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Friday, November 14, 2008
Troy’s Mayflower goes art house
TROY — Alan Teicher wishes he could roll out a red carpet and bring in searchlights to scan the Miami County skies, but it’s not in the budget.
Tonight, Friday, Nov. 14, marks the premiere of his 80-year-old Mayflower Theater, 11 W. Main St., as an art film house.
“I always wanted to do this. My brother had three art theaters in Detroit when I was 16 or 17,” said Teicher, 74, of Troy, who owns eight movie theaters in four states. One of the others is Movies 5, also in Troy.
The first was the Mayflower, purchased 40 years ago.
In part because September and October “are terrible months for getting people out to see first-run movies,” he closed the four-screen theater at the end of summer to make the change.
“We did some painting and a lot of cleaning. It just felt like the right time to try this. Until now, there was no art theater between Dayton and Toledo. The Neon Movies can be too far to drive if you live in Sidney or Wapakoneta,” he said.
Since announcing the change, “I’ve had a lot of phone calls. People have offered thanks and congratulations. I just hope all those folks will make a habit of coming.”
For now, the switch is an experiment. “We’ll try it for three or four months and see how it goes.”
First attractions include: “The Duchess,” “W.”, “Choke” and “Religulous.”
Tickets at the Mayflower Art Theater are $5-$7. More information is available at (937) 339-3456 or www.teichertheaters.com.
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Moved by the Soweto spirit
DAYTON — The Grammy-winning Soweto Gospel Choir presented a spirited and spirit-filled concert Thursday night, Nov. 13, at Victoria Theatre.
Made up of select members of Soweto, South Africa’s various Christian church choirs, the 26-member group came to town through the auspices of Cityfolk, Dayton’s nonprofit ethnic and traditional arts organization.
“African Spirit” is the name of the choir’s current tour, so-called for its most-recent album release on the Shanachie label. And while the group’s infectious rhythms, colorful regalia and layered vocal resonance captured a definitive South African quality, the performers also invoked the blessings of the divine spirit and honored the irrepressible nature of the human spirit.
Our shared humanity was a binding thread throughout the two-hour-plus concert, which featured South African gospel and traditional tunes along with contemporary pop songs of an inspirational nature.
The singers, whose voices ranged widely in their individual textures, remained in constant motion throughout — from the processional-style opening on a traditional tune sung in Zulu, to the joyous encore of “Oh, Happy Day,” sung in English.
The power and energy of their performance seemed to invite more active audience participation than a typical concert setting, and I, for one, longed to stand up and dance along.
A day later, I still feel it.
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