Cameo Theatre

giosgirl,I will be calling your aunt again as I to enjoyed talking to her.I think your aunt is very lucky to have family who care so much for her…eastender

giosgirl,

please know that I meant no harm in mentioning the sale of the cameo. I understand your aunt is an elderly women with a love for the place she has spent her life taking care of. She is a lovely woman and we enjoyed the time she spent with us showing the theatre and talking about the past. At the time we did not realize she was not ready to let go, and were under the impression she was interested in selling. We only wanted to preserve what she had spent a lifetime taking care of and thought it would be great if she could see it brought back to life the way she remembered it. However we realized some time last year that that was not the case and have not
tried to contact her since. We wish her the best and hope many people in the community reach out to her and discuss the old days, it certainly seemed to make her smile. Again I am sorry if I offended you, we as an organization would never want to bother or
upset such a sweet person. Best of luck to your Aunt and her family.

DEAR READERS, FRAN ROBINSON IS MY AUNT. SHE GOT A CALL FROM A LADY TELLING THE STORY ABOUT THE DOG IN THE LOBBY, TO WHICH SHE DOES REMEMBER. SHE ASKED ME TO CHECK INTO THE CALL. SHE IS ELDERLY AND SICK, HOW EVER SHE DOES ENJOY TALKING ABOUT THE THEATRE. AS LONG AS THE CALL IS TO DISCUSS THE OLD DAYS. SHE IS NOT INTERESTED IN DISCUSSING THE SALE OF THE THEATRE. THAT THEATRE IS HER LIFE. MY AUNT AND UNCLE PUT THEIR LIFE INTO RUNNING IT. PLEASE UNDERSTAND IM NOT TRYING TO BE RUDE.SHE DOESNT WANT TO BE BOTHERED ABOUT SELLING. LIKE I SAID IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CALL AND TALK OF OLD TIMES THATS FINE. THANK YOU ALSO I SEE THERES PLACE WHERE I CAN ADD A PICTURE OF THE THEATRE, I WILL DO SO SOON.

littleAnne, thought you’d like to know i did call and talk to Mrs Robinson. She’s very delightful and great to talk to. She did remember my dog. She still takes care of the Cameo. She goes over there just about every day and recently had a new roof put on.She told me she never had children and considers the Cameo her “kid”.I’m going to try and keep in touch with her on a regular basis.

I myself do not have her address. Our realtor was the one in contact with her. She does live next door, she is a lovely lady but is elderly and not in great health. You may find her in the phone book under Fran Robinson. She really enjoys talking about the theater and the past. She is very attached to it. I am sure she would love to hear from someone such as yourself. We have not heard from her since late last summer when she was considering selling it. Good luck

Does anyone know who owned/ran the Cameo theatre in Binghamton in the early 1950’s?

I happened to drive past this theater today. I lived in Binghamton from 1981 to 1985 and I hadn’t seen this theater since then. Binghamton used to have a number of old, single screen theaters. Now, the movies in Binghamton are basically just two large, modern multiplexes without any character or charm.

Although this theater has been closed since 2002, it appeared (at least from the outside) to still be in fine shape — no deterioration or vandalism were noticeable. It is a shame that it is just sitting there and not used for any purpose. It was a real neighborhood theater. It is surrounded by houses, with a few commercial buildings across the street and there is no parking lot. Two of the other three single screen houses in the area have been demolished (Crest, Cinema Endicott) for commercial development (did we really need another chain pharmacy?). Luckily the Towne in Endicott survives as a performing arts center. I only wish someone could find a fitting use for the Cameo before it is too late to save.

Hello..

Anne, have you made any headway in finding out any more details on this theatre? You mentioned you wanted to use it for performing arts. Is it set up for that? Is there a stage? Usually it is much easier to convert a performing arts theatre-turned movie house, back to it’s original format. But converting a movie house, that was designed as such…is much harder. The capacity though is very nice, slightly small, but for intended purposes of hosting performing arts related functions, it should do. Moreover, since it was in use not too long ago, it will probably need very little work to be done.

I myself am looking to get into the theatre business myself and I have worked with performing arts schools in the past. Owning a theatre has been a dream of mine for a long time. Perhaps we can talk more via emails…I do not want to drop too much off topic stuff here.

But first and foremost. Do you even know if the theatre is for sale?

Geo

Fran Robinson lives next door—just go knock on her door.