West Chester Theater Group Debuts New Film

The following is a press release from the Uptown! Entertainment Allaince.

The Uptown! Entertainment Alliance held a pre-release screening of “Entertainment Needs a Home,” its new short film, to a sold-out audience at the Chester County Historical Society on April 14th.  With final production completed, the film is now available for viewing on the Alliance’s website at uptownwc.org. It will also be available via YouTube and Vimeo.

The film is a production of Springhouse Films of West Chester with Erik Freeland as Director, Rick Davis as Director of Photography and Kate LeSage as Producer working with Uptown! Entertainment Alliance’s Danielle Chmelewski. Springhouse has created films for such local organizations as Lankenau Hospital and Westtown School and nationally for cable channels including Showtime and MTV.

In keeping with the Alliance’s mission of establishing a theatre in West Chester, “Entertainment Needs a Home” dramatizes the lack of a permanent space for the performing arts in the historic cultural center of the town. In the film, artists from ballerinas and actors, to jugglers and musicians perform in elevators, on garage rooftops, in the streets, in storefront windows and in doorways, while the soundtrack plays “Two Tickets to Paradise.”

After the screening of the film, Uptown! Entertainment Alliance President Linda Foster said, “This is just one example of how when a group of folks who feel passionate about a cause come together, they can really make things happen.”

According to Ms. Foster, the Alliance now “has its eye on” a few historic properties in West Chester which should be available soon. These include the U.S. Post Office on Gay Street, which has been listed for sale (though with no price established), the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory on High Street, which will soon be decommissioned by the Commonwealth, and the old Chester County Courthouse, a vacant property whose disposition will be determined by the three county commissioners.

The Alliance’s immediate goal is to raise at least $100,000 to help acquire such a historic property. The long-term goal is to develop that property as a permanent theater.

Ms. Foster said, “This is a huge undertaking and won’t happen by the efforts of a few, but the combined efforts of many. We invite you to do your part. We invite you to join the cause!”

The cast of the film includes ballerina Brittany Flaherty-Ryan, juggler Randy Lyons, the Chester County Pops Orchestra, actor Anita Broady, and dancers Danielle Chmelewski and Josh Taylor.