Reality could at times
be terribly unreal.

Haruki Murakami 

SAN JUAN ON THE THAMES

Live theater is probably the art form that brings
people the closest to a life experience other
than their own. Unlike a book, which requires people
to imagine what they are reading, and film, which lacks
a sense of immediacy, theater thrusts the spectator smack
in the midst of a life situation to fully experience it from
beginning to end. All in one sitting.

New York and London are famous theater meccas
and the opportunity to see fine productions in both
these cities is certainly the highlight of any trip. But if
a trip to London is not on your radar anytime soon,
there is still a way to see fine British productions and it's
through a British National Theater project in which plays
are filmed and subsequently shown in movie houses
across the world.

Almost like the real thing, if not quite.

National Theater Live is showing in San Juan thanks
to Caribbean Cinemas, a chain of movie theaters, including
Fine Arts Cinema in Hato Rey and Miramar (which is where
the plays are shown).

So far this year, the lineup of productions has included
Skylight, Of Mice and Men, and The Audience, which
received such an enthusiastic reception by San Juan
audiences that it was shown on two consecutive Sundays.
This excellent production, featuring Helen Mirren as Queen
Elizabeth II, takes a look at the queen and her interactions with
the prime ministers serving during her reign.

Next on the list is Behind the Beautiful Forevers, a play
about India written by David Hare and based on the
eponymous book by Elizabeth Boo.

 It will be shown this Sunday, August 23.

There is only one showing of the play and it begins at noon.
Tickets are available online or you can purchase them directly
at the ticket office.

Upcoming productions are: A View from the Bridge, Sept. 13;
The Hard Problem, Sept. 27; Man and Superman, Oct. 11
(featuring Ralph Fiennes); Everyman, Nov. 1 (featuring
Chiwetel Ejiofor); and completing the cycle, Hamlet on
Dec. 6. Benedict Cumberbatch takes on the title role of the
Danish Prince.

FINE ARTS CINEMA,  #654 PONCE DE LEON AVE.
STOP 11, MIRAMAR  TEL. 787.721.4288
Tickets: $16.


A SIMPLE TIP

This fabulous
bench idea is
 a winner.
It pairs
cement blocks
 with wood
beams to create
a smart, modern
design that will
enhance any
patio area. You
can make the
bench as long
or short as
you want by
varying the
length of the
beams. The
final touch:
colorful
cushions
give the
bench a pop
of color and
comfortable
seating.




FREE BOOKS ON LOIZA STREET

They keep saying that books -- the ones printed on sheets of
paper -- are dead and yet, you're likely to find them in the least
expected places.

Like the hanging shelves recently put up on the wall of an
abandoned building on Ponce de León Ave., near Stop 20.

More recently, another set of shelving went up, this time

near the corner of Loiza St. and Parque St. The young people
behind the endeavor used colorful bins and paint to create a
very attractive nook that invites passersby to stop and take a look.

The books on display span old and new titles but anyone
is sure to find something worth reading. So if you happen
to be in the area, bring a book, take a book.

It can be contagious.

Photography by Denise Blasor

Our lives are always
in someone else's hands.


James Salter

Copyright  ©2015 By Lorraine Blasor, all rights reserved☂

Fine Arts Cinema To Reopen This Summer

"The Secret in Their Eyes"

A  top draw at Fine Arts Cinema in 2010

A Biutiful Revamp

Expect to pay higher ticket prices when Fine Arts Cinema in Miramar reopens sometime this summer after a multi-million dollar revamp. But in return, you will get to see choice movies in high style.

In fact, the aim of its operator, Caribbean Cinemas, is to convert the Miramar venue into a near replica of its sister theater in Hato Rey, the Fine Arts Café. "The new Fine Arts Miramar will have the same look and feel as Fine Arts in Hato Rey, both in terms of the decoration and the environment," said Caribbean Cinemas President Robert Carady.

As anyone familiar with Hato Rey's Fine Arts Café will confirm, watching movies has never been so enjoyable than in that comfortable venue located on the top floor of a boldly modernistic, glass tower in the heart of San Juan's Golden Mile business district. This stylish movie theater boasts black marble floors, super comfortable de luxe seating, and an inviting deli that offers wine, beer, coffee and goodies like cakes and other refreshments, plus an item that no movie theater would be caught dead without: popcorn.  

If you drive past Fine Arts Cinema in Miramar these days you won't see much except a building totally in shambles. It was closed down in October and between now and then the structure has been all but demolished. By this summer, if all goes according to the script, it will have been rebuilt from the ground up into an 18,000-square-foot, two-story structure featuring six screens "totally equipped with the most advanced projection technology and digital sound," according to Carady. Film goers will sit in large reclinable seats made of fine leather (also convertible into love seats) and rest their drinks on small side tables. The six screen rooms, double the number the theater had before, will also be available for private corporate activities such as trainings and meetings.

The Miramar movie theater, which introduced independent movies to film buffs in Puerto Rico, served as inspiration for Fine Arts in Hato Rey, Carady said. Now that the concept has proved such a success, it is time to come full circle and replicate it in Miramar.

Committed to offering exceptional service and unique programming in both theaters, Caribbean Cinemas launched Fine Arts Cinema in Miramar in 1985, adding two more screen rooms in 1993. In 2006, Caribbean Cinemas inaugurated the Fine Arts Cinema Café at the Popular Center. Total investment: $5 million.  

Carady is keeping the price tag for the Miramar venue revamp close to the vest but it is sure to reach several millions and, he acknowledged, will result in higher ticket prices. Once the movie theater reopens, it will continue to focus on art and international films. The top draw movies in 2010 at both art houses were: The Hurt Locker, The Blind Side, Fuera de Carta, Precious, The Secret in Their Eyes, The Kids Are All Right, Black Swan, and Biutiful.

A SIMPLE TIP: 

Holiday cards usually end up either in the attic or the waste paper basket. Instead, recycle the prettiest ones by turning the illustrated side into postcards, assuming there is no writing on the opposide side. Or you can cut out the image and use it to decorate gift packages, as suggested by my friend Maritza Stanchich.

Photograph by Tony Baragona

When I walk/I part the air/and always/the air moves in/

to fill the spaces where my body's been./We all have reasons/

for moving./I moved/to keep things whole.

Mark Strand, from his poem "Keeping Things Whole."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks to Tito Stevens, a veteran of the long gone San Juan Star newspaper, for noticing that I left out a number of people from a recently published list of books by former San Juan Star reporters. Harry Turner, at different times a Star City Editor, Managing Editor and Washington Correspondent, is the author of " Dear Frank," a biography that chronicles his life in journalism, struggle with alcoholism, and joys of fatherhood. Jerry Mahoney, a business editor at the Star in the 1960s, wrote a novel titled "Jake's Run." And Star sport writer David Perez authored both a biography of Tito Puente and a novel intriguingly titled "Five Detectives Too Many." Stevens says he hopes one day to complete a memoir with his reminiscences of covering sports and other events for the Star, including the Munich Olympics massacre and the death of Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos.

Copyright © 2011 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved