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Theaters
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February 12, 2003
More On The Imminent Closure of the Villa Theatre
SALT LAKE CITY, UT — The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News have confirmed KSL-TV’s story of the imminent demise of the 54-year-old Villa Theatre.
We’d like to implore the new owners of the Villa to consider preserving this theater, wholly or at least its signature facade, marquee, and sign, for the city of Salt Lake. Preserving cultural landmarks is a tremendous goodwill gesture and a hallmark of community service.
The Villa, which has delighted area audiences for over five decades, is a part of the city. Please make it part of the city’s future as well.
Read the Salt Lake Tribune story
Thanks to Grant Smith and Bryan Krefft for the updates.
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February 10, 2003
Raymond Theatre Battle Goes To Court Tomorrow
PASADENA, CA — The Friends of the Raymond Theatre will appear in court tomorrow in an attempt to block the Raymond’s owners from gutting the old movie house and converting it into apartments and commercial space.
This was just sent in from Gina Zamparelli:
Our long-awaited court date is this Tuesday, February 11th. We hope you will consider attending. We need to show the Judge just how many people support this project. So please see if you can make an exception, rearrange your day and spend an hour with us to lend your support.
PLEASE ATTEND OUR COURT DATE AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT:
Where: Los Angeles Superior Court
Address: 111 N. Hill Street
8th Floor
Room 834
Time: 9:30 am
Judge: Dzintra Janavs
Parking: Public parking is available near the courthouse. -
February 3, 2003
Photos Wanted of St. George Theatre
This has been sent in from Jean Siegel who is working on the restoration of the St. George Theatre in Staten Island, NY:
We are asking the public to email Ms. Stephanie Gilmore at if they have any photos of the St. George Theatre available.
The theater needs those who may have outside photos or inside photos. These photos will enable the volunteers to do research with regard to the theater’s restoration.
We are located on the North shore of Staten Island at:
31 Hyatt Street
Staten Island, N.Y. 10301 -
Reminder! Cinema Theatre Threatened With Demolition
Preservation Alert Cinema Theatre Threatened With Demolition
BERKELEY, CA — This is from the SaveTheCinema.com website:ALERT!! Landmark Hearing scheduled for this Monday, February 3rd at 7:30 PM, at the North Berkeley Senior Center, corner Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Hearst Street. The public is urgently needed to attend. Please speak out about preserving Berkeley’s cultural landmarks! If we don’t get a good turn-out, we WILL lose this precious Cinema Treasure!
As you are reading this, the Cinema Theatre, currently called The Fine Arts, is in grave danger of being demolished, not for being derilict ( the building is sound and well-maintained ), but for being in the way of a planned development.
If you are anywhere near the area, we urge you to attend and lend your support for the Cinema.
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January 29, 2003
Big Screen Classics Come to New York!
The Big Screen Classics series, which took place last year at the Galaxy Theatre in New Jersey, will unspool at the historic Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, New York with 35mm prints of such classic films as Sunset Boulevard, The Quiet Man, and many more, as well as contemporary classics like Glory and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
According to the website: “Just over the border from northern New Jersey, the Lafayette is a fully-functional vintage 1920’s movie palace,” which is now operated by the Galaxy Theatre Corporation. “The Lafayette features a huge capacity of 1250 seats, state-of-the-art projection and sound equipment and the Ben Hall Memorial Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ.”
“With plenty of free parking and an easy-to-access location, the Lafayette will be the premiere venue for classic cinema in the tri-state area. For more information about the Lafayette, visit the official website.”
For more information, read the Journal News article
Thanks to Pete Apruzzese for the news!
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Fox Theatre In Detroit Voted #1 In The Country
DETROIT, MI — The historic 5,000-seat Fox Theatre has been voted #1 by Pollstar, the leading concert trade publication. According to an Olympia Entertainment press release, the company which operates the theater:
This is the first No. 1 nod given to the Fox by Pollstar who ranked Detroit’s fabulous Fox Theatre No. 1 in 2002 ticket sales among the Top 50 Theatre Venues with 642,162 tickets sold.
The Fox claimed the top spot by beating out a list of the who
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January 27, 2003
Chicago Theater News
Theater Restoration Aims to Revitalize Downtown Waukegan
WAUKEEGAN, IL —
Blagojevich Freezes Funds for Projects (Including the DuPage Theater)
SPRINGFIELD, IL —Thanks to Bryan Krefft for both of these alerts.
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Aero Back On Its Feet
SANTA MONICA, CA — In a newsletter sent by Aero Theatre owner Chris Allen, he writes that “The Aero is doing okay financially. We are caught up with rent YEAH! We are now counting on our patrons to keep coming to the Aero to see movies.”
If you’d like to visit the classic Aero Theatre, they are located on Montana Avenue at the corner of 13th Street.
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Warner Grand Announces New Schedule
SAN PEDRO, CA — The historic Warner Grand Theatre has announced its new schedule which includes a performance by famous theater organist, Bob Mitchell:
Thurs Feb 6 (2 p.m.) VARIETY ARTS
Michael Paul Smith presents a musical tribute to the 20th century icon: Paul Robeson.
Fri Feb 14 (8 p.m.) It Happened One Night (1934) ($7 each or 2 tix for $10)
Sat Feb 15 (8 p.m.) Flamenco dancers Sarita Bashir and Juan Talavera – $10/$20
Feb 17-20 – African American History Celebration
Historical films made by and featuring African American artists [music, drumming and dance performances tbd]. Some events are free, ticket prices up to $25. See website closer to the dates for further information.
Next VARIETY ARTS:
Thurs March 6 – “Bob Mitchell accompanies THE SHEIK” silent film with organ accompaniment (film to be confirmed)
Foreign film series 2003:
March 15, April 19, May 10, June 14 – films tbd
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January 24, 2003
Raymond Theatre Needs Your Help!!!
We received the following letter this week regarding the Friends of the Raymond Theatre’s effort to save the 1927 movie house:
THIS IS A VERY SPECIAL AND URGENT REQUEST FOR DONATIONS!
Donations are desperately needed for us to continue our work to preserve the Raymond Theatre. With the help of our supporters, Friends of the Raymond Theatre has accomplished a great deal, but our financial needs for this project still remain a large concern.
We are now down to the 11th hour, and we still we need to raise $3,200 IMMEDIATELY to make our final payment on our legal bill. We also need to be aware, should we lose in court (though we have all intention of prevailing), that we need to be prepared for an appeal to the Court of Appeals.
To appeal, we must first pay off our $3,200 which is due NOW and also be prepared with a significant downpayment on February 11th. We need to make sure we can meet these financial challenges in the next few weeks.
A tall order, yes, but doable if we ALL pull together and help by sending a donation. We need to raise about $1,000 a week, in the next 3 weeks or sooner. Currently donations are coming in at about $20 to $150 a week.
Please, please wont you consider donating whatever you can by donating $5, $25, $50, $100, $250, $500 or more.
We are a project of Spirit of the Sage, under Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), a California 501 ©(3) tax exempt organization, tax identification # 95-4116679.
All donations are tax deductible, or can be given as a loan, which would be repaid in full or part if we are awarded our money back from the courts. Please state what you prefer for our records.
To make a donation, please make your check payable to:
Friends of the Raymond Theatre
P.O. Box 91189
Pasadena, CA 91109 – 1189You can also make a donation online from our website on the “donate” page or by going to: www.PayPal.com. Pay Pal accepts all major credit cards. Our e-mail address for PayPal is: .
If you wish to make an anonymous donation, please let us know. Once again, we are at a critical turning point and on a short timeline to
raise money. We hope everyone will lend a hand and donate whatever you can.I will let everyone know how much we raised by this weekend and/or Monday of next week. Thank you for your continued help in preserving the Raymond Theatre.
Sincerely,
Gina Zamparelli
Friends of the Raymond TheatreOffice: (818) 541-9522
Fax: (818) 541-9523
Website: www.raymondtheatre.comPS: If you could pass this e-mail on to your friends, family or co-workers, or take up a donation pool for us, we would be very grateful for any assistance our supporters can give.