Boxoffice-August.1989

from
was
soon be entered in
the National Register of
Historic Places, thereby preventing demolition,
but landlord Chatham Realty plans to
carve a triple-screen complex out of the
1,000-seat house. Friends of the Somerville
Theatre is a local group intent on saving the
old hall as it is. Ultimately, they may have to
buy the building to achieve that goal.
The fund-raising effort has gotten heavy
support from movie buffs and the music
world Caren Daley transformed the Somerville
from a discount second-run movie
house into a repertory theatre of classic, art
and first-run films after becoming the
theatres operator and manager The Somerville
has also played host to musical acts too
popular for clubs but unable to fill a downtown
hall. Since Daley took over in^ 1982,
theatre attendance has increased threefold,
to slightly more than 100,000 patrons a year.
now, low rent has permitted Daley to
Up till
turn a profit with as few as 4,000 customers a
week When the theatre assumes its Historic
Place designation, the external structure will
have to remain as is, but the pre-Art Deco
interior could be torn out...
Ted Lyman's "Treatment of the Rabbit," an
avant-garde film about parenthood, won
"Best of the Festival" at the 14th annual New
England Film and Video Festival Marlene
Booth and Linda Matchon copped the outstanding
independent film honors with "The
Forward: From Immigrants to Americans," a
documentary about Yiddish newspaper The
Daily Forward...
NATO of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan
elected Capitol's Fitzgerald as president and
national director, and the following 1989 officers:
Ben D Marcus, chairman and alternate
national director; Otto Settele, president designate;
Gene Grengs and lerry Siegel, vice
presidents; Bruce Olson, secretary; and lames
Florence, treasurer On the Board of Directors
are Greg Ehlenberg, Nick P Frank, lames
Cunmundson, Ranee Mason, Paul Rogers,
Andrew M. Spheeris, and John McWilliams,
|r. Wayne |. Painter serves as executive director...
Sturgeon Bay, Wl
Several hours alter the Donna Theatre
locked up for the night one Saturday in .April,
the Sturgeon Bay Fire Department answered
a call to battle a fire in the rear attic area of
the bar next door The fire was successfully
contained, and Sunday morning's sun rose on
a marquee endowed with new meaning: it
read, "The Burbs/Miss Burning"
Saginaw, Ml
The 222-screen Kerasotes Theatres company
plans to build a six-screen theatre in Sagmaw
with The Blackstone Croup, a Springfield,
Illinois developer.
Children's Film Series, supported by grants
from the Cultural Consortium and AM(.
Theatres. Admission for film series attractions
is free for children and Society members and
one dollar for big people
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Value Cinemas has opened a new six-plex
in North Fort Lauderdale. Located on a welltrafficked
shopping strip,
$1 for all seats at all times.
the theatres charge
Atlanta
The opening of the Fountains 8 Cinema,
scheduled for July 14, 1989, marks General
Cinemaseighth new South Florida complex in
the last two years. The Fountains 8 will bring
the area total of CCC screens to 99. It has
2,200 self-rising seats.
WESTERN NEWS
Los Angeles
MIDWEST NEWS
SOUTHERN NEWS
Milwaukee
Four Capitol Theatres multiplexes have
been purchased by United Artists Theatres of
Wisconsin. The acquisition raises to 30 the
number of theatres UA currently operates in
Milwaukee, Kenosha and lanesville. New
managers have been assigned to each of the
four; Ray Kloth takes over the Loomis Road
Theatre, Dave Klug, the Mill Road; Allen Zetling,
the Spring Mall Theatre; and Steve Roskopf,
the E5rown Port.
Back when sellers Angelo Porchetta and
Dean Fitzgerald opened the Mill Road
in first in
Theatre 1970, became the triplex it
Ihe Midwest. It grew to four screens in 1977,
then to six in 1983. The Spring Mall Theatre
opened its doors in 1973, and in 1982 the
Brown Port and Loomis Road Theatres were
purchased from a Chicago company.
Angelo Porchetta has accepted the position
of film buyer for UA Theatres in Illinois,
Minnesota and Wisconsin His son Bradley,
who had been manager of the Spring Mall
Theatre, has now become general manager
of UA's theatres in the Midwest. Dean Fitzgerald
will continue to operate theatres independently
in Madison. Veteran showman
Wallace Konrad and his wife, who had also
managed Capitol theatres, went on a twomonlh
vacation as pari of their retirement
plans
Durham, NC
Renovating the classic Carolina Theatre
into a performing arts center and adding a
three-screen cinema wing would cost an estimated
$14 million, a |oint city-county panel
has been told The proposal offered by the
Durham Arts Council and the Carolina Cinema
Corporation — the non-profit group that
operates the theatre - modifies an earlier
plan that carried a price tag of $22 million.
The cinema wing was not part of a bond issue
project that raised $7.8 million in a 1986 election.
A mix of city, county, and private money
may ultimately be necessary to renovate the
Carolina.
Broward County, FL
'
"The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T lunes
"
"Movie of the Month the Broward
County Film Society The film was presented
at AMC's Marina 8 on |une 17, the Sheridan 7
on lune 24, and the Cross County 8 on luiy 1.
Co-written by Dr. Seuss, the 1953 film stars
Hans Conried, the voice of Waldo Wigglesworth
on the old "Hoppity Hooper" carloons,
and Lassie's master Tommy Rettig as a
boy who dreams that his piano teacher has
enslaved hundreds of children to play the
world's largest piano. The picture is part of
the Broward County Film Society's ongoing
Cybill Shepherd
A city panel, aided by the entreaties ol
actress Cybill Shepherd, voted )une 7 to recommend
to the L.-X City Council that it designate
two downtown theatres as historical
monuments. The Cultural Heritage Commission
also endorsed a plan to preserve 15
aging theatres in downtown's Broadway
Shepherd spoke before the
theatre district.
commission during public hearings on the Palace
and Tower Theatres on Broadway, but
she also expressed concern about the fate ol
other nearby venues whose owners have
sought support to demolish them The matter
will go before the City Council for a vote
which could stall the dozers for a year ...
"To the Limit," the latest IMAX film from
format pioneer Greg McGillivray, began a sixmonth
run May 27 in the Mitsubishi IMAX
Theatre at L.A.'s Museum of Science and
Industry, after premiering in San Diego in
March. The picture features inner-body photography
of unprecedented clarity, as the