The Charles on Charles
Charles Street is called home for most Loyola University students. The campus, majority of dorm buildings and Chapel all fall on this asphalt-covered street that many students walk down, across or by every day. However, few students venture just a few blocks down the road where one can stumble upon one of Baltimore’s most historical theatres, The Charles.
The Charles Theatre, located in midtown on North Charles Street, offers first-run specialty films in addition to showing Hollywood movies, foreign films and cinema classics. Baltimore locals pile into the 1,150-seat theatre on both week and weekend afternoons and evenings to watch diverse films that very few theatres show. Patty Redfield, a Baltimore local and regular at The Charles, plans to see one of the new independent releases, The Runaways, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, on Thursday evening. “It is the only theatre in Baltimore that plays quality films today,” Patty says with both praise of the theatre and disappointment in the scarcity of theatres in Baltimore like The Charles.
Aside from the theatre’s broad selection of films, the environment around The Charles adds to the ultimate movie experience. With Tapas Teatro, a Spanish restaurant, and Sophi’s Crepes both standing as neighbors to The Charles, visitors find very little to do without. “Many visitors will share a meal at Tapas Teatro, head over here to the theatre with drink in hand, watch their film, and finally end their evening at Sophi’s, devouring a dessert crepe,” says Jennifer Strunge, an employee at The Charles. “It really is an excellent area to do a number of things,” she says.
The Charles Theatre attracts a diverse crowd. From college students to senior citizens, countless locals and tourists visit the theatre to engage in the art of film or merely socialize in The Charles’s spacious lobby.Whatever the reason for visiting may be, The Charles is a comforting environment that appeals to a large crowd. “We advertise in the City Paper, update our website daily, and just recently created a Facebook page,” says Strunge. MICA and Hopkins students are usually found visiting the theatre on social outings. “I only wish more Loyola students knew about it,” says Lorena Arauz, a sophomore at Loyola University.
The Charles Theatre also holds special film events throughout the week. Cinema Sundays at The Charles is raved by Baltimore Magazine as “Baltimore’s Best Film Series!” Beginning in 1995, Cinema Sundays shows one film every week. The morning begins with conversation and brunch, and then opens up to a guest speaker who introduces the film and leads interactive post-screening discussion. The guest speakers vary from critics to filmmakers to experts on topics included in the presented film of the week. Tickets for Cinema Sundays are 15 dollars, unless one has a membership, in which case they receive a significant discount and additional benefits. The Charles’s film for this upcoming Sunday is It Came From Kushar, a documentary about the underground filmmaking twins, the Kushar brothers.
Whether one is a self-acclaimed movie buff, a film professor, or merely an individual who enjoys the dying fad of going out to see a movie at the theatre, The Charles stands as one of Baltimore’s oldest entertainment marvels. With movie tickets ranging in price from 7.50 matinees to 9.50 regular showings, The Charles is one of the last affordable theatres in the city. So cancel your Netflix, drive down Charles Street, grab a margarita from Tapas Teatro, a crepe from Sophi’s, and head over to The Charles and indulge in the latest film before traditional movie theatres head for the gravesite to keep drive-in movies company.
