Joan Thuotte of Rotterdam was astounded by the changes made at Proctors. As a young girl growing up in Schenectady, she recalled coming to the former Carl Company Store, a space now occupied by the multipurpose theater and Proctors’ new box offi ce. “It’s fantastic to have new things in our city,” she said of the expanded theater. “The city of Schenectady needs uplifting things
I'm glad to read that Ms. Thuotte enjoyed her day at Proctor's. She will need to visit there very often to recoup the investment that she and every taxpaying resident of Schenectady County made to finance the private and not for profit organization.
I'm glad to read that Ms. Thuotte enjoyed her day at Proctor's. She will need to visit there very often to recoup the investment that she and every taxpaying resident of Schenectady County made to finance the private and not for profit organization.
That is what they are banking on.....but, they better get the 'underserved' involved too......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Even a Republican has to admit, Schenectady is on the rebound
I went to the Proctors open house on Sept. 30 and was more than pleased with the improvements. As I walked out on State Street, I was equally impressed with the ongoing construction. I moved into the city from Glenville in 2000. The progress since then has been nothing short of amazing. I am a registered Republican who gives credit where credit is due. I am well aware that the county Legislature is Democratic, the mayor’s office and council are Democratic, and that the rebirth of Schenectady has occurred during this time. I don’t want to go back to political slogans, promises and debt. I want legislators who will roll up their sleeves and tackle issues and give concerted effort. The proof is Schenectady — the county and downtown. The architects are the Democratic leadership. As a taxpayer, I commend their efforts. WILLIAM J. DIGNON Schenectady
Mr. Bill, Please remember that it is YOUR tax dollars that are going to make Proctors and the "Metroplex Mile" look so nice when you walk out the door.
I hope that Bill had his flack jacket on when he walked out of Proctors, those ak47 rounds can travel a long way down State Street from a drug deal gone bad uptown.
Why in the world would someone move from Glenville to the city of Schenectady? And a Republican at that, huh? This guy's got to be nuts or just a 'hack'! (which I tend to lean toward)
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
SCHENECTADY Movieland plans to show art fi lms Producer John Sayles promotes idea BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
Movieland on State Street is making an offer it hopes you can’t refuse: Attend the premiere of two first-run independent films this weekend. To help push this concept, fi lm producer John Sayles, a Schenectady native, visited the theater Thursday. He hopes to open his latest film in Schenectady early next year. Movieland has consistently shown commercial films on its six screens since opening earlier this year. Now, it’s ready to try an experiment for the community by screening “art films” on a limited basis, according to Movieland COO Joe Masher. The films selected for the fi rst showing are “Across the Universe” and “Elizabeth — The Golden Age.” Masher said he has also penciled in three films for the holiday season: “The Kite Runner,” “Reservation Road” and “Atonement.” “We’ll see how they perform,” he said. Philip Morris, Proctors CEO, said he believes there is a strong market in the area for first-run independent films. Independent films are usually produced for a low budget by a small movie studio. They often are less commercially driven and differ from the mainstream Hollywood cinema. Proctors shows second-run independent films on Tuesdays for $3. Movieland would charge the regular price for the first-run movies. “We show a lot of movies at the main stage. The response at Proctors is excellent. People have loved them,” Morris said. Ray Gillen, chairman of the Metroplex Development Authority, is working with Masher to broaden Movieland’s selections. He said the community can show its support for independent films by attending this weekend’s shows. “If you want to come, come,” he said. This weekend’s movies are similar to movies shown at Albany’s Spectrum Theater and of the kind made by Sayles, Gillen said. Sayles independently produced and directed 16 movies, including “Lone Star,” “Limbo” and “The Return of the Secaucus 7.” Sayles’ newest movie, “Honeydripper,” is set in the Jim Crow South of the 1950s and is about the transition of music from blues to rock ’n’ roll. It stars Danny Glover, Charles Hutton, Stacey Keach and Mary Steenburgen. The movie won Best Screenplay at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain in September, Sayles said. The film will be released in December in time to be considered for Oscar nominations and then released in wide circulation later next year. Sayles’ producer, Maggie Renzie, said she and Sayles plan to have “frank discussions” with Movieland officials about how the film is presented in the theater. “We don’t want to play marginal times,” Renzie said, meaning she does not want “Honeydripper” shown only at 9 p.m. on weekends, after the commercial films are finished. “Art movies are not marginal movies in sophisticated cities,” she said. Sayles also was in town to speak with officials at Proctors, the city school district and the Schenectady YMCA. The plan is to integrate Sayles’ new movie into community programs offered by these organizations. The city high school is site of the John Sayles School of Fine Arts. Al Aldi, a vice president with the Capital District YMCA, said his agency would like to develop programs with Sayles. The programs would teach youths techniques on how to write, direct and produce movies as well as use his fi lm as a teaching tool. This was Sayles’ first visit to Schenectady in two years. In 2005, he helped promote the Movieland project. On Thursday, he took his first tour inside the theater. “The lobby is one of the great things about it. It opens it up to the community,” he said. The theater’s lobby measures at least 60 feet tall and features a floorto-ceiling glass wall to the outside. He also praised the construction of the city’s first downtown theater in decades: “It is a big deal to get a place where people can come and feel comfortable about this part of town. The idea is to draw people back into the city.” To make the theater even more accessible to the community, Movieland officials plan to redo the marquee. The new marquee will prominently spell out “Movieland” in bold letters, replacing a raised display that is difficult to read, especially at night.
SCHENECTADY Giant bugs to crawl Iwerks screen GE underwrites cost of showing two films at Proctors BY JASON SUBIK Gazette Reporter
Local students and members of the public will have the opportunity to view the savage lifestyle of a four-stories-tall praying mantis on Proctors’ Iwerks movie screen after a donation from GE Energy. Proctors and GE announced earlier this week that GE has put up $35,000 to underwrite the costs of showing two films shot in the gigantic Iwerks format. Proctors relationships director Dan Hanifi n said Proctors is required to buy the expensive film stock for the Iwerks films, unlike traditional movies which are sent back to movie studios after a period of time. “[We’ll] actually own these films in the end. We’ll run them for the better part of a year,” Hanifin said. The names of the movies are BUGS!3D and Forces of Nature. BUGS!3D features images of the lives of the praying mantis and a butterfly. Forces of Nature is a National Geographic and Graphic Films production that explores the spectacle of earthquakes, volcanoes, and tornadoes. Hanifin said the Iwerks format was developed by former Walt Disney Co. executive Don Iwerks and is similar to the more widely known IMAX large screen movie format usually used by museums. “The only real difference is one film is shot horizontally and the other is shot vertically,” Hanifi n said. The movies will be shown within the GE Theatre at Proctors. The Iwerks rectangular screen is 50 feet wide and 37 feet tall. Proctors’ Iwerks system has the capability to show both 2D and 3D films. Viewers of BUGS! 3D will be given 3D glasses to watch the movie. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays schools may reserve the theater for class field trips as part of the Proctors Education Program called ilearn. Proctors’ Web site, proctors.org, has information on showings. Public showings of the films, $8 for adults and $7 for children, are offered on Tuesday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays. GE Energy Community Relations Manager Chris Horn said General Electric Co. has a vested interest in promoting science education. “It’s very attractive to us to use any kind of cutting-edge technology to educational films,” she said. “We want to develop our pipeline of talent, and this is one way to promote that interest.”
MEREDITH L. KAISER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER Alia Reilly of Glenville, 8, left, and her sister Clare, 10, act as directed by a commercial production crew working for the Mossey Group advertising agency. They were filming a commercial for the new Iwerks 3-D movies at the GE Theatre at Proctors on Wednesday.
SCHENECTADY Proctors to offer valet parking BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
For just $2 more than it costs to park several blocks away from Proctors, theatergoers can now drop their car off with a valet and head straight to their show. Laz Parking is now offering valet parking from the corner of State Street and Broadway during all weekend shows. The service would also be offered during popular weekday events and every Broadway performance. The valets charge $7. Drivers can park their cars in the surface lots themselves for $5, although all Proctors patrons can also park for free in the Broadway parking garage. “It’s only $2 more than parking it yourself,” Metroplex Development Authority Executive Director Jayme Lahut said. “We had this going when it rained very hard and the valet parking was booming during the rainy weather. We think during the cold weather months it will increase in popularity.” The service also frees theatergoers from having to drive by the city’s many surface lots in search of a vacant space. The parking lots are filling up faster now that more events are offered downtown. Proctors alone has three theaters now: the main stage, a smaller stage and a 3-D Iwerks theater. The movie theater also has five screens, and two new restaurants and a nightclub are to open on the block as well this winter. “We thought that with Proctors’ expanded schedule this year, with three venues open, many on Friday and Saturday nights, it called for the generation of additional parking services,” Lahut said. He added that it’s nice not to have to worry about parking availability. “I can’t believe I’m saying ‘three venues open at Proctors,’ ” he said. “There’s a lot of people downtown on the weekends now.” The service could also prove valuable to theater-goers who get to Schenectady just minutes before the curtain rises. With valet parking — and a good sprint — they have a chance of getting to their seat in time. “Parking close by would be a help to the disabled and late arrivers at Proctors,” Lahut said. After the show, drivers return to the corner of State Street and Broadway, where the attendant radios a valet to deliver their car.
I may be missing something here, but isn't valet parking ususally right at the door? People will still have to walk from the corner of Broadway and State to Proctors. In inclement weather, it would still be an invconvenience. And would this be a volunteered or paid position?
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