WGBH Radio; The Callie Crossley Show

I'm callous crossly This is the Calla Crossley Show. The William Shakespeare lived 400 years ago. He is still one of the most relevant writers and arguably the most influential writer in the Western tradition by Elizabethan standards. Shakespeare was an overnight sensation becoming one of the most famous writers anyone from his rebel comedies to his rarefied poetry. He was a writer for all appealing to both our everyday sensibilities and cultured tastes. In the words of the Bard himself though Summer's Lease hath all too short a date. New England is packing a lot of Shakespeare into the short and sultry season. This hour we'll get the lowdown on regional productions from the star studded to Shakespeare under the stars. From there it's our film contributor airing daily on the last of New England's great movie houses. Up next much ado about something Shakespeare and cinema from the small stage to the silver screen. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi saying rescuers are

racing to find victims of a tornado in Joplin Missouri that has killed at least 116 people. Missy Shelton with member station KSA Muse says one team is combing through the debris of a local Wal-Mart and another big box store. There is this effort at the Home Depot to try to find survivors there and to really just do a better assessment of the situation. There is a special team called Missouri Task Force One is the official team from FEMA that is going through the Home Depot and they're expecting that to continue through the day today. Missy Shelton reporting the White House says President Obama plans to visit Joplin speaking from London in his weeklong trip in Europe the president sought to reassure survivors that federal help is on the way. He's expected to be in Missouri sometime this weekend. The president is in Britain enjoying all the trappings of a state visit. NPR's Scott Horsley reports Mr. Obama will eat and sleep tonight in Buckingham Palace before a speech to parliament tomorrow.

The Pipes and Drums the Scots guard welcome the president to Buckingham Palace before an informal lunch for 50 or 60 the president and first lady exchange gifts with the queen for her abound collection of rare photographs from her parents trip to the United States in one thousand thirty nine. For Mr. Obama a set of letters that previous presidents from the 1800s wrote to Queen Victoria. Tomorrow Mr. Obama speaks to the British parliament and meets with Prime Minister David Cameron. The two leaders coauthored an op ed today reaffirming what they call the essential relationship between the US and UK. Scott Horsley NPR News London. The top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East says President Obama is inviting leaders of Libya's opposition to Washington D.C. I delivered on behalf of President Obama a formal invitation. For the Council to establish a representative office in Washington D.C. but in a statement today Jeffrey Feltman stops short of formally recognizing the National

Transitional Council as Libya's legitimate voice which other countries have done Feldman's comments come hours after NATO's unleashed what's described as its most intense offensive yet on the capital Tripoli. Colonel Moammar Gadhafi's stronghold a prominent human rights group in Syria estimates that more than a thousand people have been killed since the uprising began in Syria nine weeks ago. President Bashar al-Assad's forces have been trying to crush the revolt against his family's 40 year old rule. The crackdown has touched off a firestorm of criticism from around the West and around the world in the West and led to European sanctions and visa bans against Assad and members of his government. At last check on Wall Street the Dow is down 16 points at twelve thousand 366. This is NPR. Egypt's state news agency reports Hosni Mubarak will stand trial on charges related to the deadly shootings of protesters during the uprising that led to his ouster. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports from Cairo that his sons were referred to the criminal court on

related charges. The statement by the prosecutor general comes as youth leaders are calling for mass demonstrations over the delays in prosecuting Mubarak the former president and his sons have been detained for weeks as investigators looked into their involvement in corruption and criminal activities. Egyptian officials say more than 800 protestors were killed during the 18 day uprising. Mubarak's former intelligence chief who is at large was also charged in absentia in connection with the protester deaths. When the trials will take place is not known but the timing of the charges appears to be an attempt by Egypt's military rulers to scuttle Friday's planned demonstrations. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson NPR News Cairo. Flights out of northern England and Northern Ireland as well as Scotland were expected to be affected today because of an ash cloud from an Icelandic volcanic eruption British authorities say airports will still remain open. They're telling passengers to check in with their airlines before traveling though a similar volcanic eruption a year

ago severely disrupted travel across the continent stranding millions of travelers. Opening statements have begun in Orlando in Casey Anthony's murder trial she's accused of killing her young daughter nearly three years ago. The heavy media attention prompted attorneys to hold jury selection outside overland Oh there the jurors are expected to be sequestered for up to two months. I'm Lakshmi Singh NPR News Washington. Support for NPR comes from the investment forum of Raymond James. Wealth Management banking and capital markets. Learn more at. Life well planned dot com. Good afternoon I'm Kelly Crossley and this is the Calla Crossley Show. What's in a name. Which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet. Summer is almost upon us which means no end of Shakespeare. I'm sure you recognize that famous line from Romeo and Juliet. Be they star studded productions or

productions under the stars. It's happening all over the region. Joining me to talk about what to look for this season are our arts and culture contributors huge Inco and Alicia and Stitt eugène CO is a professor of English at Wellesley College and a Shakespeare scholar. Alicia ANSTEAD is the editor in chief of the performing arts magazine Inside arts and online editor of The Harvard arts beat. She's also the critic in residence for Shakespeare in Stonington at the Stonington opera house in Maine. Welcome back you two. I can only thank you for having me. So they're Shakespeare all around as we head into the summer and I guess that's the big question is why is Shakespeare. All about us in the summer here in the region. Alicia I'll start with you. Well I don't think it's just here in the region although there is a lot to look forward to in the region. I think that it harkens back to something far more primal almost pagan about being out in Nature about experiencing ritual and beauty under the stars and not just under the stars many Shakespeare festivals in the summer take place indoors

too. But I think it's about letting go. Shakespeare takes us to another level by putting us kind of outdoors and outdoors because many of his most popular plays that are done in the summer are comedies which almost often which often feature a green space. So I think that there's a nice match up of letting our imaginations go while our bodies are free of heavy clothing where we can take a bottle of wine we can even bring the kids and it's OK if the kids play with their dolls while they're also listening out there on the Greenway. Alicia is described in an experience featuring Shakespeare but I would ask you English scholar English professor eugenic why not fall under the stars there. I mean for some reason we Shakespeare seems to have taken hold of Shakespeare it was written for the theater and it was written for an outdoor theater for precisely the kinds of reasons that Alyssa just pointed to. There is an astonishing beauty to Shakespeare's plays that provoke a real physical

sense of exhilaration that you associate with the kind of exhilaration you experience in the summer. The beauty of the summer eve is something that you experience physically viscerally and that goes to the core of the Shakespeare experience which is why I think the Shakespeare festival so have been exploding all across the country in fact there are over 200 Shakespeare festivals in America today we are in the midst of an explosion that's unprecedented. We've overtaken Britain as the center of Shakespeare production in the world. Oh that's amazing. I think one of the reasons that I'll get you to weigh in is if you agree with me that Shakespeare keeps coming back in these venues is that the language and you have a chance to really enjoy the language at a more measured pace if you will in some of these productions you really get a chance to get up and close up close and personal. And I also think that a lot of people don't even remember or realize how much Shakespeare is in our every day conversation. So I wanted to just

just for fun give our listeners a chance to hear. This is a bit from a play from one of Shakespeare's plays as you like it. And I think it's a line that people have heard a lot. All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances and one man in his time plays many parts. His x being seven ages so you don't I mean you know that's something that I know a lot of you may not know where you came from but you know you've heard it before answered all the world's a stage. It's a very famous line. I think what you would understand if you saw it in production was also how comical that line is. And the Milan college aqueous who recites those lines is giving a prepared speech and everybody groans Oh no there goes Jake again at the live ring or raving on on some metaphor. And so if it's learned right it's beautiful it's

remarkable in its poetry. But it's also just fun. It's sheer fun to listen to that entire speech. And he's also saying all the world's a stage and here I am on it and all the world's a stage and here you are literally of the world. And how is your life dramatic to now how much how important is it to have a very fine production of this work in other words can you have kind of a ok production of it and it still shines. I'm thinking of Shakespeare and Company and Linux. I've seen some beautiful things. Shakespeare on the common here in Boston. Fabulous. You know it just rises to another level in my opinion. But I actually don't know what I think I still kind of appreciate it even if it wasn't such a high production. Eugene what do you think. I absolutely agree. I say you know I'm a sixer scholar haha but I try to. To make my students fans of Shakespeare rather than connoisseurs of Shakespeare and I doubt it what I mean as a connoisseur or scoff at be rated

Shakespeare but a fan of Shakespeare like a fan of baseball could recognize the difference between major league Shakespeare and monologues Shakespeare but he can a fun at both venues he can go to Pawtucket or to Lowell and enjoy the game as much as a game at Fenway. And I think that's absolutely right. There are productions that are good that are going to bomb and that make you want to leave the theater but for the most part if they can capture the energy of the play it translates especially if you're in the right venue in which the production capitalizes upon and relies upon the participation and the energy of the audience to make the play work in the moment of performance. I agree with you Jim but I have to make just one more distinction that you know there are performances of Shakespeare that are done by community groups or youth groups that you give them a lot of leeway because the spirit of the work is so intoxicating.

And then there's just bad Shakespeare. And I don't want to see it. I don't want my students to see it. I don't want my children to see it in Cali I actually don't want you to see. I probably still enjoy it but ok. But you know it's OK to boo bad Shakespeare. Michael Jordan the head of the British are used to booing it were people like you. One of the things about these often about these regional productions are local print local theater productions that perform Shakespeare is that either they again I mention a Shakespearean company they work very hard to keep those ticket prices somewhere where people everybody can have access to it or as in Shakespeare on the common they're free. And I wonder if that then drives the people who have to pick the plays to choose ones that will be more popular or have you seen overall that it's sort of really it's about the mind of the director and they just go in a more free flowing creative way. I don't think you see many productions of Coriolanus in the summer or Titus

Andronicus in the summer or even the great tragedies I mean they're just downers and the Huntington theater right now has combined comedy of errors which is up. And Richard the Third which is down you know. So I think that the comedies are the most popular some of the tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet which is really the one that maybe even more than any other one is in our drinking water Eugene would you agree that that in Hamlet may be right though I would add that a lot of these companies do make a concerted effort to play the B-sides right. So all's well that ends well. Is making a comeback. Even though it's a big one. That's right. Yeah it's going to be performed by the Commonwealth's experience company this summer in the park in the park right here on Boston Common. And it's not one of the better known plays of Shakespeare even though the phrase is very well known. And so I applaud these companies for trying to bring

the lesser known works of the canon back on stage. Kelly I'd like to add to that experience of free or. Low priced tickets two things one the NEA has found that fairs and festivals draw more diverse groups in their audiences which I think says something about where ticket prices allow us to go with art. And second in this Shakespeare production that I'm associated with in the summer time Shakespeare in Stonington all of the that's takes place on an island in Maine all of the schoolchildren from that island have free entry. And there are lots of free events that happen around it. We read the play together in the library Eugene visits us and tells us how to be smart about Shakespeare and we have a blog that goes on so there's a lot around and those tickets are very inexpensive for the paying audience. And I should mention that NEA you refer to is the National Endowment for the Iraqis and those are act who don't who are not aware of that. Now you mention Richard the Third and we have

a clip here that I want people just to hear a little bit because it is now in production this is not the production at Huntington from the Huntington theater production but it is one and I think people recognize some familiarity with some of the language here so here is a clip from Richard the Third. Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this son of York. And all the clouds that flowered upon the house in the deep prism of the ocean buried. Now I know you join us. Monstrosity was back. OK you don't like that very much. Would you like the version at the Huntington Theater in Boston right now right. I thought it was this Dunning riveting astonishing production. One of the best not only of Richard the Third but of any of the plays that I've seen and I've seen quite a few. You know that Richard the Third is the story of a deformed Duke who

butchers his way to power and then himself gets dispatched when his supporters desert him and he's left very famously shouting on the battlefield of horse a horse a kingdom for a horse. So in many ways it's a play about the use of brutal power to gain power or violence to gain power. And what I thought this production did a wonderful job of was bringing home and this real way the elemental reality of that violence that that that's that's necessary or that is used to sustain power and to overthrow power so I thought the production was very relevant to what's happening in the world today especially in the Middle East. Well. Is that a theme that you know goes through I know you like this production as well. But you said Alicia that there was a little comedic twist to it. Well yeah there is any Richard Richard the Third infuses the

the text with comedy. The actor Richard close. I'm not sure how he pronounces his last name closely or close is tall and charming and he's dressed. There's so much invoked in the show he's he almost is dressed like Darth Vader he has a long cape that has a combination of velvet and wool and leather. And the people around him there's there's a there's an ensemble around him that's dressed kind of like Hannibal Lector they have masks on that that invoke vaguely Hannibal Lector which I think is is an interesting conceit to I don't know if that's what the propeller director Edward hall was shooting for but I can say that. Hannibal Lector the sociopath though he was was so charming and compelling and so is this Richard the Third. He just pulls you right in and builds a startling relationship with the audience. Absolutely agree and it's written into the part that opening soliloquy that that you just

played an excerpt from is in part a comic soliloquy that allows Richard to make a connection with the audience and which gives him the opportunity right at the outset to dis arm the audience with his charm. We're right in his in the palm of his hands from the get go. Knowing that this guy's a brutal murderer who is going to kill and slaughter his way to the top. And what propellor did was to go back to Hannibal Lecter. It combined Shakespeare with the slasher movie. And so. Yes a pop culture then. Waterhouse and they use tools like hand saws rusty hand saws and and other power tools to enact torture on stage to stage the scenes of executions and killings that are often only alluded to and in that way it really brought you into the center of that world of violence. Well that we see only the outside of

I think when we read news accounts. Well that brings me to a question because you now you've mentioned it in the staging and Alicia mentioned in the clothing. It seems to me that a lot particularly the ones in the summer a lot of these plays are quote modernized in some way sort of trying to set us in a contemporary mode. So is that because it makes it more accessible to people or is just that just a trend now. No it's been the trend for the past hundred years. And it certainly makes the place more accessible that they are is to translate Shakespeare into something that it is not and to stamp a concept that is foreign to the play on to it. If I were that the scribe more of this propeller is of the Third you might get the idea that the director was just imposing his vision onto the play. I don't think that was the case in this case even though it was concept driven. It didn't. It felt organic and it didn't feel as though the director had hijacked the play for a political purpose. In fact all more just just sort of a modern day kind of day.

That's right. Also making it a gimmick I think. You know I think it's fair to say that Shakespeare was. Let's just say the Neil Simon of his time he used pop references and I think I think it's appropriate to sometimes do that in Shakespeare propellor does it almost I would say almost better than anyone you've probably seen more of the local Shakespeare than I have. Maybe there are others here. That do that also. Right I mean it's it's conventional now to have these anachronistic Shakespeare productions that are eclectic in their references so that you get a sense of a fictional world rather than something that is located in a particular place at a time. OK. We mentioned earlier you know the themes often in Shakespeare plays are treachery ambition and whatever. So this is my moment to say my most favorite Shakespearean play is Macbeth. Here's a clip from Macbeth. I don't know if you're willing to travel higher. Oh

cool it with blood. Then the charm is good. I freaking of my thumb is something wicked this way. Oh but unlocks whoever knocks. I love that something. That's my favorite. It's never produced a lot though it's amazing to me. Kelley was that your favorite because of the female character. I like best wife she's evil and I mean this is this is a play rich with modern times and then those witches Come on you know they're just the best. I find that it's this is a play that is easily accessed assessable by all and I I you know I've loved it and movie versions I love the language of it also has one of my favorite lines sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of care. Really interesting soliloquy about the importance of sleep. Maybe because I'm always sleep deprived but it's my favorite.

It's interesting you should talk about Lady Macbeth because traditionally She has been the evil lady right. Yeah. The villain whom everybody loves to hate but her she has evolved over time in large part because actresses have brought out her humanity. And so it's because the role has been continually updated. We can have strong women like yourself. I don't know. Flying with the strength of leading. Do you think that there's a direct correlation between that huge an and what we can. I refer to as the women's movement. Do you think that those two changes have gone hand in hand. Oh absolutely. We don't today immediately distrust female power. There's always something morally suspect about feminine power in Shakespeare's plays whether it's MARGARET And Richard the Third or Lady Macbeth or you talk about Coriolanus name is Lena says Mom. Right.

But we are I'm never reading that. Yeah. I want to understand the motivation behind these women's pursuit of power and where to sympathize with that motivation and the sense of oppression that they feel. And and that that desire to break free from those shackles even if it involves Well violence or illicit means. Well propellor theater which is the company that the English company that's at the Huntington right now with comedy of errors and the Richard the Third we've been discussing takes that to another level of anxiety by having by being an all male troupe. And they don't try to disguise that these are men they don't put it on while the wigs they know you know they don't build them up in places with with with much dedication they really allow them to be men performing as women. And I have to say that it creates another level of power. It creates another level of violence and it creates an interesting level of tenderness.

Yeah and that's the way it was performed and you know it's reacting the day back in Shakespeare's day all of the things you see as roles were played by men and adolescent boys including Lady Macbeth Cleopatra. And so there has in fact been a movement to recapture original practices and propellor is one of those companies. All's Well That Ends Well is not only happening here on Shakespeare on the come on the common but also one of the centerpieces of Shakespeare in the park in New York which is you know very famous last moments here I'd like to know if both of you can think of a production you've seen that really just stayed with you. Eugène there are just too many. Give me one and I'll give you one. How about the most recent one that I saw in New York Twelfth Night with my girlfriend and Hathaway. The one you love are you ok. OK very good. It was beautiful and she just charmed her way into the audience's

heart. OK but once again it was one of those experiences where at the end you were appreciating the beauty of the play. But there's a poignancy that you experience in a very physical way and it stays with you as an experience because that it has washed over you in so many different ways. You Alicia. Well I have to say that every year because I'm embedded with Shakespeare production Shakespeare in Stonington I fall in love with those performances each year. But a real standout for me is the Worcester group's Hamlet which features Scott shepherd who local audiences will remember as the lead in gats. Here at American Repertory the writer that was based it was a post-apocalyptic very tech heavy tech savvy version based on the Richard Burton hamlet in the 1960s and just completely blew away the the. Ideas in Hamlet and brought them back in a whole new form.

All right well to Shakespeare boosters you can get do better and there's a lot to look forward to this summer we've been talking Shakespeare with our arts and culture contributors UJ and Co a professor of English at Wellesley College and a Shakespeare scholar and a listener Anstead. She's the critic in residence for Shakespeare in Stonington at the Stonington opera house in Maine. Editor in chief of Inside arts and online editor of The Harvard art speak. Thank you both. Thanks Kelly. Thank you. Up next we're taking your calls at 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. Our film contributor Guerin daily is here to talk about the decline of our local movie houses. Call in with your favorite theaters the ones that have vanished or the ones you hope will never make it to the chopping block. We'll be back after this break stay with us. Support for WGBH comes from you and from the Museum of Science and their

newest IMAX film Tornado Alley now showing in the MMU Guarini theater. The Museum of Science is proud to support the Nova Radio minute weekday mornings here on eighty nine point seven WGBH and from Brussels a family tradition for over 130 years with annual perennials herbs and shrubs birdbaths statuary pots plus jewelry gifts and toys. More information at Russell's garden center Route 20 in Waveland. Next we examine the origins of the financial crisis with Gretchen Morgenson co-author of the new book Reckless Endangerment outsized ambition greed and corruption led to economic Armageddon. Morgenson is a financial reporter and columnist for The New York Times joining us this afternoon to an eighty nine point seven of you.

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treat. Good afternoon I'm Kelly Crossley This is the Calla Crossley Show 25 years ago today the Orson Welles cinema burned down. It was a movie theater on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge Massachusetts that showcased independent films foreign films and revivals. It was a kind of place that was a beloved theater but everyone in the film community were marking the anniversary with film critic Karen Daley. Talk about all of the great movie houses in New England that have come and gone with a look to what theatres will survive and the ones that will not make it. Karen welcome back. My pleasure to be here. Listeners we want to hear from you. 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 0 9 7 8 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. Tell us what's your favorite movie house was or what your favorite one is. 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 8 7 7 3 0 0 1 89 70. You can send us a tweet or write to our Facebook page so Guerin the anniversary 25th anniversary of the Orson Welles and I have a sad sad

day in many ways. Right so why was it so special. It was special because first of all it came at the right time it captured the Zeit Geist of the late 60s in the 70s. Some very talented people started it and ran it for its first several years there was a film school there that and many of those people went to Hollywood to work. Many of the people who operated it became executives in the business a lot of the people who just worked there as staff people ended up moving into the business. And have had an influence on it. It was also one of the few places in the United States where there was really creative film booking some very interesting juxtapositions of films revival of films and then as it started to mature bringing in new art films from Europe Jamaica and across the world. So really exposing the entire community to the culture of film and it really spread that culture of film at a time when there

weren't a lot of theatres except maybe in New York San Francisco and maybe Madison Wisconsin. Now what you just described in terms of their content they they put out there they screen their sound a little bit like the Kindle in Cambridge now was it sort of like that what exactly. KENDALL IS THE you can draw a direct line from the Orson Welles to the candle when the Orson Wells burned their left a huge hole in the market and the people who were involved with the Orson Welles and myself and some other people were negotiating at the time. To take over the space and the candle and to revive the Orson Welles there and Stead a large national chain of art houses landmark came in and did a very nice job of building the place and bringing in quality film. So this this is very personal to you the subject of a whole movie houses. Oh absolutely. You know a lot of people don't realize I ran movie theaters for over 30 years. OK. I mean not only did I get I run the Orson Welles cinema as a manager but I ran the old Kenmore movie house you know Park Square movie house. I revive the Somerville theater in the

80s. I revive the dead in community theater in the 90s. So yes I love movie theaters and yeah you're right it's just I get really excited about it. OK. We're at 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 8 9 7 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 0 9 7 8. Did Guerin just mention any of the theaters that are your favorites or do you have others you want to tell us about. Give us a call and share with us. Now we're having this conversation not only in tribute to the Orson Welles but also because you wrote a piece and which you now named the five cinema as it exists today. Right that that are your favorites so let's share. With our audience the five that you chose which are all around the region and why you chose those where you choose these theaters. First this is for a Yankee magazine article so you know you encompass all of New England and it was very very difficult to whittle them down on the in the Boston area. Obviously the Coolidge Corner has done an incredible job of not only surviving because many people don't even realize that 15 years ago it looked like it was going

to go the way of a wrecking ball. And through some great work by Dave acquirer and the board over there they save the theater. Now they have a they're strongly engaged in the community doing great community work and that's the one thing that I really look very closely at when I was choosing these five is that the five best Numan what kind of community work are there are they doing. Because when you dig your hands and your roots into the community you're going to survive a lot longer and you're really helping the community you're leading the community you're helping the community and those are important things to do. And by the way the Coolidge is in Brookline Massachusetts right who is known as one. Give us another Jane pic in Newport. Beautiful old bird and that's what I call Michael and all birds. I used to call him dinosaurs now I call him birds because they're cordial. You go inside some of these places and if they're chest there I mean the crash land ship that they put into these places. Jane Pagan is a great theatre again doing a nice job and it's community. Another one that I picked that's newer is the Red River Theater in

Concord. And it's a small three screen theater and they're doing great work up there to bring in quality film and gas and engage the community. Another one is the railroad square in Maine Waterville Maine because again it does the main international film festival. They do a wonderful job with that as well. And we meant you meant Concord New Hampshire because New Hampshire doesn't recognize the Red River one. All right Peggy from New Hampshire Go ahead please you're on the Kelly Crossley Show. Hi there I'm Peggy and I am from Cambridge actually oh OK go ahead. That's OK. I live in Cambridge a long time and I used to go to the Orson Welles and in fact saw the conversation there with but with Gene Hackman. That wonderful film. Oh right you remember that. Harrison Ford also was in that film.

I do I've seen it I've seen you know more recently and I I just smile at what a wonderful film it was. I'm sure some of the one right over my head because I was in my 20s. Well you know here's here's here's another wonderful piece of trivia about Francis Ford Coppola and the Orson Welles. There's a very very famous photo of Francis Ford Coppola in the Philippines during the filming of Apocalypse Now where he's holding a fake gun to his head because of the all the problems he was having making Apocalypse Now. If you notice closely he's wearing an Orson Welles cinemas. But all of that great. That's good. Do you miss that theater. Oh definitely. And I wanted to recall for you another for another theater that was in Boston and it was called The Fine Art Theater. It was a little side street right man. Near Symphony Hall. And they used to show all the European art films like Jules and Jim. Don't Shoot the Piano

Player or shoot the piano. Remember which one it was and all of those kinds of things and they put out those those narrow playbill that listed like a month ahead all the different Wow. And they were they were great you know. Gerunds nodding as he said Do you remember that when I remember and you know it was a great time and it's in the 70s all the way up into probably the mid 80s for film and Boston was probably the number three market in the country. You know we had the fine arts but you also remember the 733 which is right next to Paul's small jazz club. You had art you also had the central square which showed king of hearts for what 10 years old for. Forever yeah ever. Yeah and then there's things like you know the you know Garden cinema the Kenmore movie house which is now the B U bookstore. There was a film for the film house in inside the Park Square building called the Park Square movie house.

Oh I missed that one I remember going in and abandon it in that theater. OK you sound like a personal problem. Thank you. Just for the Kyle We appreciate it. Thank you Laura from Newport Go ahead please. I you know like Mara with an M O Mara Go ahead please. I just wanted to remember about that as opposed to almost 78 goes in well they open and they be open but they might not get. It's about a half an hour after you were in the audience. Wow I am I thank you. Yeah thanks more of a calling about that because I was the manager of the Orson Welles and I lived in Back Bay and I walked through the snowstorm go out of the way and the only person I met that day walking to the Orson Welles was my friend Bruce Barr to who was the manager of the Nickelodeon and he was coming from Cambridge to Boston to open up his theater. Wow that's great.

And just one other comment. I lived in Newport Rhode Island now. Yeah and so we go to Beijing Pickens the opera houses left that was terrific. Now why do you like that. Why do you like that theater Jane Pickens. Well because it has the only art OK. The only other than one we have down here is you know commercial Island cinema. OK. The pic and they only have the heat on for about the first 20 minutes and they have to place a blanket but you can pick up you know when you put around you in the theater and it really is cool. We went to see Jane Eyre there about four weeks ago. I love that it was cold in the theatre and filming was OK well yeah but all you need. Oh yeah that's one of those old fog machine lines and fog and Mr. Rochester and will be Alex that thank you so much you know. Thank you so much. What what are the commonalities of these great movie houses other than just being aging you know beautifully. Well one of them is vision. It's it's important that whoever is the programmer of the

book or has a vision for what the theater is and that vision again when I talk a lot about community because if your vision is strong it reflects the community but also will lead the community too. I mean there's there's a there's a relationship there that you have to understand. Unfortunately when you have these large mega plexis which are part of big change their vision is to grind out as many films as they can as they can to make as much money as they can. So the vision does not reflect what's going on inside the creative process of the book or as well as what's going on in the community. All right well here's a sound that I'm going to have our listeners just just take a listen to. And just to give us a sense to it as a way of talking about one of the issues that's come up and that's really is about the films themselves and their availability. So what you're listening to is film going through a movie projector. And what is happening lo these many years are the film companies making

millions of cover copies or hundreds of copies for film theaters around the country. Some of these aging movie theaters continue to do that. But really the rest of the world the movie plex is you referring to are now going digital. And that's quite expensive. Yeah. There it's we're at a we're at a juncture again once once in the business to get back in the late 40s early 50s a demographic shift out of the urban environment into the suburban of our environment close a lot of urban theaters. We had the same thing happening in the late 60s and early 70s as TV and cable and DVD. And VHS kind of eroded the market and now we're going to have a similar kind of thing happen with digital because it does cost roughly $70000 per booth to be able to put in install the digital in and the projection is that by 2016 there'll be very few 35 millimeter prints left and some distributors are saying that by 2014 they will no longer service theaters and have 35 millimeter films

or 35 millimeter projectors. Now that's not a real issue for the urban environment. But I know one a couple small theaters one in particular they gross maybe GROSS Now this is their total gross right. Like a hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year. You take away the you know their their cost and stuff like that. They're probably profiting maybe $15000 in a good year. They're doing it for the love right. And unfortunately when you have a $70000 bill to put in a new system it's just not worth it as the paybacks not going happen. We're going to see a lot of small independent theaters closed in the next three years. Well we're going to talk more about that on the other side of this break I'm Kelly Crossley we're talking about local movie houses the ones that have come and gone the ones that are here to stay and the ones that will make it listeners. It's nostalgia time. What theaters do you long for the Nickelodeon The Paris. What do you do you hope makes it to the next century. 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. We'll be back after this break stay with us.

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college in Boston. For more information visit race Amity dot org. Good afternoon I'm taling cross lane this is the Calla Crossley Show. You'll recognize that sound by Lucasfilm George Lucas's production company. It's part of the movie theater experience these days and if you're just tuning in we're talking about the fate of the movie theater. Twenty five years ago today the beloved film house on mass and the Orson Welles cinema burned down and were using this as an occasion to mourn the other great theaters we've lost and to celebrate the ones that remain. I'm joined by film critic Karen Daly and listeners we want to hear from you. 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. What movie house do you miss. What one would you nominate to make it into the next century. And again

read 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. Susan from Quincy Go ahead please you're on the callee Crossley Show. Oh hi thanks for letting me talk. I just want to put in my plug for the Brattle Theater Cambridge. Oh excellent. Yes absolutely and I just wanted to ask one question make one point ask one question. My husband and I we went to I think it was called the off the wall cinema or the hole in the law. And in the process of walking off the wall. Yes. The silent films that were made by the L. Frank movie company. Yeah. This is many years ago I went. Ask your guest if he is to physically think about movie theaters. He also saw like old vaudeville houses you know hang up and listen. I thank you very much. Well I do and it's really personal because my grandparents were vaudevillians stars on the quays circuit back in the teens they were an operatic duo so I love vaudeville houses and I go in there and what's very

interesting is like you take something like the Somerville Theatre that is a combination vaudeville house and movie house when you open in 1014 and you when you walk into a theater like that all you have to do is take a look at the at the wings size the wing size being the space between where the Presidium stages and the side than the right or the left side if the left on the right side is very shallow. Then it is a vaudeville house wow. And if you go downstairs sometimes sometimes you get to see the old seal tanks where they used to keep the SEALs wet before they went on stage. Oh yes I love the headsets. OK great. E en from Boston Go ahead please. How are you. How are you. Terrific. I was just calling because I grew up on the North Shore will work your Marvel had and it's been going since 1919 and then I. Then abruptly in that not any close down and it's been abandoned for I don't know over a decade now

and they've just come back and there's a big foundation to get it up and going again. And I'm hoping they do because it was really the activity when I was a kid and Oh I'm certain I'm probably not the only one that got the first smooch at the Warwick and it just warms my heart that they might bring it back. Great thank you so much for the call do you know about this if there are any good town planner worth his salt or her salt is going to see whether or not there is a theater still extend in their area. Because once you create a thriving theatre in a community the community will rebound. A perfect example would be David Square when the Somerville Theatre which I had in you know had an impact on started showing films and bringing in a different kind of crowd. Davis Square became a blossom. Johnny Deeds was instrumental in that as well. Same thing in Dedham Square. Where the theater brought people when the restaurants came in the restaurants the artists came in started opening up

shops so creating a vibrant theatre is vital for any area to revise and revive itself the problem that you have is with these old birds. You have to bring everything up to code and that includes all the wiring all the handicap accessible. You have to have put in an elevator elevators cost a million dollars. So the partnership between business community and the population you know is vital for these things to exist. There's also the state I believe it's not St.. But it's someplace around I can't remember exactly where they're working to try and revive their theater. There is the extra theater in the eye Oka in Exeter New Hampshire. They're trying to revive that theater so everyone realizes that these are not only cultural institutions but they're economic engines that are vital to keep a theater or keep a community healthy. I love the story of Paul Allen who cofounded Microsoft right who paid for by himself the revitalization of an old theater in Seattle and there had been a community

effort to revive that theater. My favorite Capitol Theater in Arlington love it love it and all the little shops stay open you know at night when you go there to see the theater or else it's just so cozy and comfy and I like the you know the lumpy seats and the fun food. I also like however the embassy which is not an old theater but it sort of has that feel in wall thing him and it's I guess what I imagine one of these old birds would be updated too because it's it's got all the stuff of the old embassy was torn down. Yeah and give credit to the town leaders the politicians and wealthy they aggressively went out to try and find somebody to build a theater there and when they built a theater do you know all the great restaurants no movie Street the theater brought the restaurants and now that area has been revived. It's a case it's a perfect example what I was just talking about and makes so much sense Jen from Cambridge Go ahead please. You're my parent daily Go ahead. I think that taking my call. I love the independent theater that's

really great to be there. However my only problem is as an African-American I don't know if an independent African-American film The Lapp I think he was up to me and I really haven't been enough. But I'm I'm. Know that there are plenty that have come out for him. There was one with Kerry Washington which was an excellent film right. But unfortunately I had to see it through pay per view and I would love to have experienced that movie in an independent movie. I think you're exactly right I agree with you I'm always looking for those films as well. The Kindle does OK but I but I hear and take your point Karen you want to respond. I think that this is an issue I mean part of the problem is the economic reality. Everyone wants to say OK you know these are art films and we should be striving for the art but unfortunately it's a business dominated by commerce. I would also say

that I think that one of my objections to what I see going on in the business right now is there's not enough creativity on the part of the programmers to go out and find those films now and some ways. Film festivals are filling that void. But I don't see the kind of creativity. There are some excellent bookers in this and Boston back in the 70s and 80s 90s. They're not there. They're getting older and I'm not seeing a new crop of really smart bookers for commercial theatres there and again I think the film fest was a fun part of that niche but it's something that I think needs to be addressed and I also think Jen thank you for the call that you know we customers have to push and say that's what we want to see as well. Absolutely. Alexander from Gloucester Go ahead please you're on the callee Crossley Show. Yes thank you. I'm growing up in Winchester Massachusetts and one day it was a little bit of it on the Main Street will never be I have no idea what it was called for me and you for that question.

Thank you for the cue for the call Alexander going sorry Xander I don't know the name of that but there are several great sites. There's the National Historical theater society. They might be a good place to go on the web and track down. And there are a few other ones just Google in Winchester Massachusetts movie theater and you probably find some good sources of that with maybe even some photos. One of the things that you also have mentioned many times but it seems to be particularly detrimental to these small houses as you pointed out $70000 for a digital projector. We're not even talking about 3D which is huge right. So in order to project these three d films it costs even more. And I have to give reference to a piece that I really an investigative piece almost by Tiber in the globe right talking about how even in the in the modern movie houses so many projectionist are not allowed to change the lenses so people come in to see a 2D film just your regular film not 3D and it's not very bright and yet they're paying those expensive movie

fairs. You know this is ridiculous. Well you know I saw Titus screening last night we talked a little bit about this in his original article was about a third longer than this one is and it's a very good article and really a very good I've heard from the Globe and The problem is the industry doesn't know what it's doing and some ways it's kind of lost its way. You take a look at how they're going about doing their business and it seems counter intuitive. You're right. The problem that they have is there are no projectionists these are operator managers. They run the projectors but they're not like the Summerville or the Brattle or the Coolidge Corner which has someone who is experts ific Lee there as a projectionist who takes great pride in what they do and it's a craft. These other people I know several managers of a megaplex in the greater Boston area who are making $30000 a year their manager projectionists. So

they're running up and downstairs running all these things. They're working 80 hours a week. They're stretched to the limit right. And that is very shortsighted by the owners of these theaters. These are the front line people. Again this is my criticism as a former at the end of the day what happens then we get disgusted because we can't see it. Well at the theater we just wait till it comes on cable. It's NOT END OF STORY. It's not. That they're not even addressing the fact that you know going to the movies is something that everybody does but they are so fixated on the 18 to 24 demographic that they don't realize that a film like Bridesmaids which is doing extremely well right now is drawing older women and their dates. Yes. And it's very good it's a good film. But they probably didn't realize what they had when they started off with that film. One of the things that I've noticed is happening for example at the Capitol is you know they're it's bringing in some first run in addition to the second run things and I know that other mothers of these theaters that you mentioned in addition to doing their community things are doing all kinds of

outreach to survive right. Well there's a whole set. I mean there's when you're looking at how a theater has to survive right now. They are doing all sorts of different kind of programming. One of the big successes over the past seven eight years has been opera and movie theaters. An additional two weeks ago the Tony Award winning Memphis was shown in movie theaters as well. We're going to see more of that. They're now talking about 3D Broadway plays WoW in movie theaters. Oh well. Well Aaron we could go on and on about this because we're all we we are lovers of all movie houses thank you for bringing this to us. My pleasure. We've been talking about the past present and future of regional movie theaters with our film critic contributor film critic Karen Daly. Thank you so much to our callers as well for weighing in. You can keep on top of the Calla Crossley Show at WGBH dot org slash Calla Crossley follow us on Twitter or become a fan of the Calla Crossley Show on Facebook. Today Show was engineered by Alan mess produced by Chelsea Mertz will Rose lip and Abbey Ruzicka where a production of WGBH

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