Canadian Filmmakers Visit Ramova Theatre, Fundraiser This Weekend

By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 7, 2012 10:00PM

Uptown has its eponymous theater and a host of people trying to preserve and rehabilitate it. In Bridgeport, there's the Ramova Theatre and the efforts of Save the Ramova, which is smaller and doesn't get the attention of the Uptown, but is no less important in the eyes of preservationists.

Last weekend a Canadian filmmaking crew, Hemmings House Productions, working on a documentary on their own efforts to save an old movie house in New Brunswick visited Chicago and got a tour of the Ramova with Maureen Sullivan, who's been at the forefront of attempts to preserve the theater for a decade. They taped Sullivan for the documentary and shared war stories of their respective preservation efforts. The film crew spoke with CBC about their Chicago trip, which also involved a trip of some of Chicago's ignored gems with Forgotten Chicago's Jake Kaplan and a visit to Bernice's Tavern in Bridgeport for Lithuanian beer.

Bernice's (3238 S. Halsted St.), will also host a fundraiser for the Save the Ramova campaign this Saturday, Feb. 11 from 7-10 p.m. Ryan Brazel, a Navy Petty Officer and Canaryville native stationed in Kuwait, is running a marathon there, and has dedicated his run to the ongoing preservation efforts for the Ramova. The group Friends of South Halsted is hosting the fundraiser in honor of Brazel and to cheer him on as he runs his race nine time zones ahead of us. Admission is $30 at the door.