Rep. Elijah Cummings at Public Option Health Care Rally

Here's a video of Congressional Rep. Elijah Cummings speaking at the public option health care rally at The Senator Theatre yesterday.

Karaoke winners and more!

Tonight is Karaoke night again at The Senator Theatre. Doors will open at 7:00 PM and the festivities start at 8:00 PM. The past two Karaoke nights have been loads of fun, so please join us! Admission is free. Bring your ID, because you will be carded if you look like you might be under 21 and try to buy a drink.

I've been truly impressed by the talent of the people who have been coming out for Karaoke. Each week a portion of the night is a Karaoke contest, leading up to the big costume Karaoke contest on October 30th. Last week, we had three contest winners, as follows:

Keith won for his rendition of Luther's "A House is Not A Home," but what I caught on video was his earlier appearance on stage, before the contest began, singing Steely Dan's "Deacon Blues."



Jenn won for her rendition of "Proud Mary," but again, I have a video of an earlier performance from before the contest began. (My camera hard disk got full toward the end.) Here's Jenn singing "Gloria."



Todd won for his rendition of "Love" by Musiq. Toward the end of this video, I ran out of hard disk, but you can see he's a really talented singer.



Last week we also had a visit from actor Johnny Alonso, who has appeared in "Dawson's Creek," "One Tree Hill," and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Johnny sang Frank Sinatra's "Luck Be A Lady."



Johnny Alonso also appears in two independent films that will be showing at The Senator. "Gospel Hill" makes its Baltimore premiere on Saturday at 8 P.M. Doors open at 7:15 PM. Also watch for "Safe House," coming soon.

On Sunday at 4 PM, D'Jembe Jazz Jams with Park Vibe continues as a free form jam session that is open to all. The acoustics of the outer lobby made it especially resonant last Sunday. This is a jam session, not a performance, so it gets rolling when people show up. If you show up early and it's not quite starting on time, please be patient.



On Sunday there will also be a screening of the Japanese monster movie RODAN, along with a TV taping of MONSTER MADHOUSE. The event starts at 1 PM.

If you're easily offended, avert your eyes! (Jokes & Jazz)

Thursday night's Jokes & Jazz event at The Senator was a ton of fun, with some sweet sounds by Phillip "Doc" Martin and his band and some very, very funny comedians who should never be let out in public in front of anyone who gets easily offended or anyone under 21. You've been warned.

Here's a video of Phillip "Doc" Martin doing "My Cherie Amour."



Now here's Larry Lancaster. Really. Avert your eyes.



And here's Dominique. Yes, I really mean it this time. Avert your eyes for real.



And this is Joe Clair. Now, you know you really don't want to watch this. I'm not kidding this time. Not at all. Really. Avert your damn eyes...because they might get something nasty in them this time.



Well, that was a lot of fun not watching those videos, right?

I'm trying to get videos of all these events I've been documenting at The Senator uploaded relatively quickly, but the editing and uploading takes some time. Stay tuned for fantastic karaoke performances from last night and I guess I'm documenting the Senator Cipher Session tonight as well. The Cipher session tonight starts at 10:00 PM, with doors opening at 9:30. See you there?

Sunday's D'Jembe Jazz Jams @ The Senator

On Sunday, musicians and dancers gathered at The Senator for a free form jam led by the Park Vibe group from Druid Hill Park. Similar events will happen every Sunday in October, starting at 4 PM, so come join us and join in this Sunday! The event is free.

Here are some videos from last Sunday:

Hip Hop Poets and B-Boys @ The Senator!

The first Senator Cipher Session was a great success on Saturday night, with hip hop poets and b-boys displaying their talents. The event was sponsored by The Senator and UCAM (United Community Access Media), and helped to demonstrate that The Senator is the perfect venue for a wide range of multimedia community-based events. The Senator Cipher Series continues this coming Saturday and every Saturday through October 24th.

I was lucky enough to serve as the camera person for the event, with the feed from my camera being displayed on The Senator's big screen in real time behind the performers. Here are a few of the videos I shot on Saturday (more are available on YouTube).

Hip hop poets give the spoken word:



B-Boys, including the Sushi Kings crew and the Regulators crew, break it down on stage:





Don't miss out on the fun this Saturday night! Doors open at 9:30 PM.

Winners of Karaoke @ The Senator, Week 1

Here are the two winners of Friday's Karaoke contest at The Senator.

Alicia aka "Suggs" singing Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive"



Rachel singing Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats"




Here are the two runners-up.

The other Rachel singing Duffy's "Mercy"



Felix singing Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive"



The Karaoke contest will continue each Friday in October, culminating in a costume Karaoke contest on October 30th. Two winners will be selected each week, and in the final week, the grand prize will be awarded. You do not need to be there every week to win...but you should be!

Also, The Senator Cipher Session last night was HOT! I'll be posting some video highlights in the next day or two.

Octoberfest at The Senator!

Last night was the kickoff of The Senator's month long Octoberfest 70th anniversary celebration. It all started with the first ever Karaoke night and contest at The Senator. Some very talented singers graced the stage. I should have video in the next day or two. Karaoke will continue on Friday nights throughout October, building to a final costume karaoke contest on October 30th. Admission is free.

Tonight, the Senator Cipher Series brings B-Boys and B-Girls to the stage for a night of hip-hop and poetry. Music by DJ Booda Monk. UCAM (United Community Access Media) is sponsoring the event. Doors open at 9:30 PM and the event starts at 10:00. Admission is free.

Sunday, The Senator, Park Vibe, and UCAM bring D'Jembe Jazz Jams to The Senator. This free drum circle event is a continuation of the Druid Hill Park drum jams that happen every Sunday in the park during the summer with a group of folks, some of whom have been playing together for 30 years. Instead of the weekly jam session ending in the colder months, The Senator is bringing it inside for Sundays in October. Event starts at 4 PM. Bring your drums and your dancing feet and enjoy the vibe!

Thursday, October 8th, celebrate The Senator's 70th anniversary with an evening of Jokes & Jazz starring Joe Clair, Dominique, Smooth Jazz sensation Phillip "Doc" Martin, and hosted by Larry Lancaster. Doors open at 7:30 and tickets are $30.

Many more events will be announced in the month of October. I don't always find time to list the events on my blog. The best ways to keep track of upcoming events at The Senator are to sign up for The Senator's mailing list or follow the official Senator Theatre twitter or become a fan of Friends of The Senator Theatre or join the Friends of The Senator Theatre group on facebook, or follow Friends of The Senator Theatre on twitter.

BDC Issues Senator Theatre RFP

The Senator Theatre RFP is available. Proposals are due by November 20th. You can download it from the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC), if you want to register on their site. Otherwise, you can download it without registering here.

The Senator Theatre Auction and Why it Won’t Be Contested

Baltimore City and the Baltimore Development Corporation [BDC] are set to finalize their takeover of The Senator Theatre on September 19th, if no compelling objection to the ratification of the auction is filed with the Baltimore City Circuit Court by the end of Friday, September 18th.

There are numerous reasons why the manipulated results of the recent auction sale of The Senator Theatre should be invalidated by the court, but that’s not going to happen.

Here are some of the primary reasons why the auction results will not be overturned:

Circuit Courts rarely invalidate foreclosure auctions, particularly one that was initiated by the Mayor’s Office of Baltimore City after they bought The Senator Theatre’s commercial loan from 1st Mariner Bank and took on the legal position of the lender.

In these unprecedented circumstances, the City had a legal mandate as the regulated lender to follow established procedures of fairness and impartiality in conducting a foreclosure auction sale of a citizen’s private property.

The authority and responsibility to evaluate and enforce those established lender auction sale regulations, however, is ultimately in the hands of an elected Baltimore City Circuit Court judge.

It’s an outrage that the powers that be in city government and the BDC seized their long sought opportunity to take control of The Senator from its owner, who had simply sought their assistance, along with business and residential leaders, to transition the renowned theatre to not-for-profit, community-based ownership.

In their obvious effort to thwart non-profit ownership conversion of The Senator and gain full control of the theatre (and other strategically located real estate parcels owned by Tom Kiefaber), the City and BDC representatives first impugned his professional reputation through the media, as they have done to others in the past before their property is taken. They then proceeded to become the lender, pointedly undermine the validity of the recent Senator Theatre auction, and control the outcome with a clear sense of impunity.

The best shot at invalidating the auction would be an objection filed by the soon-to-be former property owner, Tom Kiefaber. Tom has made it clear, however, that he cannot object to the court’s ratification of the auction, for unspecified reasons that he refuses to delineate or discuss.

Having followed this unfolding saga and investigated the many odd and circuitous developments, it is safe to assume that Kiefaber’s uncharacteristic refusal to join an effort to resist our city government’s abuses of power is due to his apparent fear of even worse consequences for him and his family.

Tom Kiefaber, devastated by the coordinated attacks on his professional reputation and the corrupt “taking” of his beloved historic theatre by city government, is now behaving like a traumatized and fearful hostage --- one who supports terrorist demands on camera, while off-camera there is clearly a weapon threatening him and his family. It’s a heartbreaking situation for those who understand that a monumental injustice has victimized an accomplished man and his family who have done so much to benefit Baltimore City and our community.

This situation is a recent reminder that something is rotten in Gotham City.

We thought for a while that, as Baltimore City taxpayers, we might be able to put a citizen’s group together of figurative stockholders who have been financially harmed by the lender’s actions, which cheated the citizen/stockholders in an illegitimate scheme intended to benefit a few administrative insiders.

The hope was that a credible citizen activist challenge to the ratification of the auction might have legal standing to file an objection to the ratification of the auction in circuit court. We have received legal advice from more than one attorney discouraging this course of action. We’ve been told that the basic concept and the cumulative documentation that the auction’s outcome was significantly tainted both have merit, but there would be little chance that a Baltimore Circuit Court judge would rule in favor of the owner and the community over the Mayor’s office and the BDC.

Even if a citizen activist effort prevailed in court, the outcome would be to hold a new auction with significantly increased fees, and the folks pulling the levers of power in Baltimore would likely take further punitive action, to the detriment of Tom and his family, putting them in an even worse position. Perhaps that explains Tom’s aversion to the concept and his refusal to even discuss it with our group.

Despite deep concerns over ratification of the sham auction we would never risk triggering further harm and trauma to come to Tom and his family. They’ve made so many personal sacrifices to protect The Senator Theatre, and keep it open and operating in an award-winning fashion, as a classy anchor and source of civic pride since 1939. In fact, we all owe Tom Kiefaber and his extended family a huge debt of gratitude for their consistent success in keeping The Senator intact and operating for 70 years, when so many historic theatres nationwide were shuttered and abandoned.

Now we look ahead to the next step in the process. I hope that through the RFP process we can help to ensure that The Senator will be protected and continue to evolve, as envisioned by its former owner and the community, as the region’s premiere educational and entertainment venue, under non-profit ownership.

Hey, City Paper! I'm sick of this issue too!

City Paper notes that The Senator is the "Best Local Issue We're Sick Of." Well, heck! So am I! I would dearly love to be able to go back to my life, knowing that The Senator is in the safe hands of a viable community-based non-profit and that Tom Kiefaber and his staff have finally been recognized and rewarded for all their wonderful work over the years, and that all is right with this corner of the world.

But, guess what? I can't, because I care about The Senator and the people involved, and all is not right in this corner of the world.

Can't we all just get along? Can't Baltimore City do the right thing here?

Well, if I'm not mistaken, this is at least the second time in the past two and a half years or so that City Paper has written about The Senator. So, no wonder they're sick of it, with all that intensive coverage. Take a break from all that hard work, guys!

Baltimore’s Last Chance for Film As It Should Be Seen?

I haven’t had time to sit down and watch all of Tyler Perry’s “I Can Do Bad All By Myself” at The Senator yet. I plan to do that during the week, when our all-volunteer staff at The Senator is less busy. After seeing some moments of the film, however, I feel compelled to urge everyone to please give themselves the pleasure of what may be their last chance to see film presentation as it should be.

The craft of fine film presentation is dying. Multiplexes using average equipment hire teenagers to run projectors they barely understand and throw an image up on a relatively small screen with the edges not masked properly. Maybe the image is out of focus. Maybe the sound isn’t right, or isn’t high quality surround sound.

People wait to see movies on DVD and then even the best home theatres can barely match the reduced-quality multiplex experience.

You just don’t see the technical excellence of The Senator’s film presentation anywhere, anymore. For those who appreciate the luminosity of light cast through film and have eyes to see the quality of a sharp, focused, colorful image and hear the richness of awesome sound, this is indeed a painful loss.

Many of The Senator’s patrons realize that there’s something different about seeing a film presented on The Senator’s giant 40 foot screen. But few truly understand that it isn’t just the size and proportions of the auditorium or the screen, but an expert staff that has always striven for excellence. It’s why Michael Sragow, film critic at the Baltimore Sun, wrote:

But the Senator, under Tom Kiefaber, has carried on the tradition of movie theaters as places where audiences of many kinds can view the best movies of any type - action blockbusters like the "Indiana Jones" series, art classics like "The Rules of the Game" and "Rashomon" - with a presentation equal to the craft of the world's best filmmakers.

It’s also why film restoration expert Robert A. Harris was quoted by Sragow as calling The Senator “a beacon of professionalism, showmanship and the love of cinema."

Few realize that Lucasfilm’s Theatre Alignment Project measured various aspects of the film presentation at The Senator and when pressed by Tom Kiefaber for a rating compared to other theatres, acknowledged that The Senator ranks 2nd in the nation for technical excellence.

One of the unsung heroes of The Senator’s history is theatre manager and projectionist Bill Hewitt, who is an expert in all aspects of film presentation, of a caliber almost impossible to find elsewhere anymore. Mr. Hewitt visually inspects each frame of a film print before it is shown at The Senator. He is an expert in the care and preservation of film and the technical aspects of top quality presentation. Mr. Hewitt does not cut corners. He strives to make each show perfect and show the film to its full potential each time.

The lens being used for “I Can Do Bad All By Myself” is the best German lens made. The sound quality on The Senator’s amazing sound system is always excellent. When I looked at a few moments of the film over the weekend, the picture was in perfect focus, the colors were vibrant and rich, the images on the screen of breathtaking quality. I was stunned as I realized that this is how a film should be seen and that, depending on what happens over the next few weeks, this may be the last chance we’ll get to see a film this way.

Baltimore City is taking over The Senator on September 19th, barring some unforeseen reversal of the auction. The auction will be ratified unless there is a legally credible objection presented to the circuit court by September 18th. (Though there are many reasons the auction should be invalidated, that is unlikely to happen.) Once Baltimore City owns The Senator, they will put it through their RFP process to find a new owner and/or operator.

It is hard to imagine that any new operator of The Senator is going to strive for technical excellence, refuse to cut corners, and achieve the high standard of operation that Tom Kiefaber, Bill Hewitt, and the rest of The Senator’s staff continue to achieve up to this moment. Almost nobody else achieves this level of film presentation anymore. Almost nobody tries, and audiences don’t demand it.

Furthermore, the film business is struggling all over the country. Drastically reduced attendance means that the days when The Senator could operate profitably as a first run movie theatre are long over. We’re not talking about a case where another operator with a reduced debt load could cut a few corners and eke out a profit. We’re talking about something that is over and done with, kaput, and totally dead. If this were a Norwegian Blue parrot, it would be pushing up daisies and joining the choir eternal.

That’s why Tom Kiefaber has long been advocating a future for The Senator that involves non-profit ownership of the building and multi-purposes use for the theatre. That’s the way to guarantee The Senator’s survival for the next 70 years. Kiefaber should know. Contrary to the flawed perceptions of certain city and BDC officials, he is a nationally renowned expert in the field.

But meanwhile, top notch film presentation at The Senator may soon be over. Come see something you may not get a chance to see again.

Tyler Perry's "I Can Do Bad All By Myself" at The Senator!

First run films return to The Senator Theatre with Tyler Perry's "I Can Do Bad All By Myself" starting Friday, Sept. 11th.

Starring:
Tyler Perry, Taraji P. Henson, Adam Rodriguez, Brian J. White, Hope Olaide Wilson & Mary J. Blige


Showtime Information:

Friday, September 11th & Saturday, September 12th
5:15, 7:45 & 10:15pm.

Sunday, September 13th
2:45, 5:15 & 7:45pm.

Mon., Sept. 14th through Thurs., Sept. 17th
5:15 & 7:45pm.

Admission $8 [cash only]

When Madea catches sixteen-year-old Jennifer and her two younger brothers looting her home, she decides to take matters into her own hands and delivers the young delinquents to the only relative they have: their aunt April. A heavy-drinking nightclub singer who lives off of Raymond, her married boyfriend.