This weekend, the 14th Annual Cinema at the Square kicked off in the Palace Theatre. Cinema at the Square provides theater-goers with a very unique experience: the chance to see classic movies on the largest non-Imax screen in the state, with the very nostalgic feel all tied together with an actual organ player, performing before the shows on a restored 1927 Kimball organ.
How does this great month of films come together?
Planning for Cinema at the Square each year starts in February, about six months in advance. Each year, they have the rough structure in mind of showing films through the decades—starting with the 30s and continuing through the years for the three-week-series to help provide a large variety of films.
Those planning the series start out with a rough list of about 75 possible films. Little by little, the list is whittled down, in part by an extensive data collection of every film shown at the series over the past fourteen years and the number of attendees. Venue Booking Manager Nathan Scott said the series doesn’t repeat shows very often, but they may choose to bring back a popular film after a few years.
Once the film list is down to about 30, the final selection process comes down to which films can actually be obtained for use—some movies are simply not available on film.
Superhero Sundays are a new addition to the line-up this year, inspired in part by Cleveland’s recent involvement in the superhero genre through opportunities like the Avengers filming. Superhero Sundays include last weekend’s Batman double feature, next weekend’s showing of Superman and the following weekend’s showing of Spider-man.
Spider-man is also an exception to one of the series’ unwritten rules—outside of special circumstances, the movies shown at Cinema at the Square are generally at least 25 years old or older.
How does the theater prepare?
For three weeks, the Palace Theatre is transformed from a traditional performance space into a movie theater with a giant 20-feet-tall-by-47-feet-wide screen. The screen is actually permanently fixed in the Palace Theatre, and is brought down each year for the series. Scott said the project of bringing the screen down takes four individuals about four hours to complete. The screen then also is adjusted for each showing based on the aspect ratio of the particular film.
The films are shown reel-to-reel, and a double projector set-up in the theater allows PlayhouseSquare to bring in archival quality film for the Cinema at the Square shows, which is divided between multiple spools.
Cinema at the Square continues through August 21. For more information, visit playhousesquare.org/cinema.
