Mattituck Cinemas Envisioned As Hub For Students, Theater Lovers

NORTH FORK, NY — After being shuttered for the pandemic, Mattituck Cinemas reopened in July — and for the first time, the theater partnered with Lucharitos to present new offerings at the concession stand. And now, Marc LaMaina, owner of Lucharitos, has a vision of creating an artistic hub for local high school students, as well as theater lovers, at the theater.

This week, LaMaina put a shout out on social media to local school districts as he explored ways for students to make use of the theater to inspire dreams and as a canvas for their creativity — all while enjoying the full slate of first-run films shown at the cinema.

"Moving forward with the theater in Mattituck there might be some great opportunity to make it a theater lovers' hub of activities," LaMaina told Patch. "We have the food and drink and the energy is around. There are all these great theater groups around – I think the theater can find a space to connect and collaborate with those venues and especially with our local schools. To be a kid who is serious about theater, and to feel welcomed at your local movie theater, I think, is important. I hope they already feel that, but I want to extend invitations out to our local kids, throw in a popcorn on us and let them connect with the experience."

This weekend, the newly released "West Side Story" will be shown at the space. "I know our local schools have done adaptions of this. I want students to feel connected to the theater and that movie theater experience," LaMaina said.

There's nothing like seeing a film at the movie theater, he said.

"Seeing it on the big screen with their theater group with popcorn and the energy of an active theater is just 10X the experience of watching at home while you scroll through Instagram," he said. "It’s just not an immersive experience anymore, watching movies at home. There is a natural excitement of going to any theater, live or film. And we want to be able to have our kids get that opportunity. To connect."

LaMaina said he has reached out to his former classmate Elizabeth Liszanckie from North Fork Community Theatre and looks forward to brainstorming on collaboration possibilities.

"But the end game is to connect. And reconnect," he said.

On Friday night, LaMaina said the first wine and cheese event will be held in the lobby of the theater from 6 p.m. to 7:30 pm before the 7:30 p.m. showing of "West Side Story".

"Our friends from CANNette will have a complimentary wine spritzer tasting with complimentary chips and guacamole from Lucharitos Burrito Bar and we will introduce cheese boxes from our new cinema partner Village Cheese Shop," LaMaina said. "There are endless opportunities to work with a lot of different businesses here. That excites me. The collaboration is what will create the energy."

Also planned is a performance by the Greenport High School a cappella group, who will sing at the theater on Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. "This is exactly the synergy we want," LaMaina said.

The theater is still owned by the Cardinale family, LaMaina said. "We are partnering with them to make it a truly unique experience," he said.