The Triplex Returns with Movies, Music and ‘Maestro’

Thanks to a dedicated group of film-loving residents, the once-closed Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington, Mass., turned its projectors on again this November. 

The three-screen theater is moving full steam ahead with plenty of winter programming to bring audiences back to the movies. On Sunday, Dec. 17, Nina Bernstein Simmons, Leonard Bernstein’s youngest daughter, will join a live conversation following a screening of the new Bradley Cooper-directed film, “Maestro.” Cooper plays the late American conductor and composer, co-starring with Carey Mulligan as his wife, Felicia Montealegre Bernstein, and Matt Bomer as his friend and collaborator, the late American clarinetist David Oppenheim. Nicki Wilson, president of Triplex Cinema’s new board of directors, discussed the upcoming events.

Alexander Wilburn: How did the programming with Nina Bernstein Simmons come about?

Nikki Wilson: We knew “Maestro” would be a significant release when it opens at The Triplex on Friday, Dec. 15, as much of it was shot in the Berkshires at Tanglewood. So why not honor Leonard Bernstein himself? So, in addition, we’re screening all of the films that he composed music for: “On The Waterfront,” “West Side Story” and “On the Town.” We reached out to Nina and invited her to come to the Triplex and do a talkback after the screening of “Maestro” on Sunday, Dec. 17, at 1 p.m. Deborah Reinisch will be interviewing her after the film. She taught film at NYU and Columbia. Deborah will lead two other talkbacks during the week: “West Side Story” and “On The Waterfront.” To complete the Bernstein on Film series will be Julianne Boyd, the former artistic director of Barrington Stage Company. She was responsible for “On the Town’s” production in The Berkshires and bringing it to Broadway. So she’ll be coming to talk after the film’s showing on Thursday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m.

 AW: How did the revival of Triplex Cinema come about?

NW: The Triplex closed this year in June, and it was going to be a dark theater, but a grassroots group came together. We raised over $1 million with the help of over 1,000 donors and purchased The Triplex from the longtime owner Richard Stanley. With buying the theater, there was a lot to renovate, so we’re in an active campaign to continue fundraising. On Nov. 15, we opened the doors and started screening “The Holdovers.” On Dec. 15, we will open the third, largest screen to start showing “Maestro.”

AW: You’re also holding a special fundraiser for The Triplex that weekend as well, right?

NW: We will be joined by actors like Jayne Atkinson, who was on many television shows like “Criminal Minds” and “House of Cards,” Michel Gill from “The Gilded Age,” and David Rasche from “Succession.” Maureen O’Flynn, an international opera singer, will join the group. She’s been on all the world’s great stages. Our program is going to present scenes from famous holiday films, but acted live, as well as songs performed from holiday films,  including “The Sound of Music,” which has nothing to do with the holidays but is considered the Number One holiday film people watch on television each year on CBS. It will be a fun-filled evening for people of all ages at Bard at Simon’s Rock’s beautiful 300-seat McConnell Theater in Great Barrington. The event will have two showings on Dec. 16, one at 3 p.m. and an encore at 6 p.m. The script is so much fun. There are scenes from “Elf” and “Love Actually,” and some of the old classics like “Shop Around the Corner,” “Miracle on 34th Street,”  and what’s a Christmas show without a scene from “A Christmas Carol,” with Scrooge saying “Humbug, humbug.” David Rasche is even going to be crooning “White Christmas.”

Tickets for the special screening of “Maestro,” the “Bernstein on Film” screening series, as well as “Bring Back the Movies: Holiday Edition” live at Bard at Simon’s Rock are available at www.thetriplex.org