The Crandell Appoints Mirissa Neff Executive Director

(Chatham, NY—July 1, 2025)—Effective today, the Crandell Board of Directors is thrilled to announce the appointment of Mirissa Neff, former board member and VP of Programming, as the theater’s new Executive Director. Neff, a journalist and filmmaker with decades of experience telling human stories through the lens of art and culture, is deeply knowledgeable about all aspects of the film industry. She and her family have longstanding ties to Chatham, and her son is a student in the Chatham Central School District. She is strongly engaged in Chatham and the surrounding communities, and is committed to new and diverse programming. “The Crandell will be excellently positioned, under her leadership, to explore and present amazing film and non-film programming in our newly renovated theatre,” says President John Lillis. “We cannot believe our luck in having this wonderful opportunity to have Mirissa…

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The Crandell Appoints Sue Baer to the Board

(Chatham, NY—June 23, 2025)—Sue Baer fell in love with the movies at the Crandell in middle school. Now she’s bringing that passion for cinema full circle as a new Board Director of the Crandell Theatre Board of Directors. An accountant and lifelong Ghent resident, Baer was appointed by the Board at their May meeting. Led by Board President John T. Lillis, the Crandell Board is comprised of six Executive Committee Officers and nine Directors. Crandell Executive Director Brian Edward Leach is an ex officio member of the Board. Baer, a mother to two children who is retired from public accounting, now travels, rides horses, and teaches yoga on Main Street in Chatham at Roots Holistic Wellness. She will join the Crandell Board’s Finance Committee. “Sue’s considerable acumen as a CPA for 32 years and as a very successful local business…

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The Crandell’s Very First Movie Was a Foreign Film

by Larry Kardish We don’t yet know what film will reopen the restored Crandell in October but we do know what was the first to play in our beloved theater when it opened on December 25, 1926: Michael Strogoff, a mission-impossible, action-packed epic that at two-and-a-half hours is virtually as long as Tom Cruise’s latest adventure. Strogoff, a young soldier and the tsar’s “courier,” travels incognito across Russia and into far Siberia with a secret message to prevent an alliance between invading Mongol hordes and a traitorous provincial governor. Along the way he is mauled by a bear, fights many battles, is twice captured, tortured, perhaps blinded, and finds love. Based on Jules Verne’s immensely popular 1876 novel of the same name, it has been made into at least seven movies and two television series. But the version that inaugurated…

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Dish Giveaway Nights at the Movies

Few people today may remember a time when the Crandell offered more than free popcorn to its members. But Chatham native Mace Sawyer heard all the stories – and still has the sets of dinnerware her grandparents, Edith and George Rochester, received in the 1930s and 40s. “I remember my grandmother saying they got the dishes by going to the movies,” she says. She’s donating them to the Crandell for posterity. Mace and her late husband, Dwight, who owned Chatham Auto Body Repair for years (now owned by their son) always collected objects “that came from Chatham’s history. I’m giving these dishes back so everyone can see them. Otherwise they will be in a cabinet, where no one can. I want to keep the memories of Chatham alive.” Chathamite Dale Shannon recalls that Tony Quirino Sr. revived the Dish Giveaway…

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From Vacant Lot to a Modern Movie House

“Walter S. Crandell, of New York and Chatham, says that while it is not an absolute certainty he will erect a theater, store, and office building on the vacant lots on the property known as the Crandell homestead on Main Street, it is his intention to do so if possible.” So reported the Chatham Courier on March 19, 1925, the first official mention of the Crandell Theatre to come. The vacant lot was once the home of Crandell’s grandfather Solomon, one of Chatham’s earliest settlers who built the village’s first general store. Silent “photoplays” had been screening in Chatham since 1907. Cady’s Hall, the long brick building on Main Street that now houses Bimi’s and Pookstyle, showed these early moving picture shorts on emerging projectors. Beginning as an opera house and alternately known as Allen’s Theatre, Cady’s continued to host…

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John T. Lillis Elected President of Crandell Theatre, Inc.

(Chatham, NY — February 20, 2025) — The Crandell Theatre is pleased to announce the election of John T. Lillis (above) as President of Crandell Theatre, Inc. The board has also elected Ghent resident Amy Barr as a Director of the Crandell Theatre. “It is my honor to be given the opportunity to participate in leading the Crandell Theatre forward at this exciting moment in its history,” said Lillis. “The renovation project for the theater, which is nearing its 100th birthday, is proceeding on schedule for a Fall 2025 reopening. Plans are in process to expand the film and non-film programming to provide the community with important entertainment and educational experiences.” Reflecting on the past work of former president Lydia Kukoff, Lillis added, “I am grateful for the many years of strong Crandell leadership by my predecessor, Lydia Kukoff. Her…

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Chronogram: 6 Films & Movie Events to Catch in October at Hudson Valley Indie Theaters

By Mike Burdge The Halloween season has officially begun, filled with pumpkin carving, pumpkin pies, and, of course, movies with pumpkins in them! No holiday is more associated with movie watching than the spooky season, with new releases in theaters and old favorites being screened for lovers and newcomers alike. The month of October also brings with it a small wave of indie releases from earlier film festivals that have acquired the proper buzz, allowing them limited and wide releases to spread evenly throughout autumn into the winter awards season. Whether it’s a spooky good time or a comfy night out at the movies, there’s no shortage of options. Here are six movie screenings to keep on your radar throughout the month of October at Hudson Valley indie theaters. The Rocky Horror Picture Show There are few films as rewatchable as…

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Documentarian Ralph Arlyck and His Poignant Film I Like It Here Return to the Crandell on October 13 at 1 pm

(Chatham, NY—October 2, 2024)—Crandell LIVE! at the historic Crandell Theatre is pleased to welcome back documentary filmmaker Ralph Arlyck for an encore screening of his film I Like It Here, a poignant, poetic and deeply moving visual essay about the simple pleasures of being alive and the undeniability of aging as we pass through it. The screening on Sunday, October 13, is at 1 pm. Arlyck and Executive Director Brian Edward Leach will discuss the film and take audience questions following the screening. I Like It Here continues to screen on the festival circuit to much acclaim and recently opened in New York. Said The New York Times film critic Alissa Wilkinson in her review, “I Like It Here is loaded with gentle humor….[Arlyck] is doing precisely what great memoirists do: invite us into their stories as a way of…

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Crandell LIVE! Presents New Norman Mailer Documentary and Discussion with Daughter Danielle Mailer on September 28

(Chatham, NY—September 19, 2024)—The historic Crandell Theatre in Chatham, N.Y. is pleased to announce the upcoming screening on September 28 at 7 pm of How to Come Alive with Norman Mailer, a new documentary from Zeitgeist Films about the life and work of America’s most controversial and bestselling author of the 20th Century. Following the screening, his daughter Danielle Mailer and Executive Director Brian Edward Leach will take to the stage for a lively discussion and take questions from the audience. Purchase Tickets Mailer had a life that was certainly stranger than fiction. Propelled by his tremendous ego and contrarian spirit, Mailer’s ceaseless visibility in the public eye lasted six decades, during which he had six tumultuous marriages, nine beloved children, 11 bestsellers, three arrests, and two Pulitzer Prizes. Prophet, hedonist, violent criminal, literary outlaw, and social provocateur, Mailer’s ideas…

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Crandell Theatre Names Brian Edward Leach Executive Director

(Chatham, NY, August 29, 2024) — After an extensive search process, Brian Edward Leach has been named Executive Director of the Crandell Theatre in Chatham, New York. On Thursday, September 12, from 5 – 7 pm, Leach will be welcomed by the community at the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Business After Hours reception hosted by the Crandell. The event is free and open to the public. Attendees will enjoy light refreshments and learn more about the Crandell’s upcoming renovation. Reservations are recommended and can be made by visiting https://crandelltheatre.org/film/crandell-open-house-reception/ or calling 518-392-3445. Leach has extensive background in arts administration, programming, fundraising, and marketing for arts organizations. He was previously Managing Director of the Colonial Theatre in Westerly, Rhode Island, and Marketing Director of PICT Classic Theatre and Pittsburgh Festival Opera. Earlier, he served as Curator of the art…

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