Cinemagic may have closed half a year ago, but the building it left behind will enjoy a new beginning.
Though the building -- along with the rest of the 3900 block of Walnut Street -- is scheduled for demolition by late summer 2006, Penn is actively making plans with various cultural groups that wish to use the venue in the meantime.
Besides the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, which currently hosts its program Patio Plastico in the location, a jazz workshop will be holding concerts there starting in October. Facilities and Real Estate Services is also discussing the possibility of hosting film screenings in the venue with Penn's Cinema Studies program.
Although the location saw few customers as a movie theater, "now we have people e-mailing us almost every day wanting to use the venue," said Andrew Zitcer, Penn's cultural-asset manager.
Maintenance work included fixing the air conditioner and the fire-alarm system. But the main change is the "really amazing stage" sponsored by the arts festival, Zitcer said.
The stage occupies one of three screening rooms in the theater and permits a series of upcoming concerts -- featuring "experimental jazz ... out of the '60s and '70s," said Mark Christman, executive director of the Ars Nova Workshop, a presenter of jazz and experimental music.
Many of the featured artists are only one degree away from free jazz movement artists such as Miles Davis and Charles Mingus and have frequently performed with them before, Christman said.
The organization has partnered with Penn in the past. In addition to a history of holding concerts at the Rotunda and partnering with the Social Planning and Events Committee on concerts across the city, the group is hosting two October concerts in Houston Hall and International House.
But connections were not the sole reason for choosing the venue.
"The theater space is really comfortable," Christman said. It is a place where "musicians [can] take ownership over the stage" to perform freely, "without [any distraction] coming in the way, without the food and the alcohol" found in clubs.
Christman hopes that the theater will expand the audience base, even though "the demographic range is [already] remarkable" given the wide variety of artists featured. Two to four concerts are planned per week, and admission will cost between $3 and $5.
Besides the new stage in the theater, a DVD projection system sponsored by Facilities Services is also planned for one of the screening rooms. When it is in place, the Cinema Studies program may screen films there if maintenance is affordable.
Though it is a "whole-hearted project," Cinema Studies Director Tim Corrigan said the development was too late in the semester for any screenings to happen this fall. But if the plans come to fruition, the program will be moving some of its events to the theater, which is also equipped with a 35-millimeter film projector.
"The whole project is a good step forward for the Penn film community," Corrigan said, though "it is difficult to put a lot of eggs in that basket" since the venue will be demolished next year.
Still, Facilities Services spokesman Tony Sorrentino sees the value of supporting the businesses on the block with a cultural and arts venue.
"Why not animate it with something students will like?" he said.
