Latchis marks 70th
Toolbox
By DAWSON RASPUZZI Herald Staff - Published: December 6, 2008
BRATTLEBORO — When the candle on the Latchis Theatre's 70th birthday cake was blown out Friday evening, Brattleboro's vibrant center for the arts had 150,000 reasons to be thankful.
In the largest grant for renovations to the 1938 Latchis building since purchasing the theater in 2003, the Brattleboro Arts Initiative has received $150,000 from the Thomas Thompson Trust to begin the "Latchis 4" phase of the project.
The majority of the money will be used for the design and installation of a fourth theater in the Art Deco downtown center — an area referred to as "Latchis 4." That will allow the Latchis to show more independent, foreign and artistic films, said the organization's managing director, Gail Nunziata.
"We're hoping the challenge grant will spark the fundraising we need to start 'Latchis 4' and we hope in the next year we'll meet the challenge grant," Nunziata said.
A key portion of the campaign includes marquee and façade, completion of the purchase of the Latchis building and other capital improvements.
"Right now it's an empty room, so to make it into a theater we have to soundproof it, get projection equipment, make it state-of-the-art — as flexible and versatile as we can," Nunziata said.
Once it's complete, "Latchis 4" will be a 99-seat multipurpose venue that will provide a space for performing arts, educational presentations, business and nonprofit organizational programming, as well as a fourth movie screen.
It will also provide a small, intimate setting for live music, Nunziata said.
In addition, the fourth theater will allow the main theater, with 750 seats, to be used for live events and performances as part of BAI's "Live at the Latchis" programming.
On nights with live performances on the main stage, three films will still be aired in the other theaters.
When live performances are not taking over the main stage there will often be four different films airing in the theaters.
Friday evening, before the Hugh Keelan Ensemble performed Giacomo Puccini's "Suor Angelica" on the main stage to benefit the Latchis Restoration Project, the star of the show, Laurie Green, blew out a candle on the theater's 70th birthday cake as BAI announced the grant and kicked off a new round of fundraising efforts.
Nunziata said while the grant came as a tremendous surprise, it wasn't a shock where the funds had come from. The Thompson Trust has awarded the theater money in the past when the BAI was in the process of purchasing the building from the Latchis family.
"The Thompson Trust just gets how art vitalizes the town … and they really understand that art is important," she said.
Contact Dawson Raspuzzi at dawson.raspuzzi@rutlandherald.com.
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