Westcott Theatre
The Westcott Theater which is a old cinema that has been renovated and reconstructed from past years, which now have been formed into a Upstate NY premiere live music venue. Major functions are Bar, Movies, and Performing Arts. The Westcott Theater host national, regional and local bands at the venue. Many well-known performers, as well as underground artists have came to perform in this venue. The type of genres that are performed at Westcott range from Hip Hop, Rock, Country, Pop, Heavy Metal , Techno, and others. The ticket prices varies for events, so you will need to find out about the prices by calling, email, internet, or fliers that are put around the Westcott Community and Syracuse area. This theater has become a very live and jive place now.
Early Development of Theater
Westcott Theater open since 1919 , known as the Westcott Cinema was a well known cinema for its previewing of independent and foreign films for all those cinema lovers out there who wanted something different from the regular mainstream Hollywood movies. Westcott Cinema opened in 1928 and was called the Harvard Theater, a singled screen movie theater . The audience varies from students, professors, locals, etc. Overall, Westcott is highly prized by its audiences because it is venue that offers quality entertainment at a low cost.
Closing Down of Theater
Westcott Theater was managed by Nat Tobin since 1993 till 0ctober 17, 2007 when it closed. Since 1919, Westcott Cinema was a building that been renamed several times as an independent movie house. Westcott Cinema was the home of the Syracuse International Film and Video Festival. In the Daily Orange a VPA professor from Syracuse University stated “The festival is a community event with venues all over the city. It will miss Westcott,” Shapiro said, “Losing it is a serious loss to the city and community. It’s a cultural icon within Westcott nation.”. The main reason for the closing of the cinema was its overall physical layout like the single screen , seating, and lavatories needed renovation. This theater was a historical landmark and many thought that this movie theater was very convenient to the SU community because of it close vicinity to SU campus. Even students stated, “It’s sad; there’s no where to see good indie films. I get sick of the stuff from Blockbuster and Regal; there’s no originality in it,” said Alex Piliouras, a sophomore television, radio and film major.
Reopening
Since then, the Westcott Theatre has reopened and now serves as a live music venue, where bands and artists both mainstream and underground come to perform.
Notable Performers:
▪ The Bob Marley Wailers
▪ Asher Roth
▪ Ra Ra Riot
▪ GhostFace Killah
Contact:
Phone: (315)299-8886
Location:
524 Westcott Street Syracuse,NY 13210
Hours: Varies upon Events
Email: thewestcotttheater@gmail.com
Twitter : @WestcottTheatre
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewestcotttheater