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BALBOA THEATER EVENTS
Tuesday, March 16 @ 7:00pm (SOLD OUT!) and 9:15pm: REMEMBERING PLAYLAND AT THE BEACH
The Balboa Theatre in San Francisco is proud to host the World Premiere of Tom Wyrsch’s newest film, REMEMBERING PLAYLAND AT THE BEACH. The screening will be a dozen blocks from the site of the beloved amusement park. The film screens on Tuesday, March 16 @ 7:00pm and 9:15pm.
The full length documentary tells the history of San Francisco's famous 10-acre seaside amusement park, Playland at the Beach. Located next to Ocean Beach, it was torn down in 1972 to make way for a condominium development. Gone now for more than 3 decades, it remains one of the city's lost treasures. Go back in time to see Laffing Sal, the Fun House, the Carousel, the Big Dipper, the Diving Bell, Dark Mystery, Limbo, Fun-tier Town, and much, much more, all through the eyes of the people who were there. The first and only documentary ever made about Playland, it features 12 interviews, 20 minutes of archival footage, 187 photographs and original music. The film was written and directed by Tom Wyrsch who will answer questions after each screening.
To get the show off to a fun start, Dan X. Solo will discuss carnival game scams and present a mentalism act before the screening.
Advance tickets here.
Read an interview with George K. Whitney about his family’s operation of Playland.
Other articles and home movies on the Western Neighborhoods Site:
http://www.outsidelands.org/playland.php
Other articles and home movies on the Western Neighborhoods Site:
www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org
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Monday, March 22: THEY CAME TO PLAY @ 7:30pm
Live piano performances from Ken Iisaka and Esfir Ross on a Steinway grand piano courtesy of Sherman Clay.
Advance tickets here.
“A documentary of outstanding merit…a brilliant multiple character study, an in-depth look at how music is made...” -- Janos Gereben, San Francisco Classical Voice
Life comes between us and our dreams. Sometimes, we are lucky enough to be reunited.
They Came to Play is a multi-award-winning, uplifting feature-length documentary chronicling the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, hosted by The Van Cliburn Foundation.
Top amateur pianists from all over the world, ranging from self-taught to classically-trained, aged thirty-five to almost eighty, convene in Fort Worth, Texas for a week of competition, music and camaraderie.
“They Came to Play is both entertaining and touching, with a marvelously quirky cast of characters that reminds you why documentary films are so much more surprising than fictional ones.” --Mark Harris, Oscar Winner, Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport
Entertaining and above all, inspiring, the film provides an intimate look into the lives of these colorful, multi-faceted competitors as they strive to balance the demands of work and family with their love of music. Years of dedicated preparation culminate in top-level performances before a professional jury and discerning audience during three nerve-wracking elimination rounds.
All of the film's heroes have made their careers outside of music in fields ranging from medicine to business, and professional tennis to education. For competitors who have faced such extraordinary challenges as drug addiction, AIDS, or political asylum, the competition is also a triumph over adversity. For all, it represents an overwhelming desire to express a deeper side of themselves, musically and otherwise.
“...a wonderful and inspiring chronicle of amateur musicians with a lust for life that is truly infectious.” --Bryant Manning, Chicago Sun Times
Commentary from noted American pianist Van Cliburn and gold medalists from the Foundation’s professional competition, along with outstanding performances of great classical masterworks—from Beethoven to Alkan and from Rachmaninoff to Barber—complement the action in a film that celebrates the creator and the competitor in each of us.
They Came to Play is an 88 Films production directed by Alex Rotaru, produced by Lori Miller, and executive produced by Ronnie Planalp. It features amateur pianists including Esfir Ross, Dr. Drew Mays, Clark Griffith, and Annette Dimedio. They Came to Play’s running time is 91 minutes.
“For moviegoers who love classical music, this is a great movie...for moviegoers who dont love classical music, this is a great movie.” --Tom Gallaher, Grants and Gov. Relations Seminole Tribe of Florida
PERFORMING LIVE AT THE BALBOA
Esfir Ross – a dental assistant living in Oakland, CA described as “jolly” by one film critic, was not always so. Prior to the competition she was battling depression, and felt a lack of purpose in her life. She said “I had no idea that the competition existed, and by chance while at a friend’s house I found out about it just before the submission deadline...”
She did not expect that “the competition would change my life completely. It gave me a great purpose – to practice and perform for an audience, and now I’m going around the world, playing in different competitions, meeting people. I could not imagine that I would shake hands with Van Cliburn, and play in front of such a jury which includes people like Veda Kaplinsky, the head of the piano department at Juilliard, and Richard Dyer, the renown music critic.”
Ken Iisaka – an investment analyst from Mill Valley, CA talks about the competition, and his participation in the film:
"I have been playing the piano since I was a young child, and music has been a very important part of my life. As a professional in a different field, I yearned to connect with other amateur pianists, and my passion led me to participate in the competition to share my love with others. It was a gathering of kindred spirits, and I made important life-long friends.
Alex and the entire film crew were a part of the kindred spirits. Their passion and compassion in the art of filmmaking inspired me through their retelling of our tales, something very personal to us.”
Details at www.theycametoplay.com.
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Thursday, March 25 @ 7:00pm: CREATURE FEATURES PRESENTS: HORROR EXPRESS
RELIVE THE EXPERIENCE OF WATCHING A "CREATURE FEATURES" SHOW FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF TV!
WITH HOST JOHN STANLEY, WHO PRODUCED THE SHOW AT CHANNEL 2, KTVU IN OAKLAND, FOR SIX YEARS.
JOHN STANLEY INTRODUCED ON STAGE BY DENNIS WILLIS, KGO-RADIO.
FILM REVIEWER AND AUTHOR OF THE NEW MOVIE BOOK "FLICK NATION".
HORROR EXPRESS (Spanish-British 1972) Starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas . . . A train speeding through the trans-Siberian wilderness is terrorized by a supernatural entity with blazing red eyeballs (someone from the IRS?) who mesmerizes his victims and turns them into corpses with bleeding eyeball sockets . . . It's enough to bring tears to your eyes.
Savor John Stanley’s classic four-part interview with actor/voice impressionist FRANK GORSHIN . . . Frank discusses his career and imitates several famous actors. See dramatic footage from TV's BATMAN, STAR TREK and "BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL".
See Bob Wilkins interview John Stanley on Market Street in downtown San Francisco . . . a rare treat not shown since it was first aired in 1977
For the first time in 30 years, John Stanley’s minimovie classic THE DEMON STRIKES BACK, a roller-coaster ride into a fantasy dimension from which you may or may not return.
Plus KTVU Station Promotions and Original Television Commercials . . . the kind they don’t make anymore.
Advance tickets here.
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Thursday, April 1: A GUMBY TRIBUTE AT THE BALBOA
Featuring Tim Hittle’s Emmy award winning feature Gumby Dharma, plus shorts, and some of the artists in-person talking about working with Art Clokey (Gumby’s creator) who died in January. Gumby Dharma explores why a man would spend his 85 years on earth playing with lumps of colored clay. His world famous characters, Gumby and Pokey, and Davy and Goliath, echo the spiritual path of their creator. Art's journey takes us from the orphanage to inspiring adopted father, from the Seminary to the Hollywood movie business, and from traditional Episcopalian church values to Buddhism and Indian guru Sai Baba. It is a fascinating life and career in it's own right but also in how it gently influenced his characters and story lines for over 40 years. Clokey’s work is one of the few animation characters that have survived the test of time to become a true American Icon. Interviews with contemporary leaders in animation, including Director Henry Selick (Coraline, Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) and special effects legend Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts, Adventures of Sinbad), place Clokey’s work in perspective with the history of animation and explore stop motion’s future in a computer graphics world. And don’t forget April 1 in the annual St. Stupid’s Day Parade at noon.
Details at www.gumbydharma.com.
Tickets on sale soon.
