Rosendale Theatre

Rosendale Theatre

The Theatre's front facing exterior, before its renovation by the Rosendale Theatre Collective
Address	408 Main Street Rosendale, New York United States
Coordinates	41°50′39″N 74°04′56″W / 41.84428°N 74.08218°W / 41.84428; -74.08218
Owner	Rosendale Theatre Collective
Capacity	260
Opened	February 18, 1949
Website
www.rosendaletheatre.org

The Rosendale Theatre is a three-story, 260-seat movie theater and performance venue in Rosendale Village, a hamlet and former village in the town of Rosendale in Ulster County, New York. The building was opened as a casino in 1905, and began showing films in the 1920s. By the 1930s, a stage had been installed for live vaudeville and burlesque acts. The casino was eventually taken over by the local government, and used to house the town's fire department.

A tile setter, Anthony Cacchio Sr., rented the building in 1949 and converted it into a movie theater; it opened on February 18, 1949 with a screening of the film Blood on the Moon. Cacchio owned the building outright by the mid-1950s. During this time, a severe flood damaged the Theatre's interior, and all the equipment had to be replaced. In its early years, the Theatre showed about 300 different movies each year, making it unpopular with film distributors. Denied easy access to first run films, the Theatre turned to independent movies and art films, and eventually began exhibiting live performances. Cacchio's entire family helped run the Theatre; his wife Fannie sold tickets and determined the Theatre's movie selection, while their sons Anthony Jr. and Rocco, and grandson Michael, ran the projector and eventually managed the day-to-day operation of the business.

After more than 60 years of continuous operation, the Cacchio family decided to sell the Theatre. Rather than sell to real estate developers, the Cacchios preferred to transfer the property to the Rosendale Theatre Collective, a nonprofit formed in late 2009 for the sole purpose of buying and preserving the Theatre. The group spent months raising funds for a down payment on the building, with the bulk of its money coming from small individual donations. About 60 fundraisers were held, and a large grant was provided by PepsiCo after the Theatre Collective ran a successful social networking campaign for the April 2010 Pepsi Refresh Project. The Cacchios transferred ownership of the property to the Theatre Collective on August 19, 2010. Since its purchase, the Theatre has had several equipment upgrades, including a move to digital cinema and 7.1 surround sound.