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Carly Simon supports shuttered Vineyard theaters

Mark Snider and Carly Simon outside the boarded Capawock Theatre.Michael Cummo/Martha’s Vineyard Times

A few years ago, when the Strand and Capawock cinemas closed their doors, life on Martha’s Vineyard suddenly became a little less appealing.

“These places are central to the experience of living on the island,” says Mark Snider, owner of the Winnetu Oceanside Resort in Edgartown. “It was like when Filene’s closed in Boston and left a giant hole in the ground.”

Last summer, Snider became so agitated by the loss of the venerable movie houses that he resolved to bring them back. The result is the new nonprofit Martha’s Vineyard Theater Foundation and a fund-raising campaign that has already collected $350,000, or roughly a third of the $1 million needed to restore the theaters.

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Singer Carly Simon, who lives on Martha’s Vineyard year round, has joined the effort, agreeing to serve on the foundation’s board of directors and also to perform at one of the
theaters this spring. Snider’s plan calls for the foundation to lease the properties from the owner, Ben Hall, and have the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society operate the theaters.

The 210-seat Capawock Theatre, located in Vineyard Haven, opened in 1913, and the 250-seat Strand opened a few years later. Over the years, various writers, performers, and movie stars have appeared at the theaters, including W. Somerset Maugham, who introduced the 1942 film based on his novel, “Moon and Sixpence”; 1950s Broadway star Katherine Cornell, a summer resident of the Vineyard; actress Ruth Gordon, who introduced her celebrated 1971 film “Harold and Maude”; director Spike Lee, a past participant of the African American Film Festival in Oak Bluffs; and Davis Guggenheim, who introduced his guitar film “It Might Get Loud.”

Snider said there is broad interest in reclaiming the theaters, and it’s not just the island’s many deep-pocketed denizens who are donating. (Anyone interested in contributing can e-mail info@mvtheaters.org.) He said he's committed to reopening the theaters on Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the tourist season.

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“This is an important effort to restore something more than just buildings,” said Snider. “This is part of what makes the Vineyard special.”