COVER STORY
Rodeo revival NEW LEADERSHIP AND A REBRAND ARE BUILDING NEW LIFE IN THE RODEO CINEMA FOUNDATION’S LOCATIONS DOWNTOWN AND IN THE STOCKYARDS. By Matt Dinger
After a brief hiatus, both Rodeo movie theater. I Cinema locations are open again took a crash under new leadership and with course and I the aims of being more of an arthave contacted house — full stop — than just an ever y ow ner, arthouse cinema. executive diExecutive Director Ka ra rector, you can Luther-Chapman comes from a think of across live theater background and left the nation and her role as executive director of I’ve made great the Pollard Theatre Company to relationships,” Executive Director Kara Luther-Chapman. Photo Berlin Green. helm what is now called the Rodeo she said. Cinema Foundation. Luther-Chapman suspended ly showing up to the wrong loca“Having an arthouse is essenscreenings at the Stockyards location. So we’re rebranding. Rodeo tia l for the communit y of tion in order to overhaul the lobby Cinema Foundation is the nonOklahoma City, especially with and expand the menu to include profit corporation that everyfilm blowing up and everything sandwiches with names like Attack thing is umbrella-ed under. And that’s happening,” she said. of the Killer Tomato, which includes then Rodeo Theater — we’re going “I built my reputation in live sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella and back to the OG but we’re spelling theater as a performer and as an pesto on panini. Then the Oklahoma it with the -er, sort of like AMC executive director of live theater, spring took Film Row temporarily Theaters — is going to be our but I’m actually a huge cinephile. out of commission. Stockyards and then Film Row I rea lly love Cinema will be the one mov ies more inside the Paramount than live Building,” she said. theater. I don’t The programming at follow what ’s both theaters will be excoming on panding immensely. Br oadw ay, I “I knew one thing don’t read coming in as someone in plays, but I business: one-screen watch ever ycinemas have to be dithing that versified. The way that comes out.” everything’s changed Growing up with direct to consumer in small town streaming, people kind K a n s a s , of smelled it for a long L u t h e r time. Blockbusters are C h a p m a n going to bring in people wanted to be a and arthouse films are a The redesigned concession area at Rodeo Cinema. Photo Berlin Green. film actress but tougher sell. You’re threw her lot in with live theater “Film Row is getting an equipnever going to be viable with that because it was an accessible art ment facelift right now and rewirkind of method. You’re never form. Being an avid cineaste was ing, fixing what we had in the going to reach a broad enough desomething that was ingrained in storm damage and cleaning it up. mographic. … Our essence, our her early. It is eventually getting ready to core, is always going to be film “Every Friday after school, have a full rebrand look as well. centric, but it’s got to be more we’d go down to Aardvark Video The goal is to turn it into an exthan a movie, it’s got to be an exand rent a VHS player. And when ecutive screening room with reperience and that ’s multiple you rented the VHS player, you clining seats. Very posh, elite type things, like shadow casts, live got ten free rentals, and we’d get of thing,” she said. performers with films. Just ten free rentals and watch everyBoth locations are currently having things that make people thing all weekend long. That’s open for screenings, but more get off their couch because they how I grew up,” she said. changes are in the works, includcan watch it at home. Q&As, retBut while she’s always had a ing a renaming of both venues. rospectives, celebrity meet and love of cinema, running one is an “We’ve had a lot of confusion greets, but also don’t be afraid to entirely different animal. about our locations. It’s been have a comedy show in there or “I will fully admit I didn’t know Rodeo on Film Row and Rodeo have an original workshop playthe first thing about running a Cinema and people are constantwright come in. The other thing
too, I think most people forget, is there are not a lot of venues that have the capacity that we do and we have a venue that can promote all forms of art. We can showcase a local filmmaker’s movie and screen it on the big screen in just as good a quality as any other theater, but we can also lift that screen up and we have a 20 by 20 stage space with a badass sound system and LED lights and soundboard and we can showcase a local band or a local playwright or a local dancer, and we do it at an affordable price. That ’s the biggest thing. We’re an arthouse. And that’s what an arthouse truly is. An art house truly is a place that supports all art,” LutherChapman said. There are quite a few other plans in the works that will be announced at later dates, she said. But Rodeo as a cinema isn’t going anywhere. “We’re it. We have the corner, and, like I told our board of directors, we’re going to do it and we’re going to do it so well that eventually somebody’s going to say, ‘I can do that too’ and pop up. By that time, you’re going to have been the OG and if anything, I welcome it because that means that we’re doing it right and the more competition you have, the harder you have to fight,” she said. Visit rodeocinema.org.
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