Red Vic Movie House in San Francisco to close
sfgate.com | Jul 7th 2011
The already endangered repertory movie scene in San Francisco is taking yet
another hit.
Later this month, 31 years to the day after it became an instant landmark in
the Haight-Ashbury, the Red Vic Movie House will close.
"Our closure is 100 percent certain at this point," co-owner Claudia Lehan
said. "On July 25, our birthday screening of 'Harold and Maude' will be our
last, I'm sad to say."
The Red Vic opened on July 25, 1980, at Haight and Belvedere streets. Its
first film was the 1977 Canadian indie "Outrageous!" about the friendship
between a gay hairdresser and pregnant mental patient, which set the tone
for three decades of eclectic repertory and second-run fare.
The theater was created and operated by a six-member employee-owned
collective that rented space for 80 seats, including its signature worn
couches, from the Red Victorian Bed & Breakfast.
In 1991, the Red Vic moved a block west to its current location at 1727
Haight St., renovating the former Full Moon Saloon and expanding to 143
seats - this time padded benches and theater seats - and a concession stand
featuring organic treats. Danny Glover was a regular, bringing his own green
bucket to handle the gourmet popcorn.
Glover, who once introduced "Places in the Heart," was merely one of many
celebrities and industry professionals who showed up in person for Q&As.
Legendary cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs presented "Easy Rider," and more
recently Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the Oscar-winning musicians and
stars of the film "Once," performed after a screening of the film. Of the
original six collective members, only Jack Rix is currently involved. Lehan
has been in the collective since 1998; the other current members are Susie
Bell and Sam Sharkey.
"We had various benefits, and individual donors contributed via PayPal,"
Lehan said Tuesday night by phone as she was working a shift at the theater.
"We had some support, but not enough to make it sustainable."
Instead, the modern factors that have taken down many independently owned
theaters - home video, HD cable and on-demand TV and movies, and streaming
video from websites such as Netflix - appear to have finally doomed the Red
Vic.
The liquidation process has begun. A movie poster and collectibles sale is
scheduled for Saturday afternoon ("We have sooo many posters, it's really
out of control," Lehan said).
The theater's lobby area will be absorbed by its next-door neighbor, the
Alembic Bar, which plans to expand, according to general manager Daniel
Hyatt. There are no plans for the auditorium itself.
The San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation estimates about 25 to 30
neighborhood theaters have closed in the past 30 years. Among repertory
houses, only the Castro and Roxie theaters remain. The Roxie has remade
itself as a nonprofit.
But there is a new kid on the block: The San Francisco Film Society recently
reached an agreement to operate the New People Cinema in Japantown beginning
in September. Repertory programming is part of its mission.
The Red Vic was a true original with a vibe that was perfect Haight-Ashbury.
Movies remaining on the schedule include the Talking Heads concert film
"Stop Making Sense," the Orson Welles classic "Touch of Evil" and a few Bay
Area-filmed movies, such as "The Last Waltz," "What's Up, Doc?" and of
course "Harold and Maude," which had become the theater's annual birthday
movie.
"It's a sad thing," Lehan said. "We held on for a long time. I'm so grateful
to have been a part of it. A really great gig. Love it."
Original Page:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/07/MN4O1K6O74.DTL
Shared from Read It Later
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Sixties-L" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/sixties-l?hl=en.
