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Theaters
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February 12, 2010
Seoul’s Silver Theater tailors films and policies to seniors
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — While some American theaters have recently targeted a more mature audience by providing cocktail service and other physical amenities, Seoul’s Silver Theater (formerly the Hollywood) attracts the fifty-plus crowd by its mix of films (it tends to favor classics) and by its “relaxed” admission policy (patrons can attend all scheduled showings during a day for a single admission). A corporation provides a subsidy to keep the theater going.
While the theater attracts pockets of the younger crowd, it is clearly not for everyone. The screenings are often delayed and many of the people from the senior set chat freely or walk in and out of the theater even after a screening has started.
According to Kim, senior citizens often have difficulty staying focused for an entire film and may go outside for breaks. That’s why the Silver Theater offers three consecutive screenings from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., she says, and people are free to sit through all three screenings.
Read more in the Joogang Daily.
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February 11, 2010
Lease expiring on Berkeley’s Oaks Theater; new operator sought
BERKELEY, CA — Metropolitan Theaters of Los Angeles will not be renewing its current lease on the twin-screen Oaks Theater when it expires at the end of this month. The current owner would prefer to keep the theater operating and hopes that a northern California theater management firm would become the leasee.
Currently, no plan is in place for theater operations come March 1. One longtime employee, who asked to remain anonymous, was confident that another theater operator would step in: “This is a wonderful spot here. It’s a wonderful location. You really can’t miss here. Someone will definitely pick it up. I have very high hopes for it.” Officials at Metropolitan Theatres could not be reached for comment.
A tip received by the Express suggested that Oaks employees had cited Rialto Cinemas, which operates the Elmwood in Berkeley and took over the newly renovated Cerrito Theater in El Cerrito from Speakeasy Theaters last July, as a potential suitor. Ky Boyd, proprietor of Rialto Cinemas, would neither confirm nor deny such reports. He was, however, aware of the lease’s upcoming expiration. “We’re always looking for other opportunities,” he said, but declined to comment further.
There is more in the East Bay Express.
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Future of Atlantic Theater in Long Beach is cloudy at best
LONG BEACH, CA — City officials are weighing possibilities for the former Atlantic Theater on Atlantic Avenue. The 1941 Boller Brothers theater was last used as a church, but is currently vacant. Both redevelopment and razing are being considered.
Now, some are worried that the old theater’s terrazzo tile and signature neon spire will be lost if the north Long Beach building is demolished as part of a redevelopment push in the neighborhood.
For John Thomas, president of Long Beach Heritage and a board member of the city’s Redevelopment Agency, buildings like the Atlantic Theater serve as giant reminders of a city’s former splendor.
“When you actually have a building, it helps create a visual experience of how their community evolved,” said Thomas, who has abstained from his involvement with the redevelopment agency on issues involving the Atlantic Theater because of his position with Long Beach Heritage.
Read the full story in the L.A. Times.
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February 10, 2010
Flushing’s crown needs polishing
FLUSHING, NY — Kevin Walsh looks at the past and future of the beloved RKO Keith’s. Still in development limbo, the neighborhood is fighting to let the theatre remain.
There have been preservation pushes in recent years. In 2006, Thomas Stathes, a 16-year-old Flushing resident, arrived on the scene and organized a petition to preserve, landmark, and revitalize one of the historically and architecturally most significant theaters in its entirety, so future generations can appreciate what an iconic theater could potentially offer. The owner, Boymelgreen, planned to only save the lobby, which has been given landmark status by NYC, and demolish 95% of the theater and build a glass-fronted high rise.
In 2009, a group of Flushing residents and citywide supporters met in Flushing to begin a grassroots effort to save and restore the RKO Keith’s Theater, forming the “Friends of The RKO Keith’s Flushing Theatre.” The organization is now at the point of requesting 501©(3), or tax-exempt, status, which is much-needed in order to begin massive publicity and fund-raising efforts.
Read the full story in the Huffington Post.
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February 9, 2010
Modern struggles of the adult theater
BALTIMORE, MD — A piece in the Baltimore City Paper looks at the heyday of the Apex Theatre and how its coping with the current economy.
Behind the Plexiglas at the Apex’s entrance, DVDs, snacks, and sodas are for sale. The cashier estimates that, on average, five customers an hour pay $10 to pass through the theater’s turnstile. Asked when to visit should one be looking for a crowd, he thinks for a second, takes a sip from his paper cup, and says: “About 1965.”
It’s a funny answer. But for the Apex’s owners, it points to an obvious problem: In today’s smut economy, they may as well be wearing powdered wigs and writing with quills. Porn consumers for decades now have been easily getting off in the privacy of their own homes, thanks to the boom of home-video technology in the 1980s and, more recently, the ubiquity of cheap, or even free, porn on the internet.
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February 8, 2010
Theater goes to “pot” - literally
BOULDER, CO — You will not find popcorn right now at the Flatirons Theater’s concession stand, but the ice-cream will give you a buzz if you have a prescription for it; just have it checked at the box office. The theater has become Medicine on the Hill, a cannabis dispensary legalized under Colorado’s recently passed Amendment 20.
Sicard, 38, opened the medical-marijuana dispensary inside the aging theater in October after spending months learning about Amendment 20, the 2000 ballot measure that changed Colorado’s Constitution to allow the medical use of the drug.
Sicard jumped on board the now-booming industry and found a home in one of University Hill’s most visible locations at 13th Street and College Avenue.
“It looked like an Amsterdam coffee shop,” Sicard said of the interior lobby. “I went, ‘Perfect, I’ll take it.”
Read more in the Daily Camera.
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February 5, 2010
Bus crash damages University Place 8
CARBONDALE, IL — A bus operated by Southern Illinois University Student Union’s bus service, the Saluki Express, crashed into the east wall of the University Place 8 cinema on January 27. None of the passengers was injured and the driver, who may have suffered a medical emergency causing him to lose control of the vehicle, has been released from the hospital. Two screens are out of service as the damaged is being assessed.
University Place 8 reopened Wednesday and was showing movies in six of its eight auditoriums, Kerasotes employees said. Theater managers are waiting to hear the cost of the damage from a structural engineer, they said.
Officials from Beck Bus did not return multiple phone calls for comment, but James Barnes, a former driver for Saluki Express, said the company would most likely put Parker through multiple tests before allowing him to drive again.
There’s more here in the Daily Egyptian.
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February 4, 2010
Garden Theatre ownership transfered to city
WINTER GARDEN, FL — The City of Winter Garden has assumed ownership of the restored 1935 Garden Theatre, which reopened during February, 2008. This action was requested by the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation, operators of the theatre. As a result, the City government will pay off the remaining construction and mortgage debts the Heritage Foundation owed, and will also be responsible for maintaining the building. The Foundation will lease the building from the City.
This is considered a sweetheart deal by all who have been so heavily involved in the renovation and operations of the Garden. It gives the management of the theatre freedom to focus on artistic expression and operations, without the burden of confronting the debts.
The next events scheduled at the Garden are a jazz festival, “Jazz on Edge” February 5 and 6, and the Beth Marshall Presents production of “Driving Miss Daisy” February 12-28. Reservations can be made by calling 407-877-GRDN (4736).
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February 3, 2010
Options narrowed for Baltimore’s Senator Theater
BALTIMORE, MD — Two of the four proposals submitted for the Senator Theater have been rejected. Of the two remaining, one would keep the nearly 75-year-old cinema going as a movie house and add two restaurants; the other envisions making it a performing arts venue and home to a public radio station.
The BDC plans to ask for more detailed financial information on the two remaining proposals, Clark said, before deciding between them.
A 10-member review committee, including many residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, had been studying the proposals since they were submitted in December, and those from Cusack and Towson were the clear favorites, Clark said. “They really are making an attempt at digging deep into these proposals,” she said. “This is at the heart of their community. They care a ton.”
The committee, which is scheduled to begin meeting again next month, could recommend one proposal over the other, Clark said, or leave that decision up to the BDC. A final decision on the Senator’s future could be made as early as March, she said.
There is more in the Baltimore Sun.
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February 2, 2010
One year left for Lincoln Theatre
MIAMI, FL — Miami Beach’s Lincoln Theatre is on track to mark its 75th anniversary as… shops and restaurants.
A business brief in The Miami Herald (1/26/10) states that representatives of Savitar Realty Advisors is scheduled to close on the property next week. The New World Symphony, owners and tenants of the Lincoln for the past 20 years, will relocate to their newly constructed symphony hall nearby (designed by Frank Gehry).
Symphony performances will continue at the Lincoln for another year. This will leave the Colony as the sole vintage movie theater on South Beach still active as a performing arts venue.
Full article (probably for a limited time) in the Miami Herald.