Some articles I've written profiling artists, live events, and venues

1. ALMANAC WEEKLY
ALMANAC WEEKLY
ALMANAC WEEKLY
A miscellany of Hudson Valley art, entertainment and adventure | Calendar & Classifieds | Issue 37 | Sept. 12 - 19
Events Drum Boogie and British Car festivals in Woodstock Music American Idol finalist Crystal Bowersox at Club Helsinki
| Six-string master Frank Vignola in New Paltz | Bard fetes composer Joan Tower | Jam’s goofball prince Keller Williams
Movie Simon Pegg battles big-box pubs in The World’s End Taste Hudson Valley Food & Wine Festival in Rhinebeck | Monroe’s
wedge of cheese history | Reviving hop farming in Dutchess County Kids’ Almanac Grandparents’ Day | Parents’ Night Out
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R I D E
O F F S I N G I N G
E m m y l o u H a r r i s & R o d n e y C r o w e l l c o n c e r t
t o p s o f f h i t s s e a s o n i n s a u g e r t i e s
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2. ALMANAC WEEKLY
ALMANAC WEEKLY
ALMANAC WEEKLY
2 September 12, 2013
DECLARE YOUR
INDEPENDENCE
Appreciating the Hudson Valley’s
rich alternative cinema-scape
Photographs
Clockwise from the top left:
The old façade is currently being renovated at the Rosendale Theatre (photo
by Lauren Thomas); Upstate Films’ original location in Rhinebeck; Inside the
Rosendale Theatre (photo by Dion Ogust); Steve Leiber at Upstate Films on
Tinker Street in Woodstock (photo by Dion Ogust).
T
his summer, the box office
was marked by a string of se-
quels, comic book adaptations
and sequels to comic book
adaptations. Today these are the movies
that command the highest grosses, the
most marketing and the largest theaters;
but where do you go around here if you
want something different? Fortunately,
for audiences weary of Spandex and ex-
plosions, there are Upstate Films with
locations in Rhinebeck and Woodstock,
the Rosendale Theatre and the Downing
Film Center in Newburgh.
“We have what I like to call applause
movies, where people will clap at the
end,” said Brian Burke, director and
co-founder of the Downing Film Cen-
ter. “That always makes me feel good.”
Located along the Newburgh water-
front, the Downing Film Center is nestled
in the lower level of what was once a fur-
niture warehouse. The theater seats about
60 people. Movie posters and photographs
adorn the walls, and Burke will usually sell
tickets while his wife Sarah manages the
refreshment stand.
How did the Downing come into be-
ing? “Basically, my son Kevin forced me
into it,” said Burke. A lifelong movie buff,
Burke was a high school French teacher,
assistant principal and principal. After
retiring, he and his family started the
Downing in 2006. Dedicated to showing
independent, foreign and classic movies,
the not-for-profit Downing aims to screen
“more quality films, often ones that have
a lower budget,” said Burke. The audi-
ence for the films that he shows is mostly
middle-aged, Burke added, whereas a lot
of the multiplex box office earnings come
from young men.
The people who come to indie the-
aters relate to the moviehouse as well
as to the movies. “We have a very loyal
audience,” said Ann Citron, manag-
ing director of the Rosendale Theatre
Collective. The word “loyal” may be
an understatement. The Theatre first
opened its doors in 1949 and was run
by the Cacchio family for its first six
decades. When the Cacchios decided
to sell, Citron and other local residents
organized the Rosendale Theatre Col-
lective, and purchased the Theatre in
2010.
“We didn’t want
it to go outside of
the community,”
Citron said. “A
lot of people love
this Theatre, and
they came out for
meetings and fun-
draisers, and we
did it!”
The typical art-
house fare of indie
movies and Oscar
bait is supple-
mented at the Rosendale Theatre with
second-run mainstream blockbusters and
live theater. “We try to educate ourselves
about what our audience likes, and mix it
up between Hollywood and indie,” Citron
said.
For Citron, the joy of the theater expe-
rience goes beyond the programming. “I
just love to see audiences enjoying them-
selves, and to see communities and people
investing themselves in a place all togeth-
er,” she said. “I like working communally
to make something happen.”
Upstate Films in Rhinebeck was
founded as an alternative to more
mainstream theaters in 1972,
when The Godfather was the highest-
grossing film of the year. Steve Leiber,
one of the original founders along
with his business partner and wife
DeDe Leiber, has been with Upstate
Films as it established itself in Rhine-
beck and branched out to a second
venue in the former Tinker Street
Cinema in Woodstock in 2010. After
41 years in the
business, Leiber
described his
job as “watching
a lot of movies.
When we came
to Rhinebeck,
the idea was that
it’s a big world
out there and
people should be
able to see it.”
Upstate Film’s
mission involves
balancing goals.
“We’re attempting to put together pro-
gramming that’s both entertaining but
challenging, a little provocative, and shed
some light on the world we live in,” said
Leiber.
The emphasis on diversity has become
even more relevant in recent years as the
major studios have doubled down on a
production slate of tentpole sequels and
remakes. “They’re making movies that
they can sell easily,” Leiber said. “Either
they’re from a comic book or it’s the se-
quel of a sequel of a sequel because it’s
branded, it’s easy to sell.”
Upstate Films relies on the same audi-
ence profile as the Downing Film Center
and the Rosendale Theatre. “Our audience
“Film is an art that
is meant to be seen
in a public setting.
It’s not supposed to
be seen on your phone.
It’s a shared experience”

3. ALMANAC WEEKLY
ALMANAC WEEKLY
ALMANAC WEEKLY 3
September 12, 2013
is comprised of people who, when they
were young, developed a habit of going
to the movie theaters,” he said, “and that
means they’re old.”
Now that there are so many differ-
ent ways to watch a movie, whether on
your phone, your computer or video on
demand, will the community spirit that
keeps these small theaters afloat become
a victim of the generation gap? Leiber be-
lieves that it won’t. “People like the idea
of having a movie theater in their town,”
he said. “Film is an art that is meant to be
seen in a public setting. It’s not supposed
to be seen on your phone. It’s a shared
experience.”
– David King
Downing Film Center, 19 Front Street,
Newburgh; tickets on sale 30-40 minutes
before showtimes, $8.50 general admis-
sion, www.downingfilmcenter.com, (845)
561-3686.
Rosendale Theater, 408 Main Street
Rosendale; full calendar & ticket prices
at www.rosendaletheatre.org, (845) 658-
8989.
Upstate Films, $8.50 general admission,
6415 Montgomery Street, Rhinebeck,
(866) 345-6688; 132 Tinker Street,
Woodstock, (845) 679-6608.
MOVIES
Screened out
Changeover to digital projection
stresses family-owned drive-in cinemas
I
t’s not the night that Charles Smith was hoping for. The Hyde Park Drive-
In, on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend – a late-summer drive-in cash-cow
holiday – is only playing host only to a handful of cars, parked, advantageous-
ly, in a parabola in front of the dual snack-bar-and-projector building. Poten-
tial patrons can’t be blamed for not showing up; it’s 80 degrees and loathsomely
muggy, and errant lightning is blowing up the sky from Poughkeepsie to Hudson.
Smith, manager of the Hyde Park Drive-In, is a happy guy, with the chirpy voice of
a Minor League baseball announcer and a real interest in the work that he does,
but he seems a little off. He knows that, because of some big and absolutely nec-
essary purchases, the Hyde Park Drive-In needs every red cent that it can get its
hands on.
Smith has been in the cinema business for decades, working as a projectionist
and manager at various cineplexes before winding up at the Hyde Park Drive-In,
under the employ of Barry Horowitz. He has worked at the Drive-In for 15 years,
and has operated all his life as a projectionist: a trade that he said he learned from
his uncle, who himself learned it from Smith’s grandfather. As a result he knows the
ins and outs of 35mm film reels, which have been the industry standard for close to
a century.
But by the end of this year, 35mm will be out the window. Film companies have
issued an edict: By the end of 2013, all films will be released in digital format only,
and will require digital projectors. The standard is being restandardized.
“It’s a pros-and-cons game,” said Smith of the new digital edict. “I always say, ‘If it
ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ The film will always, always look good on screen – but when
it comes down to it, it’s all about the money.”
Money for the film companies, that is. It’s cheaper to send out digital copies of
the film than to produce thousands of film reels, and the digital films themselves,
which require a tightly allotted password to run, are less likely to be bootlegged by
devious cinema-workers. Smith thinks that that’s kind of silly.
“They claim that the digital conversion has a lot to do with piracy. It is a lot differ-
ent, don’t get me wrong – the picture is crisper, it’s sharper – but as far as the piracy
goes, piracy mostly happens when people are taking video of the film off the screen,”
he said. “And I can tell you, from my own private investigation, that the film piracy
doesn’t start here; it doesn’t start that much in our own country. It starts in China,
it starts in Russia.”
The conversion, though, isn’t just a nuisance or a shot in the gut for 35mm aficio-
nados. For small cinemas and drive-ins everywhere, it could very well be the death
knell.
Barry Horowitz has been running the Drive-In, he said, for 50 years, and
is a co-owner of the Hyde Park-Drive In as well as the Overlook Drive-In. The
Hyde Park Drive-In was originally his wife’s father’s business, started in 1949.
He’s completely on board with the digital upgrade. “I think the projectors are great,
so long as we get the business to pay for them,” said Horowitz. “They’re a hundred
percent better than it was before with 35mm. The picture’s better, the sound quality
is higher. We threw our old projectors into the dump.” He is, however, in tune with
the harsh economic reality of such upgrades, and the fact that there really isn’t much
a choice in the matter. “You buy,” said Horowitz of the projectors, “or you’re out of
business.”
And it’s not an easy buy to make. Horowitz said that each projector cost about
$80,000 to acquire and install. A financial hit like that has the potential to – and
most likely will – force a swath of small family-owned drive-ins to close up shop.
It’s an unfair, unwelcome situation for the remaining drive-ins, of which there are
now fewer than 400 in the US. But the reality is simple: Business has no time for
nostalgia.
It won’t just be drive-ins affected by the move, either. While regular cinemas tend
to be on more stable financial ground than drive-in theaters, because they can stay
open year-round and can show a variety of movies instead of a weekly rotation of
double features, they will be replacing anywhere from four to dozens of cameras.
Smaller theaters that don’t have the cash for a fleet of new projectors will be caught
up in the digital storm, too.
As it turns out, 2013 stands to be a cataclysmic year for the cinema business. “It’s
going to affect theaters and drive-ins everywhere,” said Horowitz.
But the buy has been made, the films have been rolling and the specter of the costly
update is behind the Hyde Park Drive-In. The focus, once again, is on providing an
enjoyable experience for those who don’t want to be cooped up in a dark theater.
Friends Robert Reinhardt, 11, and Chris Ieva, 11, are two of those peo-
ple. It’s too dark to see the football that they’re chucking back and forth, but
they’re playing catch anyway – at least trying to, just like they have for the
past half-hour. “I come here all the time, I love it here,” said Reinhardt. “You
can run around and do stuff.” He notes excitedly that he even got poison ivy
from playing too close to the screen once.
It’s Ieva’s first time. “It’s really cool. I’m excited,” he said.
Smith may not be in love with the new projectors, but he loves everything else about
the experience. He said that it’s the best place to take the family, to take friends, to
take a date for the evening; that the air is fresh, the night is cool, the food is fried and
delicious and that it, frankly, is the best deal in town at two movies for $9. “Really,
it’s the only way to watch a movie,” Smith said.
– Quinn O’Callaghan
Hyde Park Drive-In, 4114 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park; all week, 8 p.m., $9/
adults, $5/kids 6-11, free/kids 5-; http://hydeparkdrivein.com.
Charles Smith operating the new projector at the Hyde Park Drive-In
QUINN O’CALLAGHAN | ALMANAC WEEKLY

4. 93
7/14 CHRONOGRAM FORECAST
From Hippies to Hipsters
MUSIC HUDSON PROJECT
Boasting 85 acts, including big-name headliners like Kendrick Lamar, The Flaming
Lips, Bassnectar, and Modest Mouse, four traditional stages, one interactive stage, DJ
stages, and glamping (luxury camping), the new festival from the production company
MCP Presents aims to be more than just three days of music. Jonathan Fordin, the
president and COO of MCP, explains that his company’s goal was focused more on
“creating an environment—a getaway from the world.” Attendees will be able to take
advantage of the event’s “experience area,” which will feature a wide variety of activities,
including carnival rides, yoga, tai-chi and kung-fu lessons, a beer garden stocked with
local breweries, barbecue zones, art installations from local artists, and a live broadcast
of the last two matches of the World Cup.
Of course, any music festival in the region, no matter how big it is, will always be
playing second fiddle in the public consciousness to the now 45-year-old Woodstock
Festival. The Hudson Project seems to have accepted this legacy; it will take place at
Winston Farm in Saugerties, the site of Woodstock '94. Michael Lang, who organized
the original Woodstock festival and its follow-up, represents the landowners. When MCP
first approached him about holding a festival on the property, Lang was eager to support
the project, explaining that he had “always wanted to bring music back there.” Lang
says that after seeing the best and worst of the festival scene, he’s learned to “go with
people who have experience,” which MCP certainly does, organizing several festivals
each year, including ones in Dallas and New Orleans.
Still, the Woodstock legacy presented unexpected challenges to MCP. The infamous
overcrowding and inadequate utilities of the festival and its '94 follow-up had left many
locals unusually skeptical of an event of this size, Fordin admits, adding that it had “made
planning a whole lot harder that it probably should have been.” Undeterred, MCP went
ahead, and as a result, the Hudson Project has the “most coordination of any music
festival” they’ve done. Security will be coordinating with local and state police to ensure
a safe environment. Additionally, 400 toilets and 100 showers will be installed on site,
along with medical tents and over 50 water stations to supply festival-goers with free
drinking water. “Safety is our number one concern,” Fordin says, adding, “If the town
ran out of food you could come to our festival and live for a week.”
Such coordination does emphasize how much things have changed since 1969,
where attendees scrawled notes on paper plates and stuck them to trees in an attempt
to contact one another. The new festival will be a more high-tech affair (its FAQ page
reassures customers that there will be phone charging stations throughout the site).
The music has changed, as well. While some bands from the Hudson Project lineup
will bring a familiar-but-updated sound of '60s-inspired rock (The Flaming Lips.
Dr. Dog), many of the artists offer experimental, decidedly contemporary sounds,
like Kendrick Lamar’s smooth confessional hip-hop and Four Tet’s dreamy folk-
electronica. Lang acknowledges that there have been big changes in the festival
scene. Even with the additional bells and whistles, MCP is only expecting about
20,000 campers and a few thousand more from offsite during the day, a far cry
from the 400,000 at the original Woodstock. Still, even if attendance is lower and
the experience isn’t as turbulent, there’s one thing that will remain the same. “We
book what we’re passionate about,” Fordin says, and that’s something that hasn’t
changed since Lang’s day.
The Hudson Project festival runs from July 11 to July 13 at Winston Farm in Saugerties.
Hudsonmusicproject.com.
—David King
capption tk
Kendrick Lamar headlines the Hudson Project in Saugerties July 11-13.

5. 8 CHRONOGRAM 7/14
It would technically be an exaggeration to say that Elisa Pritzker has been an artist all her
life, but not by much. Born in Argentina, she was eight-years old when she discovered
her passion. Soon her parents arranged to send her to the Superior School ofVisualArts,
a special art school at the local university. “They were kid courses, but in the environ-
ment of college,” Pritzker says. She recalls being surrounded by college-age art students
and their work, and “really wanting to grow up” so she could go to art school.
Today, Pritzker lives in the Hudson Valley, where she resides and works in a dis-
tinctive Antoni Gaudí-inspired home in Highland. She works mostly in three mediums:
sculpture, mixed-media photography, and installation.The different media allow her to
experiment with new ideas to keep her engaged. “I’ve been doing art for 40 years,” she
explains. Pritzker strives to create what she calls an openness in her artwork. “I want
people to come into my world,” she says, often drawing inspiration from the pristine
landscapes of the HudsonValley.
Like many artists, Pritzker’s creative process is defined more by inspiration than by
method.“It all happens organically—I let the environment talk to me,” she says, adding,
“My mind and my heart are already open to discovering objects in an artistic way.” Pritz-
ker takes inspiration from an eclectic group of artists, including Louise Bourgeois, Frida
Kahlo, and Hieronymus Bosch. She’s drawn to them not only for their imagery, but also
for their passion for their art. Similarly, in her own work, beauty isn’t her main concern.
“Nature is already beautiful,” Pritzker explains. “I try to put my mark on it.”That mark
often comes in the form of a zipper, usually attached to natural objects as in DoubleVision,
which she says is about “opening up into the uncanny mystery of the natural world.”
“It’s all about nature,” Pritzker says. “About going beyond what you see.”The zipper
is a recurring motif in her work, evoking a sense of discovery. She explains that zippers
encourage you to “go further than what you are seeing.”The open zipper suggests that
there’s more going on than you can see at first glance, and, in considering what’s under-
neath, you learn to think about nature in a different way. Pritzker hopes her art will en-
courage people to “protect and be a bigger part of nature.”“Art always has a secret part,”
Pritzker continues.“There’s mystery in nature.” It’s that mystery that Pritzker hopes her
audience will ponder, and it’s a mystery that even she doesn’t fully understand. “I don’t
have all the words to explain it,” she admits. “If I understood, I wouldn’t work, I would
talk about it.”
Pritzker’s work will be presented in the group exhibit “18 Ways of Looking at
a Tree,” at Vassar College’s Palmer Gallery, until September 4. (845) 437-5370;
Palmergallery.vassar.edu.
—David King
ON THE COVER
DoubleVision
Elisa Pritzker | mixed-media photography on cotton paper | 20”x 20”| 2014
CHRONOGRAM.COM
WATCH a video interview with artist Elisa Pritzker by Stephen Blauweiss.
the richard b. fisher center
for the performing arts at bard college
july 3 – august 16
a world of delight
cabaret u live music u dinner u dancing
hosted by justin vivian bond
BARDSUMMERSCAPE 2014
july 3
justin Vivian Bond:
Cool Babysitter
july 4
Doveman:The Burgundy Stain
Sessions’ Tribute to Lou Reed
july 5
An Evening with Molly Ringwald
Tickets $30–$50
july 11
Martha Wainwright
july 12
Bridget Everett: Rock Bottom
july 18 and 19
Weimar New York
july 25 and 26
Bindlestiff Family Cirkus
august 1
Meow Meow
august 2
The Joey Arias Experience
august 8
The Hot Sardines
august 9
Cabaret Comedy Double Bill
august 15
Amanda Palmer
august 16
Justin Vivian Bond: The Drift
june 27 – august 16
After Hours with
Justin and Friends
july 10 and 17
Late Night Local
july 31 – august 14
Midsummer Dancing
july 26 and 27
Kinder Spiegel
For a complete list of events:
845-758-7900 | fishercenter.bard.edu
Photo: Cory Weaver
Bard College
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY