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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Short takes: Jane Pickens to host Aida- Projo
Short Takes: Jane Pickens to host broadcast of Aida
01:00 AM EST on Friday, November 30, 2007
By Michael Janusonis
Journal Arts Writer
On Sunday you can get a front row seat for Aida at the La Scala Opera House in Milan and you won’t have to drive farther than downtown Newport.
La Scala’s production of Giuseppi Verdi’s classic opera, directed and designed by filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli (Romeo and Juliet), taped on the stage of the venerable opera house in Milan, will be flashed on screen at the Jane Pickens Theater at 1 p.m. Kathy Staab, who has owned the Jane Pickens for the past three years, said that Aida will be taped in Milan, then sent out over the Internet on an encrypted line. Staab has the code. Milan will come to Newport. In high definition.
“We already have digital projection in the theater,” she said over the phone, a feature so far used most often by people who rent her theater for everything from corporate events to weddings.
Although she’s not an opera fan — yet — Staab, who came from retailing when she took over the theater, said, “You don’t have to be a fan to know your customer base is into great music.” Last summer, she said, the Jane Pickens joined with the Newport Music Festival to bring in the documentary film In Search of Mozart, along with director Phil Grabsky who took questions from the audience.
The showing was a success and is part of Staab’s plan to build a customer base by offering films and special events that are outside the mainstream. She had spent years in fashion retailing, working for such big-name stores as Macy’s, Jordan Marsh and Talbot’s, when a realtor friend showed her the Jane ” Pickens which was for sale three years ago. “I said, ‘Oh, this is great!’ surprising her realtor friend who had never expected her to jump at the place. “We saved the theater, one of the oldest theater buildings in America,” she said, because a developer who was also interested in the place wanted to turn it into condos.
Built as the Zion Episcopal Church in 1834, it was transformed into a movie theater in 1923. This is its first foray into grand opera, something that will start off with a bang since La Scala, founded in 1778, is widely considered the greatest opera house in history. The Zeffirelli production, conducted by Riccardo Chailly, stars Robeto Alagna as Radames, Ildiko Komlosi as Amneris and Violeta Urmana in the title role.
Aida will not be the only opera from La Scala to be screened at the Jane Pickens. Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde will be presented Jan. 21, Verdi’s La Traviata will be Feb. 10, to be followed in coming months by Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, Verdi’s La Forza del Destino (presented by the Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence), Puccini’s Il Trittico and Puccini’s La Rondine (from Teatro la Fenice in Venice). All of the opera presentations will have subtitles.
Tickets are $20 for each opera or $100 for any six of the seven presentations. Reserve at the theater box office, by calling (401) 846-5474 or at www.janepickens.com by clicking on “gift shop.”
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