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Help Keep Spectacle Theater Cheap & Williamsburg Weird(ish)
By
Lauren Evans
Published Oct 12, 2015
Modified Apr 6, 2018
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By
Lauren Evans
Published Oct 12, 2015
Modified Apr 6, 2018
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The good news is that Williamsburg's Spectacle Theater isn't closing, but the not-so-good news is that they've signed a pretty pricey new 10-year lease and they've got some long-overdue renovations to implement. They'd like to accomplish those things while keeping movies costing just five bucks. Like so many impecunious institutions before them, the former bodega-turned-independent cinema has turned to Kickstarter for help.
The five-year-old theater is run entirely by volunteers, which certainly keeps down costs at the 30-seat South 3rd Street space. (Tickets are typically $5.) But Spectacle still needs more funds to supplement its ticket sales, and notes on its crowd-funding page that it "would rather not do this by raising ticket prices or selling $12 single-origin chocolate bars and açaí bowls." Hallelujah.
The money will go toward an upgraded projector and sound system, additional sound-proofing, an HVAC system, floor repairs and a new facade.
So far it's earned almost $25,000 of its $35,000 goal, but helping to bump it along will net you various awesome prizes, starting with a downloadable copy of "SAFETY FIRST!," a highlight reel of decades' worth of absurd safety films ($10), all the way up to having your portrait painted and hung in the theater's lobby ($5,000).
"Remember Death by Audio, Monster Island, GLASSLANDS and the other DIY art, film, and music venues that used to dot Williamsburg?" the Kickstarter asks. Indeed. "We don't want to be remembered. We want to LIVE and we need your help!"
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