VELOCITIES 2

09.16.23

LEADER THEATER
PHILADELPHIA

Meantime hosted Velocities 2, a daylong activation of the former Leader Theater in Philadelphia highlighting the building's history as a cinema and neighborhood event space. Curated and programmed with Steph Irwin, Jerry Kaba and Eugene Lew, the event featured vendors by Now+Then Marketplace, workshops, a special film screening, live analog synth sounds, and visual projection performances for the first time in nearly sixty years. 

The former Leader Theater (currently under renovation) in the West Powelton neighborhood of Philadelphia, was constructed in 1912 and featured silent films, vaudeville acts, and eventually talkies on its way to becoming a popular movie destination for the neighborhood and beyond. After closing in 1968, it was later used by the Police Athletic League (PAL) and a retail store. The ornate brick and terra cotta facade, recently encased in metal cladding, is almost restored and is now visible for the first time in decades.

The Velocities pop-up market focused on analog artisans and handmade products, including vinyl, books and vintage fashion, as well as local food and non-alcoholic beverages. Hands-on making workshops included Modular Synths 101 by Jerry Kaba and Stefano Daddi; lock picking by TOOOL; and data storage on cassette tapes by Iffy Books.

As revealed through research by cineSPEAK, George Romero’s horror classic Night of The Living Dead was the final film screened at the Leader in 1968. Meantime invited attendees to experience the film projected onto unfinished walls, accompanied by multiple Philadelphia-based musicians creating unique sounds in the reverberant space. Sound Museum Collective created a site-specific installation on the theater’s balcony. Rounding out the evening were light projections created by Gralin Hughes, Grant Bouvier and Luminous Abstract that encompass the entire domed theater space, accompanied by soundscapes produced by Richie Brown, Sandy James, and Tangent Universes.