Summary
[Nat Tobin] has been mulling an exit from the [Westcott] Nation mainstay for about six months, but he also hoped that summertime items such as Michael Moore's healthcare documentary Sicko could have kept the theater's cash flow going. It didn't help, however, that Sicko, as well as other works once considered art-house fare, ended up also playing at Regal's Carousel Center 17. With the increasing competition from the Regal chain curtailing any chance for exclusive runs, Tobin has been forced into movie bookings of two or three weeks.
Ironically, Tobin recently celebrated his 10th anniversary of operations at the Westcott, which commenced with the September 1997 run of The Full Monty. Yet he intends to keep going at the Manlius; he says it's easier to control costs at the theater, which-believe it or not-was constructed in 1918. (Tobin says with a laugh that he notched his 15-year Manlius milestone on April Fool's Day.) Soon after Thursday night's showing, however, Tobin will hand over the keys to the Westcott Theater's landlord, along with the 600-odd seats, movie screen and projector system-just in case a different exhibitor wants to take over the business.Alas, the Westcott's place in Central New York's movie theater history comes to a close on Thursday. "It's sad all around, and it's sad for the Westcott community," Tobin says. "But this is the reality of the movie industry in 2007."See the full content of this document
Extract
Last Picture Show
Last Picture Show
The Westcott Cinema calls it quits after a nearly 80-year-runBy Bill DeLappCentral New York's movie circuit has been suffering a number of seismic losses over the last decade. Remember the Fayetteville Mall sixplex?...See the full content of this document
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