Brunswick Theatre

[rdaner]

Poor Alex reborn as doc movie house

Feb 23, 2007 04:30 AM
Bruce DeMara
Entertainment Reporter

The second floor of the defunct Poor Alex Theatre is going from cabaret to movie house, with a bill exclusively featuring documentaries that focus on social, political and environmental issues.

Student activist Scott Gilbert – co-creator of the Fair Trade Clothing Co-op, the first such certified store in North America – and girlfriend Bre Walt have just opened the Brunswick Theatre in the century-old building south of Bloor St. W. on Brunswick Ave.

The site was chosen because of the Poor Alex's long history of supporting culture and independent artists. The three-storey building, purchased last year by restaurateur Graziano Marchese, is a "cultural icon" in Toronto, Gilbert said.

The "student-owned and operated worker co-op" will have no difficulty in finding documentary programming for evening screenings in its 100-seat theatre, which will be followed by audience discussion with various speakers, Gilbert said.

"If you go into Blockbuster or Rogers Video, you don't see a big documentary film section. But there are so many out there and people know about them. Major theatres just don't screen them," he added.

Recent offering include No Logo by filmmaker/activist Naomi Klein and the Oscar-nominated Jesus Camp, a documentary about an evangelical Christian summer camp directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing.

During the day, the space will be available for community groups.

"We want to make it more like a community centre than just a theatre. We may very well fold after a couple of months if we don't get the support. But we're banking on the community coming out to support us," Gilbert added.

 

[SD2]

Good news!

 

[Darkstar416]

Wow, good news indeed! A perfect use for that space and in-keeping with the spirit of The Annex.

 

[Poor Alex]

Immidiate acknowledgment

Poor Alex reborn as doc movie house

Feb 23, 2007 04:30 AM
Bruce DeMara
Entertainment Reporter

The second floor of the defunct Poor Alex Theatre is going from cabaret to movie house, with a bill exclusively featuring documentaries that focus on social, political and environmental issues.

Student activist Scott Gilbert – co-creator of the Fair Trade Clothing Co-op, the first such certified store in North America – and girlfriend Bre Walt have just opened the Brunswick Theatre in the century-old building south of Bloor St. W. on Brunswick Ave.

The site was chosen because of the Poor Alex's long history of supporting culture and independent artists. The three-storey building, purchased last year by restaurateur Graziano Marchese, is a "cultural icon" in Toronto, Gilbert said.

The "student-owned and operated worker co-op" will have no difficulty in finding documentary programming for evening screenings in its 100-seat theatre, which will be followed by audience discussion with various speakers, Gilbert said.

"If you go into Blockbuster or Rogers Video, you don't see a big documentary film section. But there are so many out there and people know about them. Major theatres just don't screen them," he added.

Recent offering include No Logo by filmmaker/activist Naomi Klein and the Oscar-nominated Jesus Camp, a documentary about an evangelical Christian summer camp directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing.

During the day, the space will be available for community groups.

"We want to make it more like a community centre than just a theatre. We may very well fold after a couple of months if we don't get the support. But we're banking on the community coming out to support us," Gilbert added.

The Poor Alex moved from 296 Brunswick in August 2005 when the property was sold. The new location is 772A Dundas St. W. one block west of Bathurst St. The Cabaret was not transformed into the Brunswick Theatre it lives on with the Poor Alex only. There is absolutely no affiliation with Scott Gilbert and the Brunswick Theatre or Graziano Marchese the property owner.
The Poor Alex is asking for immediate attention from names mentioned above to refrain from using the Poor Alex in any reference what so ever.

 

[Observer Walt]

Isn't this a bit out of date? Hasn't this place closed within the past few months?

 

[Poor Alex]

Poor Alex reborn as doc movie house

Feb 23, 2007 04:30 AM
Bruce DeMara
Entertainment Reporter

The second floor of the defunct Poor Alex Theatre is going from cabaret to movie house, with a bill exclusively featuring documentaries that focus on social, political and environmental issues.

Student activist Scott Gilbert – co-creator of the Fair Trade Clothing Co-op, the first such certified store in North America – and girlfriend Bre Walt have just opened the Brunswick Theatre in the century-old building south of Bloor St. W. on Brunswick Ave.

The site was chosen because of the Poor Alex's long history of supporting culture and independent artists. The three-storey building, purchased last year by restaurateur Graziano Marchese, is a "cultural icon" in Toronto, Gilbert said.

The "student-owned and operated worker co-op" will have no difficulty in finding documentary programming for evening screenings in its 100-seat theatre, which will be followed by audience discussion with various speakers, Gilbert said.

"If you go into Blockbuster or Rogers Video, you don't see a big documentary film section. But there are so many out there and people know about them. Major theatres just don't screen them," he added.

Recent offering include No Logo by filmmaker/activist Naomi Klein and the Oscar-nominated Jesus Camp, a documentary about an evangelical Christian summer camp directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing.

During the day, the space will be available for community groups.

"We want to make it more like a community centre than just a theatre. We may very well fold after a couple of months if we don't get the support. But we're banking on the community coming out to support us," Gilbert added.

The Poor Alex Theatre & Cabaret is not affiliated with Scot Gilbert and his Brunswick Theatre what so ever. The new location for The Poor Alex is 772 A Dundas St. W. If there is a need to stoop so low as using The Poor Alex name for their own gain then for sure it will come back to bite you on the butt. Scot Gilbert and or who is responsible for this write up shows sleazy marketing ethics and is by far hurting the Brunswick Theatre name by showing disrespect for the long lived Poor Alex. If the Brunswick Theatre is boycotted for misleading and false information being posted they have nobody to blame but themselves.

 

[Poor Alex]

Poor Alex

The Poor Alex Theatre & Cabaret is not affiliated with Scot Gilbert and his Brunswick Theatre what so ever. The Poor Alex moved from Brunswick Ave. back in Aug. 2005 a couple of years proir to Scot Gilbert opening his Brunswick Theatre. Note: If there is a need to attach your name to another, this is clearly misrepresentaion to public's awareness and it only leads the public to wonder just how special, unique or great your theatre really is.
The Brunswick theatre needs to stop hanging off coat tails and stand on their own two feet to gain their own recognition and establishment for their future to come.

 

[JasonParis]

I found this on the Brunswick Theatre's website...

Dear Brunswick Theatre Supporters:

We are writing to inform you that the Brunswick Theatre will be closing its
current location as of Friday, November 30th, 2007. This difficult
decision was made based on several factors, some of which include:

1) Very high overhead costs
2) Difficulties with postering in the winter, and a postering crackdown (we
just got a $1500 fine)
3) Lack of private rentals for December and beyond
4) Many membership cancellations over the last few months
5) The need for a vacation after one full year (since we started the lease) with no time off

We want to assure our supporters that we are not closing for good, but rather
temporarily closing our current location so that we can re-open in 2008 in a
better venue – hopefully one that is wheelchair accessible.

We plan to take the next 3 months and tour across southern Ontario with our
most popular films and screening them largely in university towns. This will be
far better for us financially than trying to beat the winter conditions here in
Toronto, and will serve as a means of generating the funds necessary to have a
new launch in 2008 – probably around the beginning of March.

All electronic PayPal membership subscriptions will be canceled, and anyone
with outstanding time on their membership cards can bring their cards in to be
exchanged for DVDs or books. We are offering a book or DVD of your choice for
any week, or part thereof, remaining on your membership (please bring your
actual membership card that shows the expiration date).

We are asking you folks to please remain on or sign up for our mailing list because
this is the list that we will use to keep in touch with the community about our
re-opening in 2008.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us via
email at brunswicktheatre@gmail.com

We want to thank you all for your support over the past year, the support of
our funders, and particularly all the Toronto-based groups who booked our space
and diversified our overall programming. We couldn’t have done it without you.

We look forward to working with you all again in a few months. In the meantime,
if anyone wants us to take our touring show to your school, community centre,
university or other venue, please don’t hesitate to contact us and make
arrangements.

In solidarity,

Scott and Bre

I've also changed the name of this thread to Brunswick Threatre to stop further confusion.