View of the Capri Theater at night. (Destin Davis)
A day at your local theater is an experience. With the bright lights, smell of popcorn around you, and presence of friends, family, or a significant other, you know you’re about to have a good time. The movies have remained a special treat in American history, and especially in Alabama, but what about the nonconventional theaters focused more on independent film?
“The theater has a local following that supports independent cinema and the types of films that the Capri offers. The actual filmmaking community is quite small, but with luck and good planning, the Capri’s future growth can help the maker community expand and thrive.” — Randall Williams
The Capri Theatre is a non-conventional movie theater located in the Cloverdale area of Montgomery. The theater was originally built in 1941; it was announced in February of that year and opened in July. It was remodeled in 2014 and 2015.
Compared to the other movie theaters located around Montgomery, the Capri Theater is the only suburban movie theater in town which focuses solely on independent films, older releases, and movies from foreign countries.
With the advent of modern theaters and interests shifting to more timely film genres, the number of people visiting the Capri has decreased in recent years, with around 40 people visiting per week.
Clover to Capri Theater
The theater was originally the Clover Theater, and changed its name to the Capri Theater in 1962. The theater’s marquee -the structure placed at the entrance of a theater-changed when its name changed.
Theater Director Martin McCaffery says the intention was always to use the building as a theater. It was built into a hill, built like two buildings put together, and there was once a restaurant on one side of the building. It was built as a segregated theater, with separate entrances for blacks and whites.
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-Destin Davis
More About This Article
This article was written as a creative project assignment for a journalism course, Media Writing II, at Auburn University at Montgomery in Spring 2018. More information and amazing articles can be found here!