Screening a piece of stage history
Between 1935 and 1939, a group of actors known as the Negro Theater Project performed throughout the Boston area. "My grandfather was the stage manager and an occasional actor, and my aunts and uncles were actors and directors," says filmmaker Lisa Simmons, who is working on a documentary about this slice of city history. She says the company did six to 10 shows a year, including an all-black production of Shakespeare's "Macbeth."
The theater had been launched by the Federal Theatre Project, which paid professionals to produce and act part time during the Depression. Simmons, who lives in Roxbury and runs the Color of Film Collaborative, says that little has been written about the company.
It was a springboard for some, including Simmons's uncle, Frank Silvera. He moved from the Negro Theater Project to a successful career on Broadway and in Hollywood. Most other actors and production staff, Simmons says, "went back to their regular jobs in the post office or catering" and raised families after the program's funding was pulled in 1939.
Simmons has drawn from photos, playbills, and articles in her family's archives and shot most of the documentary's historic footage. She screens a 12-minute excerpt of the work Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Boston Public Library, Copley Square, in Rabb Hall. Also presenting will be Boston filmmaker Wendy Ward, whose "By Poison" is a short fictional work about two servants in 1755 Boston. For information, call 617-536-5400 or go to bpl.org/news/upcomingevents.htm.
CONVERSATIONS WITH: Actress Geraldine Chaplin and Janus Films cofounder Cy Harvey will be at tonight's Brattle Theatre fund - raiser. The gala event, which is being hosted by talk radio's Christopher Lydon, takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Regattabar at the Charles Hotel. Call 617-876-8021 to check for ticket availability; more information is at brattlefilm.org.
Belmont author Tom Perrotta will take questions after a special screening of "Little Children" tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at Studio Cinema in Belmont, 376 Trapelo Road. The film, starring Kate Winslet, is based on Perrotta's book of the same name. The program is hosted by Belmont World Film. Details at 617-484-3980 or belmontworldfilm.org.
Valerie Weiss will be at a screening of her short film "Transgressions" Saturday at 5:45 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts. Weiss reports that she's hoping to return to Boston to direct her upcoming feature film "Losing Control," which is loosely based on her experiences getting a PhD at Harvard Medical School (617-267-9300 and mfa.org/film).
SCREENINGS OF NOTE: Ingmar Bergman's 1975 "The Magic Flute," based on the Mozart opera, plays today at 11 a.m. at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. The show is part of the theater's "Divas in the Dark" film series presented in partnership with the Boston Lyric Opera. Soprano Noell Dorsey of the Longy School of Music performs before the movie and a free light brunch is provided (617-734-2500 and coolidge.org).
Also today, "The Willow Tree" plays at 3:45 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts. Director Majid Majidi's film is part of the Boston Festival of Films and Music From Iran, and repeats Friday at 8 p.m. "For Yusef, the blind man of my film, serenity comes from his little balcony, the sound of nature and the angelic voices and touches of his family," says Majidi in a statement at his website. "I wanted to explore what would happen to his serenity and his sense of control if he was taken out of Paradise."
The Native American Heritage Month Film Series continues at the Boston Public Library's Copley Square branch with "Navajo Code Talkers" and "The Spirit of Annie Mae" tomorrow at 6 p.m. The series wraps up Nov. 27 with a presentation of last year's "The New World." Screenings are free and take place in the Rabb Lecture Hall.
David Kleiler Jr. and Jeff Iwanicki's "Not a Photograph: The Mission of Burma Story," about the 2002 reunion and subsequent rejuvenation of the great Boston band, plays Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Coolidge.
Kurosawa, Polanski, Ichikawa, Hitchcock -- take your pick or see them all. The Brattle Theatre's four-week program of highlights from the Janus Film art house extravaganza wraps up over the next several days. Tomorrow and Tuesday it's "High & Low" by Akira Kurosawa and "Knife in the Water" by Roman Polanski. Wednesday it's "Fires on the Plain" by Kon Ichikawa. And Thursday, the final punctuation point is "The Lady Vanishes" by Alfred Hitchcock. Check 617-876-6837 or brattlefilm.org for showtimes.
There are a boatload of sing-alongs these days, but what's not to love about a crowd bellowing along to "Chim Chim Cher-ee"? The Boston premiere of "Sing-a-Long Mary Poppins," a restored print of the film with added on-screen lyrics, comes to the Regent Theatre in Arlington Wednesday and runs through Sunday. Dressing in costume is encouraged (781-646-4849 and regenttheatre.com).
And with the new Christopher Guest film "For Your Consideration" reminding us how terrific the ensembles are in his recent movies -- actors Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Jennifer Coolidge, and Eugene Levy among them -- the Coolidge is presenting a "Best of Guest" program. Next weekend it's "This Is Spinal Tap." Dec. 1 and 2 it's "Spinal Tap" again and "Waiting for Guffman," and Dec. 8 and 9 is "Best in Show." All shows are at midnight.
Leslie Brokaw can be reached at lbrokaw@globe.com. 
