 |
 |
TASTEMAKERS - STORY BY LUCY WHITTLE GOLDSTEIN
Trends don't just happen spontaneously. They require a discerning eye, a gift for being the first to identify what is cool before anyone else does and an independent spirit. We found six individuals whose talent, determination and courage have had a profound effect on cultural life here in Newport.
Excerpt from The Newport Mercury:
"Everything about coming to the Pickens is an experience," says Kathy Staab, owner of the Jane Pickens Theater. And so it is, for the thousands of Newport residents and tourists who visit the art film house every year.
Staab and her husband, David, purchased the building in June 2004 when there had been talk that the 1834 converted church was going to be sold and turned into condos. Always one for a challenge and hoping that there might be a business to run and grow, Staab bought the theater and since then has turned it around in a big way.
Now the Jane Pickens offers not only offbeat movies that other Newport theaters don't run but also Oscar winners such as "Capote" and "Brokeback Mountain." Staab also rents the theater out for concert events and private parties; she has hosted kids' birthday parties, "Jaws" themed parties and even weddings. Yes, this fall a couple will be tying the knot on the stage right in the theater. And without the Jane Pickens, the Newport International Film Festival would be lost, considering that the 550-seat movie theater is Newport's biggest and plays host to the festival's opening and closing nights' films, plus many in between.
Not only are Staab's movie choices eclectic, but so are the offerings in the concession in the lobby which range from your standard popcorn to your more interesting gourmet chocolates, including Newport Chocolates with whom Staab has created a special partnership and Cocoa Pete's, a line of chocolates by the same person who started Pete's Wicked Ale. It's all a part of her plan to keep the Pickens local and global.
This summer, the theater will host two full days of the Rhode Island International Film Festival on August 9 and 10. Its Great Gatsby package deal continues - see the Robert Redford classic on Sunday mornings while enjoying croissants and beverages and get a ticket to tour Rosecliff, where the movie was filmed, in the afternoon. Staab is also working with Salve Regina University to develop an expanded stage to accommodate concerts at the theater in the fall.
So how does Staab do it all - pick the films, manage the building, choose the concessions, conceptualize the Jane Pickens experience? "I'm passionate. It's important to always be growing," she says. "And I have a lot of stamina."
Noting the many changes she has made to the Jane Pickens over the past two years she says, "I have a strong respect for what this used to be, but if I don't take it into this century, it won't make it."
|
