Opening Night! Cinema Paradiso
Join us on March 1st to celebrate the return of movies to the Playhouse Cinema!
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Photo of the Playhouse Cinema circa 1945
After a long year of renovations, the Playhouse is ready for her close-up (and she is beautiful)!
Please join us as we celebrate the return of movies to Hamilton's oldest surviving, purpose-built cinema with a screening of the Academy Award-winning art house hit from 1988, Cinema Paradiso. For us, this film perfectly captures this auspicious occasion and acknowledges the Playhouse's history as a community cinema. About Cinema Paradiso, Empire Magazine says: "Giuseppe Tornatore hit upon something miraculous when he wrote this tale of romance, between a young man and the movies, and friendship, between a wise, wry projectionist Alfredo and the cheeky urchin Salvatore who wiles his way into the booth. Not a false note is struck among the sunkissed Sicilian locations, gentle, humorous performances, and tinkling soundtrack. Assembled with a wide-eyed, childlike wonder, Tornatore taps themes of bonding, nostalgia, community, history and the power of film to transport us into a world of dreams." Tickets are selling fast for our opening film. Doors will open at 6:00 and the movie will start at approximately 6:45, after a brief thanks and introduction. We will be accepting donations of non-perishable food items for Hamilton Food Share at this event. Please donate!
This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Hamilton! Our first Playhouse Film Guide has been published. The inaugural edition covers the month of March; subsequent editions will be a bit longer in scope. You can find film guides in fine establishments [2] all over the city, and at the Playhouse Cinema, of course! We will begin mailing the Film Guides to Playhouse Cinema members via Canada Post as soon as we have your mailing address, so please make a point of filling out the form [3] online [3], or the next time you're at the Playhouse.
Over this past year and especially at our recent open houses, we heard many delightful stories about people's memories of the Playhouse and all the movies that played here: Spartacus; The Ten Commandments dubbed in Italian; Lina Wertmüller's Seven Beauties (a true art house classic); Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns with Clint Eastwood, and of course, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. We've heard about Little Red Riding Hood, too, but hey, that's a legitimate part of the history of movie-going (and we may just play Boogie Nights in the upcoming months to acknowledge that period in the Playhouse's history, as well!) We are going to have some fun programming in the months ahead, so if you have any memories of the Playhouse and the movies you saw here, please share them with [email protected].
We can't wait to see you on Opening Night to celebrate this next chapter in the story of the beautiful Playhouse!
Watch: 'Cinema Paradiso' Official Trailer [4]