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Outdoor movie series to return to Grand Center July 5
(by Rae Burger - July 02, 2008)
Grand Center Inc. is hoping St. Louis residents will get out their lawn chairs and popcorn and take a break from sitting at home watching movie stars to spend some time watching them under the stars.
Grand Center and Cinema St. Louis present the second season of Cinemania at 9 p.m. for four Saturdays in July.
The theme this year is musicals, and the films will be shown on a 20-foot blow-up screen at the grassy lot located on Washington Avenue between Grand Boulevard and Spring Avenue. Grand Center received funding last year that allowed it to purchase the new screen.
“We wanted to add summertime vitality to the district,” Kelly Weber, Grand Center’s managing director of art’s programming, said of the series.
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Sheldon Concert Hall do not perform during the summer, and the Fox Theatre has an abbreviated schedule. Grand Center is looking for attractions, and Weber said she thinks that Cinemania is a great summertime addition to Grand Center.
Cinemania took place in August last year, and on average from 200 to 400 people attended each showing. Weber hopes to grow Cinemania and to make it an annual event with a different theme each year.
Last year’s Cinemania featured cult comedies such as The Goonies, Ghostbusters and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, but given the family audience that attended, the focus will be on a different demographic in order to create an evening of family fun.
With the popularity of outdoor movies growing, Weber said she thinks Cinemania has found a great niche.“I do imagine we will grow because it is our second year, but our first showing is July 4 weekend, so we will have a lot of competition …,” Weber said.
Weber also said she feels that musicals have a connection with Grand Center because musicals, like Grand Center, offer an interaction between art and life.
The musicals they chose are all Oscar winners, with 19 Oscars shared among the four films.
Cinemania begins July 5 with An American in Paris, starring Gene Kelly as Jerry Mulligan and Leslie Carron as Lise. Mulligan is a struggling American painter in Paris until he is discovered by an heiress, whose interests go beyond Mulligan’s paintings. He falls for Lise, although she is involved with another man.
On July 12, Cinemania shows the 1968 film Funny Girl, starring Barbara Streisand and Omar Sharif. Funny Girl follows the life of Fannie Brice from her days in the slums of Manhattan’s Lower East Side to the height of her career, and through her marriage and her divorce.
West Side Story, scheduled for July 19, updates the Romeo and Juliet story by placing the action in New York City in the 1950s. Star-crossed lovers Maria and Tony find themselves caught in the crossfire between two rival street gangs, the Jets and Sharks.
The series concludes with Moulin Rouge on July 26. Starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, the movie tells a story about Paris in 1889. Bohemian poet Christian joins the glamorous Moulin Rouge, the heart of Paris’s underworld. He falls in love with Satine, who is the Duke’s love interest. As the love triangle unfolds, Satine and Christian fight to stay together.
Cinemania viewers are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating. A concession stand offering popcorn, sweets and non-alcoholic beverages is open during each screening. For more information visit www.grandcenter.org
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