John Fannon (of New England) offers congratulatory words to Limelight Magazine on their 10th anniversary!
10 notable moments for Limelight Magazine
To coincide with our 10th anniversary, the co-owners of Limelight Magazine decided to list their top 10 moments of the past 10 years, with each person noting their top 5 in no particular order. Here’s their list:
Katie’s Top 5 Moments at Limelight Magazine!
- Booking the Carl Palmer Band at Tupelo Music Hall and Narrows Center for the Arts on October 20, 2011 and October 22, 2011 respectively, which led me to meeting their guitarist Paul Bielatowicz who I later married on October 31, 2015.
- Booking our first show (Uriah Heep) as JKB Entertainment Group at Tupelo Music Hall on June 28, 2011.
- Hosting the Limelight Magazine Music Awards on March 12, 2011.
- Meeting some of the biggest booking agents in the world when we visited Los Angeles in 2012.
- Presenting BOSTON with the Legend Award at the Limelight Magazine Music Awards on March 16, 2013, with band members Tom Scholz and Gary Phil in attendance.
Jay’s Top 5 Moments at Limelight Magazine!
- Booking our first show (Adrian Belew Power Trio) as Limelight Magazine at the Narrows Center for the Arts on September 5, 2009.
- Interviewing Brad Delp (of BOSTON and Beatlejuice) as our second interview ever for Limelight Magazine.
- Presenting BOSTON with the Legend Award at the Limelight Magazine Music Awards on March 16, 2013, with band members Tom Scholz and Gary Phil in attendance. (This is the only one that both Katie and Jay had on their lists).
- Scheduling a photo shoot with Dream Theater at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston for our summer issue in 2008. The photo shoot took place 15 minutes before they took the stage and ended up being the cover story.
- Screening Tales of Rocky Point Park at the Narrows Center for the Arts on October 8, 2016. This was our first film we ever screened and we had great attendance. This will enable us to present more films in the future.
Martin Barre Congratulates Limelight Magazine on 10 years!
Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre offers congratulatory words to Limelight Magazine on their 10th anniversary!
Trevor Rabin ‘talks’ about his newly formed ‘union’ with Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman
BY JULIA CIRIGNANO
Trevor Rabin is a musician, singer/songwriter, producer and film composer most famous for his time as the guitarist and vocalist for YES. He was with the band from 1982-1995 and was responsible for some of their biggest hits including “Owner of a Lonely Heart” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 singles chart. He was also responsible for their most successful selling album 90125, along with three others: Big Generator, Union, and Talk.
Rabin is currently planning a tour with two former members of YES, Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman. The tour, appropriately called “Anderson, Rabin & Wakeman: An Evening of YES Music & More,” launches tonight in Orlando, FL, and will come to Boston on October 19th at the Citi Wang Theatre.
It’s been 25 years since Rabin performed on stage with Anderson and Wakeman on the Union tour. In an interview with Limelight Magazine, Rabin talked about how this reunion came about.
According to Rabin, he and Wakeman had always planned and hoped to tour together, but it never happened until now. With busy lives full of thriving careers, both Rabin and Wakeman spent years making excuses and putting off their work together.
“I think the catalyst was our very good friend [YES founder and bassist] Chris Squire dying,” he said. “This led us to discipline ourselves and say ‘you know what, now we really really got to’.”
The two finally decided to clear their schedules and make this project happen with their mutual friend Anderson who previously performed a successful series of concerts with Wakeman in the U.K. in 2010 and the U.S. in 2011. These three musicians work great together and flourish in the mist of each other’s company and creative energy.
“What’s really great is that it really came from the heart of the musicians, opposed to some promotion company or record company getting involved,” said Rabin.
Rabin and Wakeman are currently rehearsing and also recording music together. Rabin said that they have had a great time working together recently and are both inspired and excited for the upcoming tour.
Although they will not be playing any of their new music on this tour, Rabin explained the setlist they are working on.
“So what we’ve done is we’ve really taken the catalog that we’ve all been involved with in the past, and really found, I think, exciting new ways of doing it,” he said. “We’re pretty excited about it.”
“We’re still going through it,” he continued. “We’ve rehearsed way more than we need and we still haven’t reconciled what we are going to play. I mean obviously we’re going to play “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and things that you kind of have to play. It’s kind of prerequisite for doing the tour, almost.”
Rabin explained how the tour came about and his current work with Wakeman.
“We do have some new stuff, but I guess just because of the passion we have for this and how we approached it, it isn’t done yet,” he said. “This music and tour wasn’t put together by a bunch of promoters and managers and record companies. It’s really just happening in it’s own good time. The intention was to possibly do an album or at least a bunch of songs and go on tour after, but it was taking a long time once we started to get the stuff done.”
Due to their lack of time and eagerness to go on tour together, Rabin and Wakeman have set up two different tours. After this series of dates, they plan on finishing their collection of music and then plan a separate tour where they will be playing new music.
Rabin has many things to look forward to in the future, but he also spoke a little about his time with YES and his reasons for leaving the band in 1995 at the conclusion of the Talk tour.
“It was very satisfying when 90125 came out and was the biggest YES album ever. It kind of legitimized this band,” he said.
But eventually, Rabin did outgrow the band and moved onto a new project.
“I had done close to a thousand shows with YES and I just didn’t feel like playing ‘Roundabout’ and ‘Owner of a Lonely Heart’ for a little while,” he said. “I wanted to get into film and I’ve been famed as a conductor, arranger, orchestrator, so I thought, ‘well, what’s the natural place to do this?’ I thought, ‘well, film, maybe film.’”
During Rabin’s time with YES, he worked closely with Anderson writing songs in the past particularly on the highly underrated Talk album, but he has done less work with Wakeman. Because of this, Rabin was truly excited to work with him.
“The most important thing about this for me was working with Rick,” said Rabin. “Obviously working with Jon is great. We’ve always wanted to do this again. But Rick, I haven’t worked with as closely as this before. Although, when we were doing the [Union] tour, we worked very closely. There were nights when it felt like it was just him and I on stage.”
Rabin said fans who purchase tickets to his upcoming shows with Anderson and Wakemen will enjoy a night of old time classics with a new twist and be able to witness the flourishing musical relationship these three men have.
“I hope people enjoy it as much as we’re enjoying it,” said Rabin.
The Citi Wang Theatre is located at 270 Tremont Street in Boston, Mass. Tickets to the show can be purchased online by clicking HERE, at the Citi Center Box Office, or by calling 800-982-2787. VIP packages are also available through ARW-TOUR.COM.
Dark Delicacies – A horror-themed book and gift shop like no other
BY JULIA CIRIGNANO
This is a story about two love birds with a knack for horror movies, books, soundtracks, decorations — you name it!
Sue and Del Howison opened their store, Dark Delicacies, on West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank, CA, in 1994 due to their passion for horror. Limelight Magazine recently got the chance to interview Del and discuss his passion for the horror genre and dogs.
“We both loved our horror collecting and had a nice collection at home of books but had a hard time finding other things that reflected our taste,” he said. “We thought maybe other people were having the same problem so we opened with our own collection and a little money and grew over the years.”
Howison has created a fun environment for people with similar interests to come and buy a wide variety of horror related collectables, books, films, jewelry, and much more. (The store even has a children’s section!). With over 20 years worth of memories to pick from, Howison talked about his favorite part of owning the shop: the people.
“The fans who have been so supportive and the people in the business who have given their time (and signatures) to help this business exist. [The late] Richard Matheson, Clive Barker, Guillermo Del Toro, [the late] Ray Harryhausen, William Friedkin, [the late] Ernest Borgnine just to name a few. We couldn’t have done this without all this support,” he said.
Howison talked about his love for the genre of horror and the fans it attracts.
“Within the horror genre you can examine anything – racism, war, bad government, even dead people and, of course, all our fears and anxieties. There is also no other genre with fans this loyal,” he said. “
Sue and Del share the responsibilities that come with owning such a shop. Del talked about what it’s like working and co-owning Dark Delicacies with his wife who is originally from Connecticut.
“24/7 you live together and work together,” he said. “We are complete opposites who join for the whole. I’m sure there are times when she doesn’t think I’m all that funny or cute,” he acknowleged.
This may be true, but just a few years back L.A. Weekly quoted Sue saying that Del is the “ringmaster”.
“The ringmaster is the dude in the spotlight. That’s me. I’m the mouth,” said Del. “But she buys everything for the store, sets up the signings [and fan Q&A’s], and handles most of the computer business and on the phone [sales]. I pay the bills and do the PR and social media.”
Howison talked about the success the store has achieved over the years. He explained why he feels, in some ways, that the shop has succeeded, and in other ways, he thinks the shop can still improve.
“In terms of horror and the fans and the people in the business, I don’t think we could ask for more,” he said. “In terms of income, we make it each month but must always work at making all our payments. If we owned our own building and could get some stability who knows? But we’ve only been at it 22 years.”
That’s right, 22 years, and still big plans ahead.
“We have just started the Dark Delicacies podcasts, which I refer to as underground and occasional, with Brigade Radio One. That podcast and the station is a new enterprise and continuing to grow and shift. We hope to grow with them,” Del said.
“We have also upped the visibility on any charity efforts we’re involved in and added to that slate with the people over at Combat Radio and Ethan Dettenmaier,” he continued. “We have also entered into an agreement with the distribution company Vega Baby to pick up and distribute horror films under the “Dark Delicacies Presents” line. Vega Baby also has an agreement with Sony for international distribution. It’s a great opportunity for indie filmmakers to have a chance at getting their film picked up by someone who can get it out there. They should contact me at my email of del@darkdel.com if they have something they want the board to look at.”
Howison is a people person who has attracted not only fans, but also composers and authors. Dark Delicacies host many signing for these artists. He talked about one of his favorite moments.
“I have had some wonderful experiences with many of them. A very memorable moment for me was meeting composer Brian Tyler at the soundstage at Fox Studios where he was conducting a full orchestra. Sitting in on that session was magical,” he said.
Adam P. Cray, a former native of New Bedford, Mass., who currently resides in Los Angeles, had nothing but positive things to say about Dark Delicacies. Since there is no store like it on the East Coast, Cray said Dark Delicacies fills a void in the market place for horror and sci-fi fans.
“Over the years, I’ve spent many hours at Dark Delicacies browsing their selection of books, apparel, posters, and DVDs,” he said. “The store has always supported and inspired the horror community and especially its authors. At one of their many signings, I was able to meet the late Philp J. Riley and have him autograph his beautiful books on the making of “Phantom of the Opera” (1925) and “London After Midnight.”
Dark Delicacies website is constantly being updated. Because of this, people who may not be able to attend a signing or live far away can purchase items online. (Visit the website HERE). Howison talked about these online sales.
“At this point I would say about 30 percent of the business comes from online, but that is all pretty much concentrated into the signings off our webpage at darkdel.com,” said Del. “I do have our books up online on Bibliofind. But that only results in a few sales a month. What is hard to get a handle on are how much the online social media and store announcements drive people into the physical store when they come in from out-of-town. I hear it all the time, ‘I’ve been waiting for years to come in here.’”
The Howison’s have also managed to use their platform to help rescue animals. Del talked about about this, “I have always been involved with rescues long before I even met Sue. Since she is like-minded when we got together, animal rescue or seeing-eye dogs or whatever were some of our first charity targets.”
Howison also spoke about their relationship with The Neva Foundation and the new foundations they have been working with.
“Neva was a long time ago. They brought in the doggies and we ended up adopting two of them ourselves. The last places we worked with were Star Paws and Kitt Crusaders. Two really fine groups that do a wonderful job. People should check them out. What we usually do with them is have a fundraiser like when William Wu put out the charity book ‘Scales & Tales’ which was an anthology of stories written by a bunch of us including Marv Wolfman, Clive Barker, Joe R. Lansdale, and others including myself. People should look up William Wu Bookseller on Facebook as there may still be a few of those available,” he said.
Sue and Del Howison have a true passion for horror, and the work they do in and outside of the genre. Del concluded the interview by saying, “horror is to have a good time. Some of the best people in the world are in this field. It’s my family. Quirky to be sure. But I love them.”
For a complete list of signings and events at Dark Delicacies this October, click HERE.
Furthermore, here’s a YouTube video submitted to us by Michael Schwartz of the Return of the Living Dead signing at Dark Delicacies on January 29, 2011.
‘Tales of Rocky Point Park’ to have Massachusetts premiere screening at Narrows Center
BY JULIA CIRIGNANO
Rocky Point Amusement Park existed from 1847 to 1995. In 1996, it was shut down due to financial difficulties, yet this is where the story begins. Since the park was abandoned, research, interviews, and exploration was done to try and prove that the park was cursed. Since 1996, filmmakers have captured footage under the title Tales of Rocky Point Park. The film will premiere in Massachusetts on Saturday, October 8, 2016, at The Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River. (Purchase tickets HERE.)
Located on Narragansett Bay in Warwick R.I., Rocky Point Amusement Park was a beautiful playground for over 150 years. Filled with a rich history, the park remained famous and still does – only the attention the park has been receiving recently has nothing to do with its earlier popularity.
People have been creating good memories at Rocky Point since 1847, but there is a legend that an ancient curse was bestowed on the park. Tales of Rocky Point Park explores the truth behind the legend. Filmmaker Jason Mayoh and producers Jacob Tasho and Robert Yeremian show never before seen footage, interviews and exploration within this film that explore the possibility that the park was cursed.
In 2008, Mayoh published a comic titled Tales of Rocky Point Park, which he has now turned into a film using the footage he gathered earlier on.
Within the film, Mayoh goes through the history of the park, recounting many documented events such as fires, hurricanes, a fatal accident, a murder, and a family of escaped monkeys. Andrew Lake, a ghost hunter himself, narrates these documented events and also the distinguished urban legends, such as questions about the Viking statue at the House of Horrors, Log 13 on the Flume, and a woman who supposedly got scalped on the Free Fall.
Like many others, Mayoh has great memories of Rocky Point when he was growing up.
“I went when I was a little kid. You know, my parents took me there in the early 80’s and on,” he said. “I went there in the mid-nineties as a teenager with my friend. It was definitely a summertime tradition and now I’ve got really great memories of it.”
Although Mayoh has these memories, he said he didn’t think of the comic until about ten years later.
“Originally, we were going to do all short stories with different artists, but I researched online pictures of the park,“ he said. “At the time, there were a lot of abandoned photography sites that were big and so there were multiple sites that had Rocky Point in ruins. Like I said, I hadn’t thought of it in years and I was actually shocked to see what it had turned into.”
Creating the comic and now film about Rocky Point was a perfect fit for Mayoh. He has always been interested in storytelling and also the genre of ghost films, horror movies, etc. Because of this, the story of Rocky Point instantly caught his attention.
Since childhood, Mayoh has loved, “Horror, monster movies, ghost stories. I think folklore in general. Rocky Point actually seemed like history or at least some of the more bizarre stuff that’s happened over the years.”
Mayoh spoke about his recent experiences at the park.
“We do have footage. We were in the park alone when it was abandoned and you definitely get an eerie vibe. There’s definitely something going on there, but I can’t quite put my finger on it,” he said.
Mayoh’s interest with the Rocky Point story started when he discovered that the abandon park was going to be turned into condos. He started writing the comic book in order to preserve the park in his own way.
“As the years went on, collecting all this footage, we kind of said to ourselves ‘why don’t we try to bring it back in film form because there’s so much footage that people haven’t seen,” he said. “We kind of used the cursed story as a motif to tell the history — the importance to New England that the park had.”
Mayoh explained the actual curse that is believed to have been bestowed on the land.
“There’s three different variations on that curse and legend and that is believed to result in the hurricanes, the fires and some of the riot acts,” he said. “One was that a group of gypsies and fortune tellers were basically fired from the park after they had worked there for years and years and, on their way out, they cursed the land. There’s also speculation that certain parts of the park were built over Native American burial grounds. Then, the third one is about one of the first attractions to the park, this cave, and actual legend is that certain things were removed from the cave, that certain stones were removed that caused a curse.”
Mayoh explained that the biggest challenge while creating the film was creating one cohesive story without telling it in a chronological way. He said that the hardest part was, “just how to put it all together in a ninety minute format because there’s so much information. And again, the park has been open for 150 years, so kind of telling that story and not doing it chronologically.”
Mayoh also alluded to the premiere in August at Park Theatre in Cranston R.I.
“It was sold out,” he said. “It sold a thousand seats and that’s just amazing for any filmmaker to have sellout…I’m really humbled by the whole experience.”
Although the film has gained the attention of many, some people don’t like what Mayoh is doing. He explained that there were a few people who didn’t like the film or didn’t go and see the film because they don’t like Rocky Point being remembered in this dark way, since it was a place where so many great memories were created. Mayoh said that was not his intention, but instead to preserve the park and all of its rich history.
If you’re still on the edge about coming to see the film at the Narrows Center on Oct. 8th,, here are some last words from Mayoh.
“Come out and see it,” he said. “If you experienced Rocky Point in any way, I think you’ll enjoy it. If, for some reason, you’re totally against the curse or the dark history, then bring some headphones and just watch the imagines.”
With this film, Mayoh hopes to perverse Rocky Point Park. He uses the theme of the curse to tell the story, but doesn’t use the film to argue this point. He instead wants the park to be celebrated by those who truly understand the magic that the park encompasses.
It Had To Be Done, a contemporary re-imagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, will screen before Tales of Rocky Point Park. This short film was directed by former Somerset, Mass., and current New Bedford, Mass., resident Don Burton and written by Tommy Whalen, an educator at Joseph Case High School in Swansea, Mass. The movie was filmed in Providence, R.I., with post-production and finishing in New Bedford. It was produced in conjunction with “The Big Read” in New Bedford. “The Big Read” is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with Arts Midwest. It Had To Be Done won First Prize at the Rhode Island International Film Festival’s Providence Underground Film Fest in 2014.
The Narrows Center is located at 16 Anwan Street in Fall River, Mass. Doors open at 7 p.m. for the Oct. 8th screening. Film starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased online at http://www.narrowscenter.org or by calling the box office at 508-324-1926. For those wanting to purchase tickets in person, box office hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 12 noon to 5 p.m.
Cable Car Cinema and Cafe to celebrate its 40th anniversary
BY JULIA CIRIGNANO
The award-winning and nationally recognized Cable Car Cinema and Café in Providence, R.I., is a movie theater unlike any other. They are competing only with themselves since the movies they choose to show are aimed towards their specific community and own personal taste. The theater is known for playing offbeat, foreign, and unique films that are not shown at commercial movie theaters.
Cable Car is also unique since it features a cafe with comfortable chairs in an intimate, community-based setting. While many commercial theaters focus on filling seats, The Cable Car focuses on the quality of the movies they screen and the atmosphere that their audience experiences.
Daniel Kamil and Emily Steffian have owned and operated the Cable Car Cinema and Cafe since 2008. Before then, Kamil and his wife had owned The Revival House in Westerly, R.I., from 2003 to 2007. They coincidentally sold this property around the same time that they heard the Cable Car was closing. The timing was right and their passion was there.
“We thought it was a good thing to try and save so we ended up buying it in 2008 and trying to continue the tradition,” said Kamil.
Since then, Kamil and his wife have succeeded in both continuing the tradition and constantly updating and bettering the cinema and cafe to fit the times. Kamil spoke about his favorite part of owning the Cable Car.
“The community aspect,” he said. “The ability to provide a venue for the community to see programing that they would not be able to see in a social setting being woven very much into the fabric of the community.”
Kamil has had eight years of experience as the owner of the Cable Car. With many independent theaters closing over the years, Kamil talked about how he has helped the Cable Car to maintain its success.
“We are open for business at eight in the morning when we serve coffee and bagels and food to the students across the street,” he said. “The ability to get all different sources of revenue. The ticket revenue is only probably 35 percent of overall what we make.”
Combining a theater with a cafe has led to the Cable Car’s success and has granted them the ability to show unique films along with food and drinks that help support the business.
The Cable Car has been recognized by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly and Yankee Magazine among other major publications for its dedication and commitment to film as art. Last year, the Sundance Institute’s Art House Convergence recognized the Cable Car Cinema and Cafe among its first class of Art House Project theaters. Kamil talked about being one of only 23 theaters selected for this honor.
“We felt great about that,” he said. “To get that kind of recognition amongst your peers is great. You know, all those other theaters are great to see movies and to be included in that group felt really good.”
This past weekend on September 24, the Cable Car participated in the first annual Art House Theater Day. This day celebrated the art house theater and the cultural role it plays in a community, while recognizing the year-round contributions of film and filmmakers, patrons, projectionists and staff, and the brick and mortar theaters that are passionately dedicated to providing access to the best cinematic experience.
With so many independent theaters having to closer their doors, Kamil talked about the importance of small, privately owned cinemas.
“I think communities are enriched by having cinemas in their town,” he said. “It’s important that the programing decisions are made by people in your community that know the issues of the communities as opposed to some faceless corporate entity that is just trying to get as many people into the door as possible.”
The Cable Car will soon be celebrating their 40th anniversary. In celebration, they have decided to screen films from 1976, the year the Cable Car opened, on October 1st and 2nd over a 24-hour period. Kamil said that he will be unable to show one of his favorite films, Taxi Driver, since the studio put a block on it, but he is excited to show Rocky.
“I have a soft spot for Rocky,” he acknowledged. “It’s one of the best things Sylvester Stallone ever did…I love the Bowie movie (The Man Who Fell to Earth) we’re doing — the sci-fi movie that he did.”
The complete 40th anniversary schedule includes: The Pink Panther Strikes Again (12 PM), Murder By Death (2:15 PM), Car Wash (4:15 PM), Rocky (6:30 PM), All the President’s Men (9 PM), Carrie (11:45 PM), The Blank Generation (2 AM), The Man Who Fell to Earth (3:30 AM), The Song Remains the Same (6:15 AM), A Star Is Born (9 AM) and Network (11:45 AM).
Kamil talked about some of his most memorable moments since he took over ownership of The Cable Car.
“One of the most bizarre things that happened was getting issued a warrant by the Attorney State General of Rhode Island for screening The Interview,” he said.
Although this movie was not within the typical genre or style the Cable Car usually shows, The Interview gave the cinema a chance to host a whole different group of people. The Cable Car was one of the only theaters that played the movie, so they attracted many people.
“So literally, we had lines around the block,” he said.
Kamil himself dislikes the movie, but agreed it was an interesting experience, plus the FBI showed up.
“They just came to make sure servers were all secure, so we wouldn’t get hacked,” he said.
For more information about The Cable Car, visit www.cablecarcinema.com.
Art House Day Spotlight – After Midnite Series Shines at the Coolidge Corner Theatre
BY JULIA CIRIGNANO
Mark Anastasio is the Program Manager at The Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Mass. Anastasio has managed to always keep this program eccentric and unique due to the abounding passion he has for his work. On March 10, 2016, Anastasio celebrated 10 years of working at The Coolidge and has continued to create new and interesting events year after year.
“I like playing movies for people the most. I think I have the most fun at a film event that I planned,” he said. “I like promoting the events here at the theatre. I really love hosting them. That’s when I’m enjoying the job the most. When I’m able to see audiences get excited at one of our events. That’s like the best, refreshing part of the gig.”
At The Coolidge, Anastasio is currently working on their weekly After Midnite Series which features weekend screenings of horrifying, weird, camp, avant garde, tripped out, and cult films, often from 35 mm prints.
“It’s primarily a genre film series. We mostly run horror and science fiction and all that type of fun stuff,” he said. “Currently, we have a program happening in September that’s a multitude of class midnight films. Because we see such a turnover in the city in September, I wanted to really open people’s eyes to the spirit of this film series in general, so that gave me the idea to run some of the more classic midnight films like the real midnight movies.”
Anastasio talked about the importance and exclusive purity of watching a film in the theatre.
“Even though we’re playing events every weekend of the year, there are some films that some people agree can be, and only should be, seen with an audience, in a theater, at midnight,” he said. “You have Pink Flamingos that we ran last week (Sept. 2, 2016) which is one of them. This weekend (Sept. 9, 2016) we’re playing, what many people consider to be the first midnight movie, which is El Topo by Alejandro Jodorowsky and we follow up that up on Saturday night with a film from the same director, The Holy Mountain.”
While Anastasio finds watching movies in theatres to be a one-of-a kind experience, he talked about the positive and negative impact that Video on Demand (VOD), Amazon, iTunes, Hulu and other viewing platforms have had on The Coolidge. Although there seems to be a pretty direct connection, Anastasio explained that he tends to pick movies that are not available on those websites to avoid conflict and competition. By doing this, The Coolidge can successfully work alongside these websites since both are displaying different products.
Surprisingly, these websites such as Netflix, have managed to make a positive impact on The Coolidge in some ways.
“Netflix has helped us to build interest in some types of movies,” said Anastasio. “I remember when Twin Peaks first became available on Netflix. It was all that was showing up on people’s newsfeeds was like how every one of your friends was watching Twin Peaks. Then, we programmed the film prequel Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me as a Midnite title, and it brought out like 350 people. It was an insanely popular show and I could only attribute that to people newly discovering the television series on Netflix.”
Anastasio does admit, though, that these other platforms, which are designed primarily for a younger generation, make it harder for him to gain a younger demographic. Anastasio has a passion and great skill set for his job, yet he is faced with some other challenges too. The biggest challenge with programing The After Midnite Series is, “Film availability. With this film series in particular, we like to play as much as we can, on 35-mm. If we can’t find a film on 35-mm, sometimes we’ll source at 16-mm.”
Anastasio gave one example, “a few years ago when we wanted to play Predator, the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, we heard back from Fox that they didn’t have a 35-mm print.” He was surprised that the film hadn’t been preserved on 35-mm in 1987.
Anastasio also talked about the difficulty filling seats. While The Coolidge does have some dedicated fans, with new technology nowadays, it’s hard to get people to come off their couches. Anastasio did end on a positive note saying, “We’re fortunate that we’re in Boston. This is a pretty great town for film. We see our audience grow each year that we’ve run this series, especially with the increased frequency in which we’re running midnight films.”
In July, The Coolidge launched the “Summer of Psychosis” series where they screened ten different films on 35-mm. They decided to screen two different films back to back, instead of one over two nights.
“I wanted to try something new,” said Anastasio. “The series, for the ten years that I’ve been involved, there was always one film screened on both Friday and Saturday nights.”
With the “Summer of Psychosis” series, Anastasio wanted to play ten instead of five movies in order to, “give examples of what we were talking about with that film series; the different forms of psychosis that can manifest within people, and we just needed more to exemplify that.”
Anastasio took a risk, got approval from the Executive Director of The Coolidge, and the “Summer of Psychosis” series ended up being widely successful.
“We had close to sell out audiences for Taxi Driver. We actually did sell out the house for The Shining. So each weekend, we were leading with one of those larger titles, and then the accompanying title which would play the next night, was kind of a B-side,” he said.
This setup gave some lesser known films, such as Santa Sangre, exposure because they were partnered with a big name film.
Anastasio reminisced about one especially memorable experience he had during a movie that screened at The Coolidge. Although the film was very gory, he said that the audience had a great time due to the ironic structure of the movie plot.
“It was kind of an epiphany experience I had during one of our Halloween marathons, where the third film of the night was a film called Demons by Lamberto Bava,” he said. “It was produced by Dario Argento. The movie is about people going to a movie theater and the movie that they’re watching is about the spread of this demonic plague that everyone turns into demons and then everyone in the theatre becomes demons and begins tearing everyone apart. It becomes a survival horror film within a movie theatre.”
On Friday, October 21, The Coolidge is once again partnering with the Trustee of the Reservations to present “Cabin of Horror” at Rocky Woods Reservation in Medfield, Mass., where they’re screening the original The Evil Dead and The Cabin in the Woods.
Anastasio talked about the success he had presenting some of the Friday the 13th films last year at Rocky Woods Reservation. For a while, Anastasio had been looking for a place to host such an event, and was thrilled when The Trustee of the Reservation agreed to his pitch that many people had turned down. Anastasio joked about this struggle saying, “When you’re pitching horror films, you’re like, ‘hey, we run this midnight movie series and we want to bring our audience to your location to watch slasher films, like at your camp,’ like the answer to that was almost always, ‘no’.”
Anastasio received a phone call from the Program Manager of The Trustee of the Reservation. He asked if Anastasio had any use for their campsite.
“I had to like mute the phone and do a bunch of fist pumping, then pick up the phone and be like, ‘yes, yes, we would be interested. I think we can make this work’.”
Anastasio decided to pick November 13th, 2015, to play the original Friday the 13th and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives at Rocky Woods. The setting was perfect and the screening attracted many fans. Due to the success of the screening, The Coolidge decided to put the same show on again six months later on May 13th by screening Friday the 13th Part III and Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter, selling over 300 tickets.
“On May 13th, it was pouring rain the entire day. We planned for it and were able to set up additional tents, but the audience themselves, everyone who arrived, brought their tailgating tent. It turned into this weird little camp ground and, throughout the entire evening, through two movies, it was pouring rain, we were grilling in the rain and it was a great time. There wasn’t a single complaint. Nobody even brought up the idea of ‘may I have a refund’,” Anastasio said.
Anastasio was surprised by the fans dedication and easy going love for film. He hopes to have the same type of success on October 21st at the “Cabin of Horror” event at Rocky Woods. (Purchase tickets HERE).
Anastasio anticipates doing more screenings with themes at Rocky Woods Reservation in the future and is looking to expand The Coolidge’s resume.
“They have a new program coordinator at this point, but they seem just as game to put on these types of events,” he said. “I’d like to branch out. Even though these horror events are great, it would be great to start doing different types of films and many utilize some of [The Trustee of the Reservation’s] other locations. We’ve only briefly started to talk about that subject but they’re a wonderful organization. They have so many great properties around Massachusetts that I’m sure we can find different ways to activate their other spaces with film.”
This October, The Coolidge After Midnite schedule is full of horror related films for the Halloween season. Among the films being screened are The Omen on Sept. 30th, To The Devil A Daughter (Oct. 1st), The Amityville Horror (Oct. 7th), The Exorcist (Oct. 8th), The Pit (Oct. 14th, 15th & 22nd), An American Werewolf in London (Oct. 14th), Curse of the Werewolf (Oct. 15th), Poltergeist (Oct. 21st & 22nd), and The Fly (Oct. 28th).
The Coolidge will also be hosting their 16th annual Halloween Horror Marathon on Oct. 29th. (Purchase tickets HERE). Anastasio explained that the film selection is a joint effort within the Coolidge staff. Anastasio also added that he always makes sure to consult the projection staff because, “they’re the guys who have to stay up all night running these movies. They definitely have a say in what’s shown.”
Anastasio’s passion for film has led to The Coolidge’s success, but he is sure to include the opinions of the people he works with and always has his ears open for new ideas that his co-workers present.
Anastasio explained the format of the annual horror movie marathon.
“The first two movies of the night are the ones we use to sell the event and then the additional four or five titles remain a secret throughout the night,” he said.
For this year’s marathon, Anastasio has chosen Scream and Scream 2 as the announced double feature. He also gave a hint about what the other movies may be.
“I can tell you that in programing the remainder of this year’s marathon, all of the programing ideas came from watching Scream and Scream 2,” he said.
You have to attend the show to find out which movies Anastasio selected that, “are either directly or indirectly referenced by the first two Scream movies.”
The Coolidge Corner Theatre is located at 290 Harvard Street in Brookline. Visit their website by clicking HERE.
A NOTE FROM OUR PUBLISHER – Today (Sept. 24, 2016) is the first ever Art House Day, which celebrates the legacy of independent theaters as advocates for cinema arts. In an age where media has become more digital than tangible, more solitary than social, art house theaters remain the physical spaces where film lovers congregate and connect with intrepid, creative filmmaking. They are the beating heart for new and exciting cinema that is shaping the future of the medium. Although we interviewed Mark Anastasio nearly two weeks ago, we held this story for Art House Day because the Coolidge Corner Theatre is one of our all time favorite theaters in the country and you can often find us there on weekends at midnight. We applaud Mark on his 10 years of service at the theater and the entire Coolidge staff for bringing great entertainment and passion for film to the Greater Boston Area!!! ~ Jay
Flight of Fire takes off on the ‘Path of the Phoenix’
BY JULIA CIRIGNANO
Consisting of Dorian Maverick, Tanya Venom, Tia Mayhem, and Kat Dukeshire, Flight of Fire brought 110 percent to their performance at the “Opening Act Contest” which was hosted at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River Mass., on Sept. 8th. Every crazy thing they could think of doing on a stage, they did — and they did it extremely well.
Although there were many other talented acts, they were the clear winners of the contest before it was even announced. As a result, they will get to open for Limelight Magazine’s 10th Anniversary Bash with Lita Ford at the Narrows Center on Nov. 1, 2016. This show is almost sold out. Remaining tickets can be purchased HERE.
In typical rock ‘n roll clothes, Flight of Fire entered the stage. The lights were dim, but the four women on stage had twinkles in their eyes. Only they knew what’s in store and it was truly something to be excited about.
Without any warning, lead singer Maverick spontaneously combusted into an acapella/screamo intro to their first song, “Rockstar Life.” Within seconds, Venom (lead guitar), Mayhem (bass) and Dukeshire (drums) joined into the chaos. During their nearly fifteen minutes on stage, the band unleashed every last drop of angst and emotion boiling within them — resulting in the pure eruption of everything the audience expected them to be and more.
Flight of Fire took the audience through hell and back. There wasn’t one moment where I was bored, since they put their all into every note they played. The band played as one organism — feeling each beat from their feet to their fingertips. With ear to ear smiles, each band member showed their true passion and love for what they were doing.
With bright red hair and empowering confidence, Maverick rocked the stage with charisma and attitude. She showed both strength and vulnerability. After rocking out during their first song, the band surprised the audience by toning it down. They played one acoustic song where all four girls laid out their emotions and love for folk music.
Venom and Mayhem also rocked the stage with an undeniable connection to both the music and each other. This was the result of being identical twins. Rocking different instruments and hair colors, their special bond was still evident, especially when they suddenly dropped their instruments and jumped onto the drum set together. Holding hands, and each holding one drum stick, the twins played the last half of “My Last Gamble” playing twin drums. During this, Dukeshire left the kit and casually picked up the bass and Maverick picked up the guitar, as it’s totally normal for rock bands to completely switch instruments during a song.
Flight of Fire left The Narrows stage a pile of ashes, frankly, making it difficult for the band’s playing after them.
As a judge for the contest and also a newfound Flight of Fire fan myself, I was given the opportunity to sit down with Maverick and Mayhem to talk about the contest, their thoughts about their careers, and their plans for the future.
“That was amazing,” said Maverick about winning the contest. “There were some really good musicians there that night and it was an honor to be a part of it at all. Then winning was just totally amazing.”
Flight of Fire shocked their audience at The Narrows with their performance and are also known for many other excellent shows. Maverick talked about the twin drumming they performed.
“The twin drumming was actually my idea,” she said. “The twins do so many amazing things together all the time. They seem to read each other’s minds basically and in practices they do this crazy stuff and I’m like ‘wow, that could be something really cool on stage’.”
“So we thought of doing the twin drumming and it was so easy for them. It was just ridiculous,” she continued. “We decided to work it into ‘My Last Gamble’ and have Kat take the bass there and do the whole switch off which is really fun for people to watch. We always get a good response.”
Mayhem talked about playing with her twin Tanya and the special bond they have.
“I love it honestly, playing with my sister,” she said. “We have such a unique bond. Like, not everyone is close to their siblings, but Tanya and I have always been close. We grew up together, we did almost everything together. Pretty much everything we could do together, we did.”
Mayhem goes on to explain that while their bond is exceptional in their day-to-day lives, they have also managed to use this connection to their advantage on stage.
“We don’t have that intense competition, we just have like, we build each other up and we work together,” she said. “I play bass, she plays guitar, and so we’re assisting each other in that way and playing off each other. It’s really fun. And yeah, we have this kind of connection. I just feel like we always know what each other’s kind of thinking. You know, you can sense what they’re feeling and kind of assume if you feel one way, she feels that way too. We kind of use that vibe while making music.”
Although Flight of Fire is purely a rock band, they have been inspired by folk and many other types of music.
“Our variety’s really important to us. When I met the twins at Berklee, they came from a pure classic rock background, and, at the time, I was actually coming from a singer/songwriter kind of background. So when we started collaborating together, we got a lot of different sub-genres in there,” Maverick said.
Maverick talked about one genre that has especially inspired the band.
“As far as folk artists that inspire Flight of Fire and me, I’m hugely inspired by Paul Simon and Simon & Garfunkel,” she said. “Also, Zeppelin has been a huge inspiration because they have so many acoustic and folk songs and I think that is where ‘My Last Gamble’ came out of. [It] was the combination of those two things. It’s got some of the southern, foot stompin’ thing going on.”
With Flight of Fire excelling at a rock and rock, what’s next? Surprisingly enough, all members of the band, except for Dukeshire, went to Berklee College of Music. They studied classical music and enjoyed their studies due to their natural love for gaining knowledge.
“Me and the twins are all classically trained,” said Maverick. “I played violin, Tia played bass clarinet, and Tanya played flute.”
While those instruments and classical sounds were incorporated into some of their earlier songs, Flight of Fire is now purely rock.
Maverick also talked about their majors at Berklee.
“The twins both majored in film scoring, writing music for movies and songs, and digital media,” she said. “Then, I double majored in songwriting and composition, composition being classical composition. I think that’s what definitely influenced us.”
Although Maverick makes it clear that they use the knowledge they gained from Berklee, she doesn’t believe that you need to go to Berklee to become a successful rock musician. She explained how she and the twins decided to go to Berklee not necessarily because they wanted to be rock stars, but because they wanted to learn as much as they could about their number one passion in life: music.
“We all honestly love school. I don’t think many people who see us live would assume that we’re geeks, but we’re pretty much geeks,” Maverick admitted. “For us, it made sense because we’re all fascinated by every aspect of music on a technical scale, so we wanted to learn everything we could. But you certainly do not need to do that to play rock. We like to have a marriage of both worlds – the technical side and the pure passion side.”
Mayhem explained the band’s main message.
“The main message we want to send with our music is that no matter who you are, where you come from, or what you do, you can achieve whatever you want if you set your mind to it and you never give up,” she said.
Mayhem continued to say that they want to inspire people to, “do what they want to do in life, because that’s a good life.”
“If you’re doing what you want and you’re being who you what to be, then you’re not wasting time, you’re not wasting life. Even if you might not ever get there, just striving for that makes you feel more like yourself,” she said.
Flight of Fire’s favorite and so far biggest show they have every played was when they opened up for Bon Jovi at Ford Field Stadium in Detroit. Since then, they have become addicted to big stages. The band feels more comfortable the bigger the stage is because they can do so much more with their performances.
Maverick reminisced about the Bon Jovi football stadium stage.
“To hear our voices and instruments echoing off the back of the stadium…We love to run around and be crazy and do the exciting stuff that we do,” she said.
Flight of Fire plans to release their newest album titled Path of the Phoenix next weekend.
“It’s going to be released on October 1st and the release party is at Olympia’s Zorba Music Hall (located at 439 Market St.) in Lowell, Mass. We are having a reunion show of the amazing ‘80’s, all female band Lizzie Borden and the Axes are playing with us that night. Very, very cool.”
To purchase tickets to this show, click HERE.
“The album itself is a concept album. It tells the story of a woman who goes through tons of trials and horrible things, finds her own inner strength, and is re-born through the strength of that fire. It’s pretty cool,” said Maverick about Path of the Phoenix. “We have tons of concept art that we’re going to be releasing along with the album. Each song has a tarot card that was created by our amazing artist Lucas Seven.”
Produced by Liz Borden, the album will have seven tracks, two which have already been released: “Better Off Without You” and their newest single “My Last Gamble”.
Limelight Magazine is the first to premiere their newest music video for the song “My Last Gamble.” Please watch it below and spread the word about this amazing band!
Martin & Kelly: A duo that bridges the gap between traditional and modern country music
BY JULIA CIRIGNANO
Martin & Kelly are a country duo from New England consisting of Jilly Martin and Ryan Brooks Kelly. With a combination of modern country and traditional twang, these musicians have stunned the country music industry. This duo has reached new heights by combining their talents. They both had success as solo acts, but have received an even better reaction as a duo.
Along with their obvious talent, Martin & Kelly also have youthful energy and pretty smiles. They released their debut self-titled EP. this April and grabbed the attention of many country fans.
In a phone interview with Limelight Magazine, Martin explained how Martin & Kelly formed.
“We started playing together when Ryan was doing an EP and he needed a female part to sing a debut that he had written,” she said. “When we were in the studio, we decided that we really liked how our voices blended together. So, I started going out to a couple shows with him and we got a pretty good response when we were playing together. We figured we might as well try that and it kind of just highlights both of our strong points when we’re on stage together.”
Martin explained why she feels they work so well together as a duo.
“Our harmonies blend really well together, so both of our voices and Ryan’s guitar playing is great,” she said. “I think he’s the best around; he’s definitely the best that I’ve played with.”
Kelly talked about the joys of working together on their first EP as a duo.
“A collaborative effort is always fun,” he said. “Both of us come from a little bit different backgrounds where I typically play stuff that’s geared towards guitar players or singer/songwriter. I really like very traditional country singers. So, I think it was nice to finally work with someone where I was enjoying everything. You know, you can bounce ideas off one another.”
Both Martin and Kelly are inspired by modern and traditional country music and cited Buck Owens, Loretta Lynn, Brad Paisley and Miranda Lambert as major influences on them. This becomes evident in their music which bridges the gap between new and traditional country music.
“I think we both really like traditional country,” said Kelly. “I think that’s why it worked out so well when we started playing together. We both had very similar musical backgrounds.”
On September 1st, Martin & Kelly opened up for Lorrie Morgan at Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury, Mass. Jilly shred her memories of that night.
“That was a great show. We love playing at the Blue Ocean. It’s fun to be able to play our original music and that crowd was really awesome for Lorrie,” she said.
Both Martin and Kelly have gained a tremendous amount of success through their years of opening up for big name country musicians. Kelly talked how grateful he is to have met these musicians, and to be part of such a wonderful genre.
“Country’s a good genre to be in, because there isn’t really that many fake artists,” he said.
Kelly talked about one show in particular that stuck out to them. This summer, they opened up for The Band Perry and played a great show because both band’s music created such a great contrast when played back-to-back.
“It worked out well because their stuff is not necessarily along the lines of traditional country,” he said. “We played some of the traditional stuff and then they played their stuff. So it really worked out well.”
For more information about Martin & Kelly, visit their website, martinkellymusic.com.
Limelight Magazine 