Images Cinema Reopens After Major Renovation with New Second Screen and Events All Over Town

Images Cinema is back. Following a historic renovation and seven months of reduced programming while construction transformed its Spring Street home, the beloved Williamstown nonprofit theater opens its summer season with a programming slate that spans Christopher Nolan and The Wicker Man, Stephen Sondheim and Steven Spielberg, outdoor classics under the stars and National Theatre Live on the big screen.

The reopening celebration, called "First Look," runs Friday, May 22 through Thursday, June 4, with all screenings free for members and $5 for non-members. Regular programming resumes Friday, June 5, now with the added capacity of a second screen.

"We're so excited to welcome audiences back for what should be a banner summer at Images," says Images Executive Director Dan Hudson. "I love the mix of big new movies, classic favorites, and art house fare coming your way. The community stepped up in a big way to support renovations and now we all get to reap the fruits of our labor, juicy cinematic fruits!"

A Century in the Making

In November 1916, Hiram C. Walden converted a former Williams College fraternity house into a movie theater, promising to screen only "high class" fare with live musical accompaniment. Since its opening, the theater has had many owners and a few name changes: originally known as the Walden Theater, it was also known as the College Cinema and the Nickelodeon before settling on Images Cinema in 1977. In 1989, actor Christopher Reeve, who as a teenager had been an apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, led an effort to support Images after moving to Williamstown to star in a play following the completion of Superman II. Images was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1998, dedicated to celebrating film as an art form.

Images is the sixth-oldest operating movie theater in all of New England and among cultural institutions in the Berkshires only the Berkshire Museum and Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center are older continuously operating cultural institutions in the area. It also holds a historic designation from the Williamstown Historical Commission.

The Renovation

Images recently completed its “Look Forward” capital renovation campaign. The project split the 150-seat theater into two, fitted with new seats and audio and technical upgrades. Images raised $2.5 million in two years to fund the project.

The fundraising was a community-wide effort. About $1.6 million came from individuals, with additional support of $200,000 from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, $200,000 from Williams College, a $250,000 challenge match from an anonymous donor, $33,000 in Community Preservation Act funds, and a grant from the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.

The engineering challenges were considerable. To make both theaters acoustically sound, designers employed a box-in-a-box design: the smaller theater is an acoustically isolated box, with floors on rubber pads, ceilings hanging from springs, and walls doubled. Audio/visual installation was designed and completed by Boston Light & Sound, and the theater plans were designed by Pittsfield's Hill Engineers in collaboration with theater consultants Charcoal Blue.

The result is a thoroughly transformed facility. The renovated cinema includes a 70-seat main theater, an 18-seat second theater, and a 15-seat lounge, all fully ADA accessible with enhanced audio technology including Auracast Bluetooth support for hearing aids. The main screen features Dolby Atmos immersive sound and 4K laser projection; the second screen has 7.1 surround sound and 2K laser projection. Hudson has said that hearing certain films in Atmos is like experiencing them for the first time.

During construction, Images kept its presence alive on Spring Street through lounge screenings and pop-up events throughout the Northern Berkshire region, the same community-minded instinct now driving its ambitious summer return.

What's On

The summer's first-run lineup includes Boots Riley's I Love Boosters opening June 5, Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day opening June 12, Toy Story 5 opening June 19, and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey opening July 17.

Running through June and July, "Nightmare on Spring Street" brings a series of modern and classic folk horror films to the newly renovated screens, including The Wicker Man (1973), Midsommar (2019), A Field in England (2013), and The Witch (2015), all screening at 9:30pm on Friday and Saturday nights.

"Summer of Sondheim" is a new retrospective series honoring Williams College alum and musical theater legend Stephen Sondheim, hosted at the Williams College '62 Center on Wednesday evenings beginning June 24. The series runs through July 22 and includes West Side Story (1961), Company (1970), Sweeney Todd (2007), Merrily We Roll Along, and Into the Woods (2014).

"Images Under the Stars," the theater's popular outdoor screening series, returns with four "MacGuffin chase" classics at locations throughout the community. The Goonies screens July 13 at the Airport Rooms at TOURISTS in North Adams. Bringing Up Baby comes to Sand Springs Pool on July 20. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade screens at Sweetwood of Williamstown on July 27. And North by Northwest closes the series August 1 on the Williams College President's Lawn. All screenings begin at dusk.

National Theatre Live returns with three productions: Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" on July 9 and 11, "The Playboy of the Western World" on July 23 and 25, and "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" on August 6 and 8.

The member-curated "Wet Hot Images Summer" series returns August 14 through 20, with a full lineup to be announced.

A New Chapter

Along with expanded programming, Images is updating its general admission ticket prices for the first time in more than a decade. Members will save $5 off general admission. The theater is continuing its access-focused programs, including Minimum Priced Mondays at $8, $8 child tickets for all shows, Two-for-$12 Tuesdays for members, and Open Caption Days on Wednesdays. The bar will now be open Tuesday through Saturday.

Sundays and Mondays in the Cinema Lounge will serve as Community Days, open for local clubs, workshops, crafting circles, and meetups, a nod to the "third place" philosophy that has guided Images' vision for this renovation from the start.

Tickets for First Look screenings are on sale now at imagescinema.org.