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Theaters
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September 16, 2004
New Legit Theater Replacing Water Tower Theatre
CHICAGO, IL — The new Drury Lane Theatre at the Water Tower Place shopping center on Michigan Avenue and Chestnut Street is nearing its opening early in 2005, according to this report from the Chicago Tribune.
The legitimate theater, which is based in suburban Oakbrook (and recently closed its long-time Evergreen Park theater, which is set to be replaced by a Wal-Mart), has chosen the artistic director and producer and is hiring the remaining staff from local theater companies.
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Sy Hirsch Reflects on Memories of the Victory
CHICAGO, IL — Just heard an interview with Seymour Hirsch, the reporter who broke the My Lai and Abu Ghraib stories, among others. He said that he was born in 1937 and remembered going every Saturday to the Victory Theater on the south side of Chicago.
Perhaps someone could contact him to get more information to add to the description on the Victory’s page…
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September 15, 2004
Clearview Cinemas Showing Its ‘Chelsea’ Pride
NEW YORK, NY — Sometimes having a drag of a time at the movies can be a good thing, according to this article in this past Sunday’s New York Times.
The nine-screen Clearview Cinemas, located in the Chelsea section of Manhattan and which opened its doors for business in the late 1980s, is more than just a cookie-cutter multiplex; it’s become a true neighborhood moviehouse, with its increasingly popular program offerings to the area’s gay and lesbian residents.
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August 30, 2004
Empire Theater Removal Debated
KANSAS CITY, MO — Kansas City Power & Light proposes to remove most of the building that once housed the Empire Theatre to build a new headquarters, according to this report from the Kansas City Star.
DST, the development firm proposes to build a 200,000-square-foot building on the block. The current plan calls for demolishing most of the Empire Theatre but saving part of the decorative facade.
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August 24, 2004
75th Anniversary - Mayan and Esquire Theatre
DENVER, CO — I am planning a 75th anniversary for two historic theatres in Denver for the Spring of 2005. More details to follow but I’m looking for photos, memories, clips, former employees, etc. It is surely to be a memorable event. If anyone has any information to share or a resource you think I should be directed to, please contact me at . Thanks for any assistance!
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August 20, 2004
“Faces of the Uptown Theatre” Celebrates Theater’s 80th Anniversary
CHICAGO, IL — To celebrate the Uptown Theater’s eightieth anniversary, the Friends of the Uptown have release a beautiful, four-color calendar for 2005.
Subtitled “Our history in terra cotta, plaster and people,” the calendar pays tribute to the architectural gargoyles of the Uptown’s elaborate Spanish Baroque-styled ornamentation and to the international constituency of people who have voiced support for renovating the Uptown Theatre. The calendar is free, volunteers said, so that it will be shared widely and will reward fans of Chicago’s history and architecture who have supported many city landmarks through memberships, donations, pledges, banquets and tours.
The free calendar can be downloaded from the Friends of the Uptown website.
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August 18, 2004
Blaze Destroys Historic Closed Texas Drive-In
WEATHERFORD, TX — Although the Jones Drive-In Theater hasn’t shown a movie in two decades, the huge screen tower has been a long-time landmark in the Weatherford area. The drive-in was destroyed by a fire on August 14th, leaving only the skeleton of the screen tower standing.
Fire department captain Chuck Beard said, “When I pulled up, I was remembering right off the bat. It made me feel a little sadness. I was about 18 when it closed, and remember it like it was yesterday.”
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CineArts at Sequoia Ceiling Collapses on Audience
MILL VALLEY, CA — On August 16th, a thirty square foot section of the ceiling of the CineArts at Sequoia theater collapsed onto the audience, injuring at least 27.
The CineArts at Sequoia opened in 1929, was twinned in the 1970s and underwent an $800,000 overhaul in 1999. For many years this theater was known at the Sequoia Twin.
Read more in this report from the Marin Independent Journal.
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August 17, 2004
Cascade Theatre Reopens to Public
REDDING, CA — The restored Cascade Theatre reopened to the public on August 14, 2004.
The $5.5 million restoration took five years and was helped by 1,500 donations, private and public, including a donation from Clint Eastwood who attended school in Redding.
These articles are from a special Record-Searchlight supplement about the reopening of the Cascade Theatre:
Community donors play starring role
Renovated theater puts fresh face on downtown
Now showing
Performance series, local acts fill Cascade playbill
Restored to glory, Cascade never looked so good
TOAST OF THE TOWN
THE SHOW MUST GO ON -
August 16, 2004
United Artists Theater Spawns Graffiti Debate
DETROIT, MI — For years now, there has been graffiti in the windows of the former United Artists Theater here in Detroit, and it has spawned a debate between historians, preservationists, and the art community. Is graffiti urban blight or is it art?
Now, the issue has spread to the media, as seen in this article from the Detroit Free Press.
The graffiti has been on the building since the late 1990s, when owner Mike Illitch left the building and theater open for months — an opportunity seized by vandals and graffiti artists.