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Beginning next week, the Tivoli’s Jerry Harrington will be bringing the best of Europe’s ballet companies and opera houses to his Westport art house. On December 7, the movie theatre will launch what is known as “opera in cinema” and “ballet in cinema,” showing live broadcasts from world-renowned stages such as Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet, the Teatro alla Scala Opera House in Milan, and the Royal Ballet and Opera Company in London. This newest endeavor has required a big investment by Harrington, who has already been making changes at the Tivoli.

In December of 1992, Harrington moved into the Manor Square Theater and renamed it the Tivoli. Nineteen years later, he is still presenting a wide array of foreign and independent films to art-house enthusiasts. However, times are changing in the film industry with the advent of high-definition (HD) technology. Combined with his own shift in tastes to include other forms of artistic expression, Harrington in May started presenting HD films of plays performed at London’s National Theatre.

Harrington said showcasing the National Theatre—giving people a chance to see a live performance without having to travel to London—was something he had always wanted to do. Still, it took a while for him to be sure it would be worth his time and to finally spend the money required to make necessary changes, including the installation of a new HD projector in the Tivoli’s largest auditorium. Thus far, he said his experiment has been “pretty successful” and he plans on making the broadcasts of National Theatre plays a permanent fixture.

Harrington’s foray into opera and ballet has required him to bring in satellite equipment as well, which is just part of several, long-term renovations at the Tivoli. “We started the process with redoing the restrooms, nothing very exciting,” he said. “We’re going to renovate the box office and redo the seats in the big auditorium. We pay as we go so we’re picking and choosing things that really need to be done and are affordable.”

The Tivoli is also working with KCP&L to replace all of the lobby’s light fixtures with LED lights and to put them on timers. Harrington said KCP&L will help them pay for it all, since the improvements will reduce their energy use. Additionally, he plans to upgrade the building’s air-conditioning and heating units. “They’re not very sexy projects, but they’re things that need to be done for the long haul.”

Despite his love for 35mm film, Harrington is about ready to install another digital projector in one of his auditoriums. “Digital cinema is what’s coming, whether we like it or not,” he said. “I don’t really like it, but I have to change, or I have to get out of the business.”

Harrington worries about costs in the long run when it comes to digital projectors: “How long are these projectors going to be workable? Nobody knows that. It’s supposed to be 10 years, but most computer stuff is only viable for five years at best. And so are we going to be constantly spending money to upgrade the software and the equipment? Another thing is that if I buy something today, will five years or three years from now will it be a lot cheaper? If I had waited could I have bought it for half of what I paid for it now?”

In addition to his concerns about keeping up with changes in projection, Harrington believes the predominantly older age range of art-house customers, typically around 50, will eventually become a problem. “Not now, but I’ve seen a lot of my customers die off,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for thirty years so I get to know people. I know when they’re not around anymore, and usually it’s because they’re not living. What’s going to happen ten years from now? I’m hoping that people who are 25 to 35 now will, when they hit 45 to 50, say, ‘I want to go the theater or an art house movie.’”

Harrington recalled that while he did occasionally attend theater when he was 20, he didn’t have any inclination to go to operas or symphonies. He said he now goes all the time because his tastes changed as he got older, hence his inclusion of opera and ballet at the Tivoli.

While he may be diversifying what the Tivoli has to offer, Harrington still loves the movie experience, even if he doesn’t see as many as he once did. He said he loves when customers come up to him and thank him for doing what he does, and added how great his employees have been over the years. “I can’t imagine doing anything else,” he said. “I went to film school to make movies, but really I was born to show them, not to make them.”

Mozart’s Don Giovanni by La Scala Opera can be seen live at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, December 7, and in a recorded version at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 11. This will be followed by a presentation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 27. For ballet lovers, the Tivoli will present Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty by the Bolshoi Ballet at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 28 and 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 29. Collaborators, a new play by John Hodge at London’s National Theatre, will be broadcast at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 5 and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 8. Tickets for all of these showings are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors/students, and $10 for UMKC students with an ID. All seating is general admission.

For more information, visit www.tivolikc.com, or call 913-383-7756.

By Michael D. Smith

Indie Film Editor

Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.

In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.

Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.