Today we’d like to introduce you to Ian Judge.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Ian. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have been working in movie theaters since I was a teenager and wanted an air-conditioned workplace and free movies! I started as an usher at the old Harvard Square Theatre and after college was a manager for Loew’s Theatres at many of their Boston area theaters. In 2001 I left Loew’s and tried office work, but the allure of theaters – in particular, old-school theaters that had a sense of showmanship – brought me to the Somerville Theatre where I became general manager in 2002. In the 15 years since then, I have expanded the scope of my job to include all of the films and live event programming for the theater as well as our sister theater, the Capitol in nearby Arlington.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our struggles are fairly common ones for small community theaters – the two greatest challenges being the unreliable product we sell but do not manufacture ourselves – MOVIES. When they make good ones, we do very well, and when they make lousy ones it is a challenge to keep patrons happy. We try to supplement the new releases with classic films and things like our 70mm festival. The other greatest challenge is the age of our building, which is 103 and requires a lot of upkeep and constant reinvention. Another common struggle for all small theaters was the way the Hollywood studios forced us to switch from the superior and reliable projection of 35mm film and install digital projection, which was a large capital investment and provides, in our opinion, a lesser image (though we retain our 35mm and 70mm projectors for classic films!).
Somerville Theatre – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The company that owns the theater is a family business, started by Mel Fraiman (who hired me) and now under his son Richard who has been incredibly supportive of the theater. We are known for being a real community theater, movie-going on a human, old-fashioned scale. Unlike our chain competitors, we still have ushers to patrol cinemas for cell phone use and things like that, freshly popped popcorn and real butter, and we were one of the first area cinemas to sell beer and wine. Our programming is a mix of standard Hollywood movies, independent features, film festivals (including New England’s only 70mm festival) and live events like concerts, plays, and our 10 year run of the burlesque holiday parody ‘The Slutcracker’. Seeing a film in our main theater, with a balcony, and the curtain that opens onto a big screen is a timeless feeling.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Likely the entire season of programming we did to celebrate the theater’s centennial in 2014, which culminated in a beautiful IB Technicolor print of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ which was preceded by 6 acts of vaudeville and a live orchestra. It was really what the theater was built for. We’ve also had U2 and Bruce Springsteen play here in the last 15 years so those are pretty amazing nights to remember. I am proud we still show movies on film when we can, and carry on that tradition with our great IATSE projectionists.
Pricing:
- Movies range from $7-$15.
- Popcorn, soda, and beer/wine range from $3-$9
Contact Info:
- Address: 55 Davis Square, Somerville MA 02144
- Website: www.somervilletheatre.com
- Phone: 617-625-5700
- Email: ijudge@frameonetheatres.com
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