Annual CAPA presentation offers fi lmgoers a throwback experience, programmer says
One key to the success of CAPA’s annual Summer Movie Series: The gatherings aren’t merely about watching a movie.
“I always pitch that you’re not going to see a film — you’re going to an event,” said Rich Corsi, vice president of programming for the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts, whose 47th series will encompass 25 films over eight weeks at the Ohio Theatre.
“People could rent these films or go buy the DVD for 8 bucks at Walmart,” Corsi said. “But people want to come down and enjoy the experience. They want to see the marquee lit up and have ushers take your tickets and help you to your seats, have the
organist playing and experience the theater the same way people did back in the 1920s when it first opened.”
For people of a certain age who grew up in central Ohio, watching “Nite Owl Theatre” was an event, too.
From 1974 to 1991, “Fritz the Nite Owl” ( aka Fritz Peerenboom) hosted a late-night movie show on WBNS-TV (Channel 10); his ad-libbed comments about the films during commercial breaks and other creative interplay earned him five regional Emmy Awards.
In 2010, the Nite Owl was lured out of retirement as Peerenboom began hosting live Nite Owl Theatre shows at the Grandview Theater and Studio 35, among other venues.
Likewise, for the past several years, Corsi has had Peerenboom, now 82, host a CAPA Summer Movie Series film night, appearing live to introduce the movie and, afterward, posing for photos and signing autographs.
This year, the 1980 classic “The Shining,” scheduled for screening on July 7, will feature the full Nite Owl Theatre production, complete with vintage commercial breaks.
“One of the bits is a scene where Jack Nicholson is in a bar and he’s talking to the bartender,” said Peerenboom, of Columbus. “The producer was able to put my head in the bartender’s uniform, so Jack and I are ‘ talking’ back and forth.”
Peerenboom is thrilled that, 26 years after his show left the air, people still want to see him.
“It has been a terrific trip, and it’s nice to be remembered,” he said. “People will bring their kids or grandkids to meet me and say: ‘You want to know how my mind got warped? This is the person who did it.’ “
“The Shining” is just one of 10 films that will make its Summer Movie Series premiere. Others include diverse films ranging from “The Freshman,” a 1925 silent film starring Harold Lloyd, to “Beetlejuice,” a 1988 movie starring Michael Keaton.
A premiere that Corsi is particularly pleased to present is “Dark Passage,” a 1947 thriller starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
“I was floored that we had never shown that one,” he said. “We show about 25 films every year for 47 years, so that’s over 900 films — and we still have 10 premieres this year. I’m amazed by that.”
Tickets can be purchased now through July 23 at the CAPA ticket center, 39 E. State St., or online at www. ticketmaster.com. Strips of 10 tickets — good for any film in any combination — cost $30 (a savings of $2 a ticket off day-of-show prices). Phone orders for strip tickets can be placed by calling (614) 469-0939. For more information or to download an order form, visit www.capa.com.
Day-of-show tickets to individual films cost $5 ($4 for senior citizens) and go on sale an hour before showtime at the Ohio Theatre kiosk (cash only).
All tickets are general admission, with seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.