If you grew up in or around Chatham, you likely have fond memories of the Crandell Theatre. With its iconic marquee, thick curtains, and vintage soda machine that shot out water and syrup separately, the Crandell has been captivating movie-goers of all ages for the last century. And now, with a new executive director, a multi-million-dollar makeover, and a centennial celebration on the horizon, the Jewel of Main Street is poised to delight moviegoers—and arts patrons—for the next 100 years.
Designed in the Spanish Renaissance style by Glens Falls architect Louis L. Wetmore, the Crandell Theatre was the brainchild of Chatham native and civic leader Walter S. Crandell. It opened on Christmas Day of 1926 with a screening of the silent film Michael Strogoff; tickets were a whopping 30 cents. Three years later, equipment was added so “talkies” could be screened, and operations continued under various owners, including longtime operator Dayton LaPointe and later Anthony Quirino, a Chatham native whose first job was rewinding film reels at the Crandell in 1932 when he was 9 years old. After serving in WWII, Quirino returned to Chatham to be the theater’s projectionist, eventually purchasing the business in 1960. In 1985, his son, Anthony Quirino Jr., purchased the theater from his parents and ran it until his death in 2010.
For a time, the future of the theater was in limbo, but a community-led effort raised $600,000 to save the building. Six months later, the Crandell reopened as a 501(c)(3) theater; Quirino Sr., who outlived his son, cut the ribbon at the grand reopening. In 2017, the year Quirino Sr. died, the Crandell Theatre was added to the State and National Register of Historic Places.
In November 2024, two years before its centennial, the theater closed to the public for some long-overdue cosmetic and structural improvements. Thanks to a successful $4.2 million capital campaign championed by actor Brian Cox, who plays Logan Roy on the acclaimed HBO series Succession and appeared at the Chatham theater for an on-stage Q&A in 2023, the Crandell reopened this past October to much fanfare.
“It’s a thrilling time for the Crandell and for the village of Chatham as a whole to get its crown jewel back,” says Mirissa Neff, the theater’s executive director. The centerpiece of the renovation is a brand-new, retractable screen, which will allow the auditorium to serve as more of a multi-purpose space. “Movies and fostering a love for film will always be central to our mission,” Neff says. “But now we can do more.”
Neff’s involvement with the historic theater began shortly after she moved to Chatham in 2020. She and her partner were raising their then-3-year-old son, and Neff proposed the idea of a children’s film program to the Crandell’s then-director, Annie Brody. That suggestion led to “Kid Flicks,” a program that screens children’s movies on the fourth Saturday of the month from January–April. The $5 admission includes the movie as well as educational activities related to the film’s theme.
“I fell in love with the Crandell and wanted to get involved in a meaningful way and build community,” says Neff, who was eventually invited to be on the theater’s board of directors. She went on to become vice president of programming, and on July 1 of this year, was named the organization’s executive director.
At its October 15 grand reopening ribbon-cutting, the Crandell debuted not only its new retractable screen, but new seats, remodeled and expanded bathrooms, an improved sound system, a larger lobby space, and a new café, too. Two days later, FilmColumbia kicked off its 25th anniversary festival—10 days of national and international films, animated features, documentaries, and short films. Now, films are screened at the Crandell five days a week, including on Community Wednesdays, when members of the Chatham community can get in for just $6. This winter, Crandell Live!, a popular Q&A series featuring all sorts of luminaries, from actors and filmmakers to writers, will return.
But Neff is most excited about the theater’s expanded menu of programs and performances, including a collaboration with PS21 Center for Contemporary Performance called “The Dark” that celebrates winter in innovative ways, both indoors and out. “To be able to offer all kinds of programming—literary, theatrical, and educational—is a dream,” she says.
All this is happening at a time when Chatham’s larger arts scene is seeing a collective rise in the tide. The Shaker Museum, which itself is celebrating 75 years, is building a new permanent location on Austerlitz Street that will open in 2028 and house the country’s most comprehensive collection of Shaker culture and archives. And in 2026, Art Omi, the arts center in nearby Ghent, is planning to open Art Omi Pavilions @ Chatham, a 190-acre hilltop site that will display stand-alone exhibitions of distinguished artists and collectors in 18 individual pavilions. Add in PS21, which also recently hired a new executive director, and the newly renovated Crandell, and Chatham is becoming a bona fide arts destination.
It’s also happening at a time when communities across the country are rallying to save the theaters at which generations of Americans grew up. Neff estimates there to be around 54 historic, single-screen movie theaters left in the US. While many have been demolished entirely or converted into multiplex monoliths, some, such as the State Theatre in Washington, IA (opened in 1893), the Plaza 1907 Cinema in Ottowa, KS (established in 1907), and the Music Box Theatre in Chicago (built in 1929), are thriving as community movie theaters. The Crandell undoubtedly falls into that list.
“Single-screen movie theaters play an important role in community pride, in the arts, and in architectural preservation,” Neff says. “They’re a dying breed, but people are becoming aware of their significance and are desperate to keep these theaters.”
Actor Brian Cox, whose directorial debut, Glenrothan, was featured in this year’s FilmColumbia festival at the Crandell, agrees. “It’s so necessary to a community that we maintain and keep these places going,” he said in a video promoting the theater’s recent capital campaign. “They’re vital. They’re our lifeblood.”
