Michigan Theater will kick off the New Year celebrating four arts exemplars; Sun., Jan. 5th, at 4:00 pm
97TH Anniversary: Michigan Theater, Chaplin’s “The Circus” / Bon Voyage: Russ Collins and Deb Polich
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN – January 2025, marks the 97th anniversary of the Michigan Theater and Charlie Chaplin’s Academy Award-Winning cinema classic “The Circus.” On Sunday, January 5 at 4:00 PM, at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, there will be a special screening of “The Circus,” followed by a fun and festive celebration of Russ Collins, the accomplished and long-tenured Executive Director/CEO of the Michigan and State Theatres, and Deb Polich, the award-winning President/CEO of Artrain, Creative Washtenaw, and radio host of Creative Impact. Both are retiring from full-time work (they also happen to be husband and wife) and will begin their retirement journey by embarking on a celebratory trip around the world. Be a part of this special celebration, Sunday, January 5 (the Michigan Theater’s actual “birthday”). Showtime is 4:00 PM. The Bon Voyage reception for Russ and Deb is for Michigan Theater/Marquee Arts members only (but anyone can become a member).
Get tickets in advance at: Bon Voyage Reception
Besides the fun of a Bon Voyage party, this special event marks the beginning of a three-year celebratory crescendo to the Michigan Theater’s 100th anniversary. The Michigan Theater opened on January 5, 1928. That same year, one day later, Chaplin’s “The Circus” premiered at New York City’s first movie palace, the Strand Theatre. Chaplin’s Oscar winning opus drew rave reviews and long lines at the Strand’s box office, located on 47th and Broadway in NYC. An interesting fact: In 1987, the year Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater reopened after its first phase of restoration, the Strand Theatre was closed and demolished – a fate that was threatened for the Michigan Theater but was thankfully avoided.
Tickets for the Michigan Theater and “The Circus” 97th anniversaries and Russ and Deb Bon Voyage event are now on sale. It will be a not-to-be-missed, uniquely fun celebration of a great film, the beautifully restored Michigan Theater, and Russ and Deb’s long and dedicated service to the community. Admission is only $12.50.
Before the screening of “The Circus” there will be a special preshow concert and overture by the Michigan Theater’s Head Organist Andrew Rogers on the theater’s restored “Golden Throated” Barton Organ. After the screening there will be a reception on the stage of the Michigan Theater. The on-stage reception is only for Michigan Theater/Marquee Arts members and donors. If you are not a member and wish to become a member before this special event, go to Memberships to enroll and qualify to attend the on-stage reception.
About The Michigan Theater:
Opened in 1928, the Michigan Theater was hailed as “a Shrine to the Arts… not built for today only but constructed in the hopes that it might be a monument for years to come and a credit to the community…” This was the hope of Detroit-based architect Maurice Finkel, who designed an outstanding silent film exhibition theater appropriate for a town with a world-class university at its core. The Michigan Theater contained a fully functioning stage, a sizable orchestra pit, an elaborate Barton theater organ, grand lobbies, and over 1,600 seats, all designed around its core capability of being a theater intended for film exhibition and live-on-stage productions. In its early days, the theater was operated as a commercial vaudeville and movie house with occasional national touring theater and other performing arts attractions. Additionally, rare circumstances would allow productions by local arts and civic organizations to play the Michigan’s stage.
Over the years, most significantly in 1956, Butterfield made renovations to the theater’s interior and façade to update it to the tastes of “modern” audiences. At the end of its 50-year lease, the Butterfield Theatre Corporation vacated the building. In 1978-79, there were active plans for the Michigan Theater to be gutted and turned into a food court. In May of 1979, passionate Ann Arbor area citizens formed the not-for-profit Michigan Theater Foundation (recently re-branded as Marquee Arts). They successfully saved the Michigan Theater from destruction. The theater doors reopened because of this team of dedicated community volunteers. In 1982, Russ Collins, a 26-year-old University of Michigan arts administration graduate was hired as the Executive Director/CEO. As a result of his leadership, but especially the spirit and love of the community, the excellence of the Michigan Theater’s restoration and programming have been repeatedly acclaimed as exemplary.
About Charlie Chaplin’s “The Circus”:
“The Circus” opened on January 6, 1928, at the Strand Theatre in New York City. It is a silent-era romantic comedy written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The production of the film was the most difficult experience in Chaplin’s career. Numerous problems and delays occurred, including a studio fire, the death of Chaplin’s mother, as well as Chaplin’s bitter divorce from his second wife Lita Grey, and the Internal Revenue Service’s claims of Chaplin’s owing back taxes, all of which culminated in filming being stalled for literally years. Although Chaplin first began serious production work on the film in 1925, because of the delays, “The Circus,” a silent film, made it into theaters just after the beginning of the “talking pictures” era. The very first feature-length “talking picture,” “The Jazz Singer” (1927), had been released just a few months earlier. “The Circus” was the seventh-highest grossing silent film in cinema history. The film continues to receive high praise. The plot revolves around a ringmaster of an impoverished circus hiring Chaplin’s Little Tramp as a clown, but the ringmaster discovers he can only be funny unintentionally. The Tramp falls in love with the ringmaster’s daughter, which further complicates, in poignant and hilarious ways, the relationships within the circus troop.
About Russ Collins:
Russ grew up in Ann Arbor and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan. He is an arts administrator with an entrepreneurial approach to management. Since 1982, he has managed the restoration, operations, and programming at the Michigan and State Theaters. They are internationally recognized community-based, mission-driven arts facilities which serve the community as acclaimed performing arts venues and cinema exhibition theaters. In 2008, in participation with the Sundance Film Festival, Russ founded the Art House Convergence – a national professional society for independent cinema operators. In 2012, he started the Cinetopia Film Festival, the international film festival for the Ann Arbor area. Russ’s professional honors include serving as an Arts Administration Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts, being knighted by the Republic of Italy for promotion of Italian film culture in the USA, named an Indiewire Influencer in recognition of his leadership in independent film exhibition, recognition by the League of Historic American Theatres for Outstanding Individual Contributions to the field of historic theater preservation. Russ taught arts administration and film studies at Eastern Michigan University. For over 30 years he’s hosted “Cinema Chat” on NPR station WEMU.
About Deb Polich:
A proud Detroit native, Deb earned a bachelor’s degree in arts administration, with a business minor from Eastern Michigan University. In 1986, she began her professional career at the Michigan Theater when it was a fledgling nonprofit organization working to save and restore the theater. She served as Interim Executive Director, when Russ Collins was on leave as a Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts. Polich left the Michigan Theater in 1993 to take the lead at Artrain. Under her leadership Artrain received the National Medal for Museum Service in a White House ceremony in Washington, D.C.. Founded in 1971, Artrain was best known for delivering innovative arts exhibits and programs as a museum-on-a-train. Besides its arts exhibitions, Artrain helped start or strengthen hundreds of cultural organizations first in Michigan and then across the USA. Deb led more than 600 community Artrain visits including a tour to Alaska.
In 1999, Deb was key among local arts and community leaders to form a countywide arts agency, the Arts Alliance. She was the founding chair of the Arts Alliance, now known as Creative Washtenaw. In 2013, she was named the President/CEO of Creative Washtenaw. Its mission is to provide services, support and advocate for artists, creative workers, organizations, businesses, educational, and government entities in Washtenaw County. Since 2017, Polich has hosted creative:impact on NPR affiliate WEMU. She has served on the boards of numerous nonprofit arts and community organizations. Polich currently serves on the board of Michigan Works! Southeast and is the Advocacy Captain for Michigan to Americans for the Arts, the national arts advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
Russ and Deb have three grown children and eight grandchildren, ages 1-11. Their retirement takes effect at the end of the calendar year. They will remain in Ann Arbor after retirement to support and enjoy their children and grandchildren (who all live in Washtenaw County) and they will continue to be actively involved in the community.
