Southampton Playhouse Team Discusses New Community Cinema

Filmmaker Orson Cummings is “beyond stoked, this is fantastic.” Another patron remembers seeing Gone With The Wind here “when I was a child.” Ticket taker Joe Lavinio remembers the candy machines were in the Mens and Ladies rooms. He also was there when Mike Todd and Elizabeth Taylor arrived for a premiere of Around The World In 80 Days. There was a 1960s version of a food truck “serving canapes and champagne,” he said fondly. “Let’s do that again,” an audience member shouted out. They just might.

These area cinephiles are all talking about the newly reopened Southampton Playhouse. They gathered on opening weekend not for the latest Captain America movie or the 3D IMAX Blue Angels documentary, but for a black and white restored print of the 1932 screwball comedy Trouble In Paradise. That’s the brainchild of Artistic Director Eric Kohn. He’s the former IndieWire editor brought in for “take two.” The Playhouse is honoring 1932 films over the next few months because that’s the year the theater first opened its doors.

“We are so excited to be here,” Kohn told the audience before introducing his cohort, Southampton Playhouse Executive Director Maria Ruiz Botsacos. They’re the ‘dynamic duo’ behind the five-year rebirth of what began life as a single screen theater and now boasts four.

“Eric and I have a great shorthand since we’ve worked in this industry for quite some time,” Botsacos says while giving a behind the scenes tour. “We believe the Hamptons is a year-round community and everyone has such pride about this theater,” she adds. “Our board members came here as children.”

The concession stand is ready, she points out. And get this. “Not just popcorn, lots of specialized treats at very fair prices,” she says. Well that is a breakthrough. There’s also a bookstore, green room, private entrances and one theater with the ability to seat a small orchestra and score films. And sitting among the latest digital equipment on the second floor? A 35mm projector. Did we mention an IMAX theater? Yep. Bells and lots and lots of whistles.

It’s a big investment. Hamptonite Aby Rosen bought the place for $8 million. Poured untold additional sums into it. Kind of like a big budget movie. Rumors had it opening in May or even June. But like a plot twist in a great blockbuster, the building got its certificate of occupancy two weeks ago, earlier than expected. The “soft” opening weekend saw big crowds. Word got around quickly.

“It’s a partnership we enter into with the community,” Kohn says. “It’s great if you want to see one of the big new movies, but once you’re inside these doors you’re going to make lots of other discoveries. We want to be challenging and surprising,” the former IndieWire editor says. Botsacos agrees.

During the pandemic everyone got used to watching movies at home. The Hamptons probably have a higher per capita number of home screening rooms than anyplace outside of Beverly Hills. Maybe some with balconies and stadium seating. But these two aren’t worried. “People want to be entertained,” Botsacos says. “Film is very much alive and so is the theatergoing experience,” she believes. “We intend to be the hub of entertainment here.”

Kohn is thinking even bigger.

“IMAX is such an incentive for people and a great draw.” He also thinks there’s a whole new audience out there for all kinds of cinema experiences. “I think we are back to pre-pandemic levels. And it’s new audiences. Barbie was successful because a lot of young people who went to see it had never been in a movie theater.”

If anyone is seeing a movie for the first time in the Hill Street facility, they won’t be disappointed. When the end credits roll, this team is ready for their close-up.

Bill McCuddy is a frequent Dan’s contributor and is a movie critic on the PBS/AllArts network. He also cohosts a show on WLIW and writes for GoldDerby.com.