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Theaters
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October 19, 2009
Lakewood Theater may get revitalization study
LAKEWOOD, WA — Closed for over twenty years, the 1937 colonial-style Lakewood Theater may at least be the subject of a feasability study if a provision in the city’s proposed budget passes. Some citizens would like to see it restored as a multi-purpose performing arts and banquet facility.
Included in the city’s 2010 proposed budget is $20,000 for a feasibility study of Lakewood Theatre, which has sat empty for almost two decades. Lakewood proposes using lodging tax revenue, which it can spend only on tourism-related projects.
For the building’s owner and local historians, the study would remove the biggest obstacle to restoring and preserving one of the city’s prominent historical venues. It’s local lore for residents of a city that officially incorporated in 1996.
Read more details in the News Tribune.
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October 14, 2009
Foreclosure may be looming for Redwood City’s Fox
REDWOOD CITY, CA — Current owners John Anagnostou and Mike Monte have borrowed millions and invested their personal passion since 1998 into acquiring and upgrading the Fox Theater in Redwood City, which opened in 1929 as the New Sequoia and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But a combination of factors have resulted in their facing a mountain of debt and the very real possibility of foreclosure.
In interviews this week with The Daily News, Anagnostou described the numerous reasons he may have to surrender the keys to the theater he loves. Above all, he said, he and Monte have too much debt, much of it with high interest rates.
“The Fox is strapped with too much debt and we’ve always known it, and we’ve been trying to solve that with the right financial partner and we’ve been unable to,” Anagnostou said.
The owners are still working hard to find a way to hold onto the building at 2215 Broadway, though they don’t have a solution yet, Anagnostou said. He said restoring the Fox was worth the trouble and risk.
Read more in the San Jose Mercury News.
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October 12, 2009
In Baltimore, Bengie’s Drive-In keeps its reels turning
BALTIMORE, MD — The projector beams are still hitting the giant screen at Bengie’s Drive-In as they have since 1956. Owner D. Edward Vogel has had to cut costs and worry about the challenges faced by any small business owner as well as some particular ones, such as the interference caused bright lights from surrounding businesses during the film presentations at this, the last surviving drive-in in the Baltimore area.
t Bengies, each night is a double feature, so guests can see at least two movies for $8 a person. Vogel estimates that Bengies makes 60 percent of its revenue from ticket sales, and the rest comes from concession purchases. There’s a strict “no outside food” policy, and he’s open about the fact that the food sales help keep the business open.
The waterfront property would be more profitable as condos, he says, and his father planned to build them before Vogel took over the theater in the 1980s. He was only able to avoid closing by cutting costs and staff.
Read more at CNN.
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October 8, 2009
Chicago theatres featured on public tv
CHICAGO, IL — Chicago’s WTTW Channel 11 took a look back at the heyday of Chicago’s “movie palaces.” This “Hidden Chicago” segment hosted by Geoffrey Baer aired recently on the Chicago public television news program Chicago Tonight.
Dramatic footage provided by filmmakers John Pappas and Mike Bisberg takes viewers into Chicago’s shuttered Uptown Theatre. You may recall their work from the “Portrait of a Palace” documentary dvd.
With an eye to the large venues built for silent films, the program also looks into the Portage Theatre, home to the Silent Film Society of Chicago. The Portage sat dark for years but has been lucky to be undivided and renovated for film and special event use.
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October 7, 2009
North Carolina theater prohibits cell phone use
GREENSBORO, NC — If you use your cell phone in the auditoriums of the Four Seasons Grand Cinema, expect to be escorted out of the theater with no refund of your ticket price. No one even needs to complain, according to this article at MyFox8.com.
According to the policy, which was put in place earlier this month, customers must keep their cell phones on vibrate or silent and leave the theater to take a call or type a text message.
Briana Barner was kicked out of the theater recently for using the Internet on her phone to check the balance on her account.
“It was just embarrassing that I had to be escorted out of the movie theater,” she said. “I was on my phone for two seconds. I was on the Internet checking my balance on my account, and I was asked to leave the theater because I was disturbing the other customers.”
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All recliner cinema to open soon in Pasadena
PASADENA, CA — Village Roadshow’s Gold Class Cinemas will open its first California location in December on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. These small cinemas (40 seats), in addition to recliner seats, feature freshly prepared foods and cocktail service. Currently, there are two other operating Gold Class cinemas, one in Redmond, WA and another in South Barrington, IL, with another to open soon in Bolingbrook, IL.
Theater owners haven’t installed tiny refrigerators underneath movie seats yet (that’s probably coming), but Gold Class Cinemas has gained fame for a particularly comfy staple: recliners. It is, in fact, known as the all-recliner theater. And those take-a-load-off chairs are wheeling into Pasadena starting in December, when Gold Class opens its fourth outpost, and only location in the Golden State.
Read more at NBC Los Angeles.
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October 6, 2009
Photo Shoot at the Poncan Theatre
PONCA CITY, OK — This summer the christian rock band Pillar had a photo shoot at the Poncan Theatre. Most of the band publicity photos were shot at the site.
The photographer, Cooper Harrison, has some of the shots up on his flickr:
www.flickr.com/cooperharrison
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cooperharrison/3960437640/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cooperharrison/3959670935/Also, Pillar Website
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October 5, 2009
Portions of former Orpheum being incorporated into new performing arts center
TANNERSVILLE, NY – The facade and some exterior walls of the former Orpheum Theater in Tannersville, NY will apparently survive as part of the new Orpheum Performing Arts Center, which will include a new first run cinema as part of the complex.
BARKER SAID the long-term goal is for the Orpheum Performing Arts Center to make the community an international arts destination. He said the state is providing more than $1 million to support the theater district in Tannersville, which includes additional parking and enhanced access to retail stores. He said four other buildings on Main Street also are being enhanced because of the performing arts center project.
“It’s using a positive economic force to bring about jobs and opportunity for local people,” Barker said. “We hope to see new businesses coming to Tannersville and increased retail activity.”
There is more at Freeman.com and a picture of how the theater looked prior to the time construction work began on the Center here.
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September 30, 2009
Theater goes from part-time job to intense hobby for man
WINNER, SD — This story from the Daily Republic discusses the memories of a lifelong theater fan turned operator at the local Pix Theatre.
But an upcoming switch to digital projection that most industry professionals believe to be inevitable is an uncomfortable thought for Meister, who isn’t sure if the transition — a digital projector currently costs approximately $70,000 — will be one he can afford to make.
“It’s really scary to me,” Meister said. “It makes me wonder if I want to go and do any repairs right now or if I want to wait and see what’s coming.”
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September 25, 2009
Woodbridge eyes Fords Theater’s past with hope for future
FORDS, NJ — The long shuttered Fords Cinema may be making a comeback as locals investigate the possibilities.
Today, the nearly 100-year-old building sits vacant and gutted — it’s seats torn out, parts of the roof caving in and paint crumbling to the floor. Its owner, Shah Associates of Woodbridge, has used the building for storage over the years and is looking to lease two store fronts on the first floor.
But now the township and Middlesex County are spending a combined $150,000 to have engineers examine the structure and create preliminary designs for a new or repaired Fords Theater — if they get permission. Officials took the first step toward that last week, giving the owners a draft agreement that would let an evaluation take place.
Read the full story in the Star-Ledger.