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The latest movie theater news and updates
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May 19, 2010
Young entrepreneurs bring movies back to Roseville’s Tower Theater
ROSEVILLE, CA — Not all young people are hooked on loud, noisy films about superheroes, over-hyped sagas about teenage vampires, or crude comedies. Hector Marquez and Sean Shore have established Mystic Cinema, which presents classic films from Warner Brothers at the Tower Theater in Roseville. Though the theater has been the home to a local theater group since 2002, Marquez and Shore have worked out an arrangement with the troupe to show films when live performances and rehearsals do not require the theater, which last operated as a movie house in 1983.
Last month, Mystic Cinema premiered with its presentation of “Casablanca.”
“It was incredible,” Marquez said. “You had an audience of people from ages 20 on up, some dressed up as characters from the film, mingling with people in their street clothes. Some watched the movie for the first time while others had seen it dozens of times.”
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Prospects for saving the Beach 4 looking dim
CAPE MAY, NJ — The ongoing effort to save the Beach 4 may have reached a point where further efforts may be futile. The not-for-profit foundation that ran the theater up until 2009 under a lease from Frank Investments is broke, and the city is demanding repayment of a loan that may leave individual contributors liable.
Foundation president Steve Jackson said this week that if the city demands payment, it would bankrupt the Beach Theatre Foundation, ending any chance of saving the theater, and put the 35 Cape May residents who signed off on the loan on the hook for thousands of dollars each.
“I cannot see how that is in the best interest of the city,” Jackson said, adding later, “If they demand it right now, it does no one any good. We don’t have the money to pay it back. It just puts the foundation out of business, and destroys any chance of that building being saved.”
Read the whole story in the Shore News Today.
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Save the Odeon Cinema Hartlepool
HARTLEPOOL, CLEVELAND, ENGLAND — A facebook group has been set up to save the former Odeon Cinema in Hartlepool which is in danger of demolition.
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May 18, 2010
Grand Theatre’s roof collapses
WILLIAMSTOWN, NJ — The roof over the auditorium and stage house sections of the Grand Theatre collapsed on Friday, May 14, apparently as a result of weakening due last winter’s heavy snowfall. A least one resident of an apartment that was a part the theater building or adjacent to it suffered injury abandoning his residence after the roof’s fall.
The theater – known for its wall sconces, raised-metal ceilings, and velour seats – housed two apartments in the front. Both were occupied and shook as the roof fell.
The first report of the collapse was received about 3 p.m., Williamstown Fire Chief James DeHart said. Residents heard a loud crash and felt a jolt, he said.
The theater opened in 1924; roof repairs were made in 2004 as a part of a renovation. The full story is in the Philadelphia Inquirer and there are pictures here atWPVI.
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Carmike 6 closes in Mt. Lebanon
MT. LEBANON, PA — The Carmike Galleria 6 will be closed as of June 17. The impending closure will be the latest in a series of Pittsburgh area closings. The cinema opened twenty-one years ago.
The theater, which welcomed its first paying customers on June 16, 1989, will go dark June 17. No word yet on what will occupy its sprawling space on the upper level.
Dale Hurst, director of marketing for Carmike, today cited dwindling business and said the other Pittsburgh locations would not be affected. “We try everything we can to maintain a top-notch operation,” he said by phone from Georgia, calling this and other closures “always the last, last, last resort.”
Here’s the full story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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Owosso Community Players kick off the Lebowsky Center rebuilding project.
OWOSSO, MI — On Wednesday, the Owosso Community Players, owners of the fire-gutted Lebowsky Center kicked off the theater’s rebuilding inside its ruins. It was gutted by an arsonist on February 14, 2007.
About four dozen OCP members attended the ceremony. Phase I involving rebuilding the walls and roof is almost underway and awaits the delivery of steel which should begin by May 24. The theater is expected to be completely enclosed again by September.
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May 17, 2010
Famed theater organist Rosa Rio passes at 107
SUN CITY CENTER, FL — Rosa Rio, one of the last surviving theater organists of the silent era (and one of the few who were female), died on May 13 at the age of 107. She practiced her craft in many of the famous movie palaces around the country including the Fox and Paramount theaters in Brooklyn; she later worked for both NBC and ABC, accompanying many of the original soap operas. She was active even as recently as last year, performing at the Tampa Theatre where a memorial will be held June 5.
She was extraordinarily positive, motivated and determined. She was able to seamlessly adapt to changes in the entertainment industry (silent films, talkies, radio, TV, and finally, back to silent films). “I can’t believe that I’ve been so fortunate to have been in so many things that went out and I bounced back,” she said in 2007. Her path was not without challenges. As the only woman in the orchestra pit, she routinely challenged men who considered her to be second fiddle because of her gender. She allayed those stereotypical reactions with talent, charm and a (sometimes bawdy) sense of humor.
Read the full story at the Tampa Theatre website.
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Cedar Grove movie theater closes after 12 years
CEDAR GROVE, NJ — Not being able to make it through the summer, Cinema 23 abruptly closed its doors last week.
A recorded message left on the theater’s phone system on Wednesday thanked patrons for their business over the past 12 years.
A spokeswoman for the Clearview Cinemas chain in Florham Park, which owns the local theater, confirmed Wednesday that the chain had closed but did not provide further details about the facility or others the chain owns in other parts of Essex County, including Montclair and Millburn.
Read the full story in the Verona-Cedar Grove Times.
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RKO Chester being razed
BRONX, NY — Unfourtnatly, The demolition of the Chester has begun. The building has scaffolds all around it with demolition contractor signs on it. I passed it on the Cross Bronx Expressway yesterday (14 May 2010) and the roof beams are now exposed and parts of the parapit walls are being removed. I have tried to get a look inside but the roll down door on the side is always closed(I think the workers are getting access from the motel property next to the theater).
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The tilton 9 asks, “WHO YA GONNA CALL?”
NORTHFILED, NJ — The Tilton 9 presents “Ghostbusters” in 35mm with classic trailers and prizes. May 21st at 8pm
Tickets are just $5.00