Today sees the grand opening of the first art house theatre in Boston IN YEARS: the Stuart Street Playhouse. I know, right? How fucked up is that? Old folks may remember when the space was the Sack 57 cinema. Hell, they might also remember that Copley Square was originally intended to be an art house multiplex. But I digress.
Anyhoo, here's more from the Globe's Ty Burr:
“I want to make this into a first-run independent and foreign film theater,’’ says new proprietor David Bramante of the 435-seat space. “It’s Boston - we should have one.’’
We used to have much more than one. Well over a dozen movie houses of all kinds - including the Stuart Street’s original tenant, the Sack 57 twin screen - used to thrive within the city’s limits. Now there exist only two commercial picture palaces, both of them corporate googolplexes: The AMC Loews Boston Common with its 19 screens and the Regal Fenway Stadium with 13.
Institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, with its robust film program, and the New England Aquarium and Museum of Science, with their
IMAX screens, fill some of the gaps. Still, Bostonians craving the latest indie feature or Oscar-nominated German film have for years had to travel to the Brattle or Kendall Square in Cambridge or the Coolidge Corner in Brookline to get their fix.“It’s a shame that Boston of all places does not have an art house within the city limits,’’ says George Mansour, who has been booking movies into local and national nonchain houses for 45 of his 75 years. “Baltimore has an art house. Great Barrington has an art house. I applaud David for taking the plunge.’’
Seconded. Boston operatives, check it out and report back.
