Last screening at 3:45pm Thurs
Starring Robert DuVall, Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray
For advance tickets visit www.movietickets.com
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First performance Live from Royal Opera House
Cosi Fan Tutte
Friday September 10th 2:00PM
Sunday September 12th 11:00AM prerecorded
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Sept 9th 8:30pm
See new release Leonard Cohen on our screen before the dvd is available for sale. SONGS FROM THE ROAD, a dozen of Cohen’s most famous songs from that world tour, the best of Cohen’s performances at auditoriums, arenas, and stadiums from Tel Aviv to London
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Special screenings of
BEHIND THE HEDGEROW
a look inside the private world of aristocratic Newport
September 7th-September 16th limited showtimes
HELD OVER FOR ANOTHER WEEK UNTIL SEPTEMBER 16TH. Filmmaker David Bettencourt will be at the theater for q and a on September 8th.
Admission $10, members $6
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OWNER KATHY STAAB ADDS PERSONAL TOUCH TO JANE PICKENS THEATER
"I've always been supportive of the arts, and I've always enjoyed film" Staab said. "I guess I like causes."
By James J. Gillis/Daily News staff
One afternoon in the spring of 2004, Kathy Staab strolled across Washington Square in Newport to look at what might be a real estate venture - a 550-seat movie theater for sale.
Staab and her husband, David, dabbled in real estate. Her background is in retail, marketing for huge chains such as the former Jordan Marsh, working for very good money. For a brief time, she thought the movie theater might be converted into a retail venture.
"But here I am, in this crazy movie theater business," Staab said last week.
Never mind that the Jane Pickens Theater was never much of a moneymaker when the late Joseph Jarvis owned it, that it's a beast to heat each winter, that the toilets backed up and the stage lights were so dim that it was hard to see who was standing on it from the audience. Staab was smitten by the idea of running a cool business in a small community.
"I've always been supportive of the arts, and I've always enjoyed film," Staab said. "I guess I like causes."
In the days of stadium seating, some might consider a one-screen theater that shows mostly independent films and documentaries something of a lost cause. But not Staab, who runs the theater full-time after quitting her marketing job with the Gardeners Eden chain last fall.
The Staabs bought the theater a year ago with an eye toward innovation. Showing movies, popping popcorn and making sure the Coke stays cold is just part of it. The theater now houses business meetings and kids' birthday parties, too.
A new digital projector allows groups to provide power-point presentations or bring in their own DVDs. Hey, kids, you want to play video games on the big screen? Hook up your X-Box and let loose.
"The way I look at it, the films break even and we make some money on the concessions," Staab said. "The events will keep it alive."
While she was a theater neophyte, Staab said she didn't buy the Pickens to keep the status quo. And that's why, in addition to the traditional soda and popcorn, she's added Newport Chocolate to the inventory, as well as flavored popcorn and designer beverages.
"We've had to re-order with Newport Chocolate every other week," she said. "I think this kind of product is really taking off. We'll keep trying new things to see what works."
A little flair
Having a personal touch is important, Staab said. That's why she set up a wine tasting after a screening of the grape-flavored "Sideways" and provided single roses for the romance "Before Sunset."
"I think people enjoy the little touches," she said.
Staab is still getting a handle on how business is going so far. When she bought the theater last June, she opened with "Fahrenheit 9/11," a big hit right out of the gate. With other films, it's been hit and miss.
"Mad, Hot Ballroom" was a hit the past few weeks. And she expects "March of the Penguins" to draw viewers later this month. She said she is impressed with the number of people in the community who have thanked her for keeping the theater from closing.
"This is a great community," she said. "I've really gotten a lot of support from all kinds of different people."
Even a broken leg in February didn't slow her down. She went out to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah with some of the organizers of the Newport International Film Festival, hitting the slopes at the same time.
"I was out skiing with (Newport festival executive director) Laurie Kirby," Staab recalled with a chuckle. "But that's not how I broke my leg. After I got home, I slipped on one of my wooden floors. That's how it happened, not every exciting."
Kirby, however, said she thinks Staab's commitment to the Pickens is exciting. The building is a focal point for the film festival, housing some of its more popular films.
"Kathy has done a tremendous job, integrating herself into the community," Kirby said. "She's made a big commitment to running the theater, and that can't always be easy. There's a nice synergy between us. I know she's working on some long-range plans for the Pickens. She came to Sundance with us and I found that she has wonderful taste in films.
"I hope people really come out to support her."
The ice machine cometh
Some of the changes Staab is making are structural, inside the building, and more are coming. Some are easier than others. For instance, she fixed the ice machine pretty fast. "We were going down the street to the (competing) Opera House to get ice," she said. "That was one of my first things, fix the ice machine."
She also kept the heat running at a toasty temperature during the winter, the most frigid part of 2005. Jarvis, who operated the Pickens on a wing and a prayer, was known to pick his spots when it came to turning up the thermostat.
Staab never met Jarvis, who died in 2003. But she understands why he tried to economize. She found that heating an early 20th century theater in New England makes her hope for big box office hits. "I got the heating bill in the spring and nearly passed out," she said.
She called in some energy efficiency experts to go through the theater. Two guys took some data and then quit their company, never to be heard from again.
"A couple of guys just laughed," she said. "We're going to see what we can do."
In his day, Jarvis treated the Pickens building, with its brass fixtures, as if it were the Marble House. And Staab keeps that in mind, even adding portraits of Jane Pickens - a former stage performer who retired to Newport - she bought on eBay.
Staab grew up in the Midwest. Her father taught at the University of Michigan, her mom taught third grade for 27 years. Staab moved to Boston 20 years ago to work in retail marketing. For now, she and her husband call Lincoln, Mass., home, though they own property in Newport
Their son Ryan, an only child, graduated from high school in Lincoln this past spring and will start college in the fall. Staab said she and her husband will eventually move here.
The difference in her new line of work, she said, is that there is direct contact with customers. No market reports and sales tracking and flow charts involved. People tell her what they like and don't like.
"It's nice to have that kind of relationship with people," she said.
Staab makes no predictions on how long she'll remain in the movie house business. But, of course, she never planned to enter the theater racket in the first place. She wants to give it some time, to try out new ideas.
"I handle the day-to-day, handle the marketing," she said. "And sometimes ,I sell popcorn, too. People wonder what I've gotten myself into. It's actually a lot of fun."
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