THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 1996 TAG: 9602200089
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT McCASKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 116 lines
The first show featured James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland in ``A Midsummer Night's Dream.''
The opening was preceded by a parade down Colonial Avenue and Princess Anne Road. Hundreds of people reveled in front of the ``modern theater'' on Feb. 23, 1936.
Now, several generations and thousands of films later, the building that houses the Naro Expanded Cinema will be 60 years old on Friday.
Although current owners Tench Phillips and Thom Vourlas don't have a party or special show planned - the running feature will be ``Sense and Sensibility'' - they are reflecting on the movie house's past.
``It's always been a neighborhood theater,'' Vourlas said. ``The big theaters like the Loew's and Norva were downtown.''
``It's hard to believe we've been here almost a third of the life of the theater,'' Phillips said.
Originally called the Colley Theatre in 1936, the playhouse at 1507 Colley Ave. was hailed as ``modern'' by newspapers of the day. The art deco structure had air conditioning, air-cushion upholstery, a bowl-effect floor, seats for the main orchestra and balcony that directly faced the screen, and expensive oil paintings along the walls. Crowds turned out to see the state-of-the-art showcase.
``There were standing lines, especially in the summer when you wanted to get cooled off,'' said David Ferebee, who was a teenager growing up in Ghent in the late 1930s and early '40s. ``When World War II broke out I was leaning on the building.''
Set in one of Norfolk's first suburbs, the Colley Theatre thrived for decades. In the mid-1960s the site was purchased by Robert Levine, who renamed the movie house after his father and mother, Nathan and Rose Levine. The Memrose and Rosna were other nearby theaters that Levine owned and named after his parents.
The Naro played well throughout the 1960s, but by the early '70s began to decline, showing B, and R and X-rated titles. In 1974 a group of local actors began leasing the site for stage plays and 16-millimeter productions of the classic old movies. It was during that time Phillips and Vourlas, who were roommates on nearby Shirley Avenue, got involved.
``They were showing Ingmar Bergman films,'' Vourlas said. ``They told us they were renting the films and showing them themselves.''
When the actors group ran out of funds and the shows shut down, Phillips and Vourlas rented their own Ingmar Bergman productions and aired them at the Naro for six weekends in the summer of 1976.
``It was a big success,'' Vourlas said. ``We got our feet wet and decided to do it full-time.''
They opened in 1977 with ``The Godfather'' and ``The Godfather II,'' followed by a genre of classics such as ``Citizen Kane'' and ``The Maltese Falcon,'' as well as European cinema. The formula of mixing second-run contemporary movies with classics, foreign films and documentaries found a niche in the artsy neighborhood, and business took off.
``We were pretty avant-garde,'' Vourlas said. ``It was truly alternative cinema. We were bringing things in no one else was. We tapped a nerve here. We couldn't have survived anywhere else.''
Showings also included Woody Allen film festivals, horror flicks and notable bombs from Ed Wood, dubiously credited for directing some of the worst movies of all time. Business boomed until the late 1980s, when video and cable technologies arrived. A proliferation of theaters also slowed sales.
``We pretty much came in on the golden era,'' Phillips explained. ``There were only about 20 screens on this side of town, and we almost had a monopoly on the classics and foreign films. Now there are more than 100 screens and anyone can get the classics on video and cable. There aren't a lot of independent single-screen, art-repertory movie houses anymore.''
The Naro weathered the competition and in the last two years has been enjoying renewed growth.
``We are showing more first-run films now, and the baby-boomers' kids are coming out,'' Phillips said. ``A lot of people in their 20s are film savvy from video, and they've found us. We've just had to program smarter.''
The theater has reduced its showing of classics but still features many foreign films. Specialty cinema, such as its Jewish and Christian film festivals, and gay and lesbian shows also have augmented volume in recent months.
Since its inception, the theater's biggest films have included ``The Rocky Horror Picture Show,'' which has aired for 18 years, ``It's A Wonderful Life'' and most recently ``Sense and Sensibility.'' The owners invest a lot of time to stay on top of the rapid pace of the cinema world.
``We read the film reviewers, check openings in New York and D.C., and talk to other theater owners and distributors,'' Phillips said. ``There's a lot of preparation in deciding what to show.''
Appreciative patrons, young and old, come not only from Ghent but also the entire Southside, the Peninsula and even from Williamsburg, said Tim Cooper, film critic for Port Folio Magazine.
Remaining viable means not only airing the right movies but also continually upgrading the old theater. The projector, sound system, screen and lobby were revamped in the late 1970s. The floor, ceiling and 570 seats have required ongoing maintenance. The air conditioning and heating systems were replaced two years ago.
Innovations at the concession stand, such as cappuccino, baklava and homemade cookies, have helped accent the site's eclectic appeal.
Although enjoying a long and mostly profitable ride, Phillips said the future is never certain.
``We were at the right place at the right time, and it's been good to us,'' Phillips explained. ``I didn't envision it would go this long. ... But you'll see a lot of technological change in the future, more multi-screens. I don't know if the single-screen houses will be able to make it. We could eventually become a concert house. We've been doing some successful benefit shows over the last few years.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
This was the scene on opening night, Feb. 23, 1936, outside the
Colley Theatre, which is now the Naro.
And this is what the Naro looked like in 1967 after the movie house
was purchased by Robert Levine.
by CNB