next to it, an ambitious timeline for the work, and a schedule of as many as 300 shows a year in the hope that it could bring culture, people and revenue to the city’s downtown.
Organizers of nonprofit efforts to restore and preserve the vacant theater, which is between Water Street and the Kennebec River, said the region is starved for the performing arts, they already have acts and shows they could bring there, and the theater would bring people to fill the city’s downtown and area restaurants and other businesses.
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October 14, 2016
Conway, NH - Conway movie theater named to US historic register
From NH1.com: A group of storefronts in Conway has been named to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Bolduc Block with Art Deco features was designed to have four shops and a theater on the first floor and offices on the second. The theater entrance has gold-painted wooden frames designed to hold movie advertisements.
Throughout its history, Bolduc Block’s storefronts were occupied by a variety of businesses, including a pharmacy, grocer, department store, sewing store, telephone business offices and post office.
The building’s exterior has changed little. Despite a fire in the theater in 2005, the interior still has many features from the 1930s, including light fixtures, cast iron radiators and cushioned brocade fabric wall panels in the lobby.
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Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre to add Moroccan-style lounge, rooftop bars
From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Imagine sipping a hand-crafted cocktail with the iconic Fox marquee glimmering behind you as you overlook the hustle and bustle of Atlanta’s Peachtree Street. Come fall 2017, it won’t just be a dream.
The Fabulous Fox Theatre’s renovation of a 10,000-square-foot event space into the new Marquee Club lounge and rooftop marks its most significant expansion and its biggest financial undertaking since the popular theater opened in 1929.
Patrons will have access to the club’s five bars: one on the main level of the club, one on the mezzanine level and three on the rooftop.
With a server-to-guest ratio of 10-to-one, line-busting technology and intermission pre-ordering, members will be able to enjoy their shows with ease.
The club will also offer hors d’oeuvres, self-serve desserts and coffee. Additional amenities include private restrooms, coat check and a dedicated lobby elevator for club patrons.
The intricate Moorish grillwork and color palette of muted gold and earth tones throughout the club were chosen with the historic building in mind, Adina Erwin, Fox Theatre’s vice president and chief operating officer, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The Fox was our muse,” she said.
A hint of blue brings in the element of the sky and the Fox star can be found on both the carpeting and on the club’s main level ceiling.
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Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY - Restoration of Black Lady Theatre Underway in Crown Heights
From DNAinfo.com: Behind new glass doors covered in thick construction paper, the Black Lady is getting a serious makeover.
The building at 750 Nostrand Ave., once known as the Black Lady Theatre, has been closed for years, notable only for an eye-catching mural on its facade of a woman shooting laser beams from her eyes at a besuited man.
The distinctive painting has now been removed — but temporarily, according to Omar Hardy, who is restoring the theater with his father, Clarence, the one-time partner of the building’s former owner, the late John Phillips.
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Kingman, AZ - Zombie Fest proceeds to help renovate Beale Street Theater
From The Daily Miner: When Kristina Michelson walks through the dilapidated Beale Street Theater, she sees the glass as half full.
Plaster is peeling off the walls, the ceiling shows large blotches of water damage, electrical wiring is spliced and exposed, pipes are rusted and broken, and the interior is generally in shambles.
“It’s got potential,” insists Michelson, cofounder of Kingman Center for the Arts, a nonprofit group formed earlier this year with a mission of renovating and restoring the theater that was most recently home to Boston Antiques.
It’s going to be a while before crowds come into Beale Street Theater to watch live dance and theater productions and classic movies.
There’s no timetable for opening at this point, as the group must raise about $500,000 to complete construction work necessary to bring the building up to code, Michelson said. The fire sprinkler system alone is estimated to cost $80,000.
“Our first step was to set up the 501©, and we recently got that from the IRS. Now we can move forward with materials testing on the property,” she said.
The building has undergone several material and structural assessments in the past without any major issues, Michelson noted, and a volunteer architect with the nonprofit group is preparing a detailed report of the building and its operating systems.
In the meantime, Kingman Center for the Arts is forging ahead with plans to develop arts-based programs here, starting with the Art in the Park fundraiser held in August.
On Saturday, the group is holding Zombie Fest 2016 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Metcalfe Park, 315 W. Beale St. It features a live theater production of “10 Ways to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse,” a play that Michelson came across while researching for Art in the Park.
The play has a cast of 15, including Michelson’s son, Spencer, a freshman at Lee Williams High School who will be playing the part of one of the zombie survivors.
There’s also a preshow comedy act, flash-mob dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” photo booth, games and concessions. Cost is $10.
Kingman Center for the Arts is putting on two children’s theater productions of “The Nutcracker” Dec. 2-3 at Lee Williams High School, and recently held auditions for “A Christmas Carole.”
Originally from Utah, Michelson is an advocate of the arts with teaching and performance experience in music.
She plays piano, saxophone, clarinet and oboe, and was in a professional hand bell choir in Las Vegas before moving to Kingman about three years ago.
She hooked up with Sara and Nate Peterson, who bought the theater for $150,000 and cofounded the Kingman Center for the Arts.
A third-generation artist and art teacher, Sara Peterson had a vision to create more opportunity for arts in Kingman and was the catalyst for Kingman Center for the Arts.
To learn more about the organization or to volunteer, go to the organization’s web site at www.bealestreettheater.com.
“We want live theater and there’s nothing to stop us from getting a theater program up and running in this community,” Michelson said.
The theater opened in 1939 at Fourth and Beale streets, and was built by Harry Nace as part of the Lang movie chain. It closed in 1979, and later operated as a church and furniture store.