Music Box, Vanberg & DeWulf Team Up For Service Industry Matinee Series
By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on May 31, 2013 5:40PM
For workers in the restaurant and bar industry, daytime more often than not is their nighttime: The hours are spent taking care of personal business; socializing occurs in the middle of the day; and trying to catch a few winks may be impossible on a clear, sunny day. The downside to having weekdays off is these folks can often miss daytime weekend events because they’re catching up on their shuteye.
The Music Box Theatre has teamed up with beer importers Vanberg & DeWulf to launch a summer matinee series the third Tuesdays in June, July and August where restaurant industry employees and their friends will be able to enjoy a classic movie and have a couple beers in the process. Vanberg & DeWulf’s Wendy Littlefield told Chicagoist she hit upon the idea while talking with Music Box general manager Dave Jennings and Music Box Films president William Schopf.
“My idea wasn’t to pair beers from our portfolio with movies that are about wine or food,” Littlefield said. “We thought it would be a nice idea to have a place for people working in the industry to socialize in their off-hours. “ The Music Box’s matinee series is one of those events restaurant and bar workers would otherwise miss because of their schedules.
The Tuesday matinee series begins 2 p.m. June 18 with George Stevens’s 1936 film Swingtime. The beers being poured before the screening are Posca Rustica, a rare spiced gruit from Brasserie Dupont hailed by NPR’s Scott Simon as one of the best summer beers, and popular Belgian beer Hop Ruiter. Representatives from Binny’s will be on hand to pour the beers and explain them in more detail.
The June screening will be followed by spaghetti westerns in July and August. The Big Gundown screens July 16, with Witkap Stimulo a rare abbey single, St. Amand (a copper biere de garde from Brasserie Castelain), and Peche Mel from the makers of Scaldis the featured beers. August 20 sees the film Sabata as the featured film with Birreria Amiata’s Contessa Pale Ale, La Biere de Beloiel (a cross between a Saison and a Tripel), and Lambrucha, Vanberg & DeWulf’s limbic mixed with organic kombucha, as the selected beers.
“Hopefully, this will become a regular thing that extends beyond the summer, Littlefield said. Admission to each of the films in the Tuesday Matinee series is $7.50.