Denny's Free Grand Slam Breakfast Day Tuesday
Marina Yoga Studio Donates Old Mats for Haitian Relief
Prop 8 Trial Judge Is Gay; Should This Matter?
Muni Bus Nails a Fire Hydrant
Central Subway Ground Broken
Now for some truly sad news,.Catherine and Kyle Fischer's Parkway Speakeasy Theater in Oakland is closing its door for good after 12 years. Here's the missive sent out today to fans of the eclectic East Bay theater.
THE PARKWAY SPEAKEASY THEATER CLOSES ITS DOORS AND GOES DARK FOR GOOD THIS SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2009: THE END OF AN ERADear Loyal Supporters:
This is a sad but true message from Kyle Fischer, CEO of Speakeasy Theaters, and Catherine Fischer, President of Speakeasy Theaters.
After more than twelve years of serving the great cultural crossroad of Oakland, the Parkway Speakeasy Theater will be closing at the end of business day this Sunday, March 22, 2009. From African Diaspora to Thrillville to lesbian fashion shows and educational porn, the Parkway has offered an eclectic array of movies and events. It was the first theater in California to offer food, beer and wine service in a lounge style movie theater. With a nudge or a push from the community, there was little programming the Parkway theater would not try in order to better be a community center and a safe haven for diverse ideas. The Parkway brought Baby Brigade for the shuttered and abandoned parents of newborns, the first international black gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender film festival and Sunday Salon, a free event for cultural and community enhancement. We, at the Parkway Speakeasy Theater, are deeply proud of the Parkway and will profoundly miss serving its community. Thank you for your patronage.
Programming at Parkway will remain as scheduled this Friday and Saturday, March 20 and 21. Stay tuned for special announcements about this Sunday, the final day of operations.
The Speakeasy Experience lives on at the Cerrito. Most special events booked for Parkway, including regular attractions like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," will be moving there. Stay tuned to our web site and this newsletter for updates.
Please direct all inquiries to Kyle Fischer, kf@speakeasytheaters.com. Messages should be brief and pertinent, out of respect for this difficult reality, but will be appreciated. This is a tough time for all of us.
Cheers.
The final shows will be The Wrestler, Revolutionary Road, Let the Right One In, and Que Viva La Lucha live music by Latin surf band Carne Cruda.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
ugh. depressing.
i imagine they are closing it for economic reasons, though neither the blog post nor the CEO's message confirm this. are there perhaps other factors?
If the popular Speakeasy is closing and the newer one is Cerrito is staying open, it makes me think something was wrong with the Oakland location. Rent increase maybe? I don't know though...usually when someone has landlord issues they include a lot of clues in their "We're closing!" missive. But, like you say, no such details in the official message.
absonotly sucktacular.
How awful! I didn't even know it was in trouble.
totes sad :(
This is crazy and weird. I mean, didn't they just put in new couches? I seem to recall something about that in their newsletter, but I haven't been in for a bit.
Still, I get a schedule in my inbox on Tues. going up to the 26th and then on Weds. I get an e-mail saying that they're closing on Sun. Sounds like they were likely blindsided by... well, whatever is going on just as much as we were.
Reallly sad! I loved seeing movies at this place especially on Two for the price of One Wednesdays!
You know what we need here?
We needs us some journalisms.
Aw it's always so sad to see good theaters closing down. :(
sounds like they need to run a stanley spadowski style telethon. especially considering how much money is hiding in them thar hills...
it's a bay area institution, surely it wouldn't be that hard to get some private investors on board.
...unless, of course, the logistics of running two theaters with the level of detail they applied was running them ragged and they wanted to downsize.