• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School news
  • Private schools, sponsored by Riverbend
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Business news
  • Embracing diversity
  • Seniors
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Fire & police scanner
  • Worship
  • Deland, Gibson Insurance Athlete of the Week
  • Raiders sports schedules & results
  • Live gov’t meetings
  • 2023 Town Election
  • Events
  • About us
  • Natick Report
 
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Beyond Wellesley: catching a movie at TCAN’s charming renovated firehouse in Natick

April 14, 2017 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

TCAN (Natick)

The next time you’re in the mood to catch a movie but not at all in the mood to schlep to some far-flung, charmless multi-plex, venture a mere two miles down the road from Wellesley Square and give The Center for Arts in Natick (TCAN) a try.

TCAN, located at 14 Summer St., Natick in a beautifully renovated historic firehouse, is well-known for its concerts and live-theater offerings. Somehow, though, the venue’s second-floor movie theater is something of a secret. Even my Bunco group, made up of Natick moms I’ve been hanging out with since my 11-year stint in the town, didn’t know that hiding in plain sight in their own town center is nestled the quintessential independent theater. There, in a former storage space of the former firehouse, the 120-seat theater shows everything from small-run indies to more mainstream fare such as Disney’s Aladdin.

David Lavalley, executive director of TCAN, brought the art-house-type cinema to life through a $180,000 grant awarded from the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s facilities fund to the arts center in 2014. The grant, plus additional money raised, allowed TCAN to transform underutilized space that just happened to already have great acoustics (although soundproofing was added) and soaring ceilings into a multi-use performance space, with an emphasis on cinema. According to Nicola Anderson, Cinema Program Director, no effort was spared in ensuring a quality movie-going experience. She says, “The newly installed Screening Room at TCAN has been renovated to the highest of technical standards with a 2K (DCI Compliant) digital cinema projector and full 7.1 Dolby surround audio .  Wherever possible the films are projected from a DCP (Digital Cinema Package) – 2K digital prints that are mastered to the highest industry standard to ensure the visuals stay perfect and the audio is crystal clear throughout the presentation.”

In addition, comfortable, movable seats allow the space to also host concerts, conferences and other activities. In fact, in a recent collaboration with Babson Arts, the space was used during some rehearsals for An American Hamlet. It seems the actors needed room to practice their fight scenes.

On a recent date night we settled into the comfortable red chairs to watch A Man Called Ove on the 20-foot screen. The crowd was clearly into the experience of it all, the way the theater is tucked away upstairs (TCAN is handicapped accessible, and the movie theater can be accessed by elevator), the fun of being able to walk to a number of nearby restaurants either before or after the show, the sheer non-stickiness of the floors. That last one was big for me. Not that TCAN is stingy with the snacks, they’re just scrupulously tidy, that’s all. Popcorn, candy, and beverages, including beer or wine, are for sale.

About the chairs, just a heads up, don’t expect the Craftmatic bed treatment at this theater. I don’t know about you, but that suits me fine. Once, at one of those Craftmatic bed multiplexes, I couldn’t even enjoy the movie because the man lying next to me, who was not my husband, fell asleep. As you can imagine, I became very uneasy, wondering if I was dangerously close to infidelity. Fretfully, I wondered if it counted as cheating. First I figured yes it did, because there was nothing but an armrest between us to suggest our two “chairs” were anything less than a double bed, and there he was, sleeping. Therefore, logic demanded that it must be a bed, ergo we were sharing a bed, ergo ergo it was an infidelity.

Then I figured no, it wasn’t an infidelity, because don’t be ridiculous.

Of course after all these Socratic mental gymnastics, I was drained and didn’t  enjoy the movie at all. Plus, the sleeping man wasn’t even hot, so what a waste of moral philosophizing, and of a movie ticket.

Save yourself from such problems and catch your next movie at TCAN. On the April schedule: Aladdin; The Wizard of Oz; Lamb (screening and talkback with with Director Yared Zeleke); I Am Not Your Negro. Ticket prices are generally $12 for the public, $10 for TCAN members, and $9 for children under 12.

TCAN (Natick)

print

Filed Under: Entertainment, Media, Natick Report, Neighbors, Theatre

Comments

  1. David Lavalley says

    April 14, 2017 at 4:03 pm

    Thanks to The Swellesley Report for this great review! We hope your readers check out http://www.natickarts.org/movies for a list of all screenings in our new screening room.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisements:

Linden Square, Wellesley
EXPLO, Wellesley
Wellesley Hills Junior Women's Club

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Advertisements

Wellesley Square, Wellesley Merchants
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Beacon Hill Athletic Club, Wellesley
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cheesy Street Grill
Mature Caregivers
Admit Fit, Wellesley
charles river chamber
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Most Read Posts

  • Sign up now for summer camp in Wellesley (and beyond)
  • Friday is letters-to-the-editor day on The Swellesley Report
  • EXPLO Junior summer program launches at Regis College in Weston
  • Author Ari Berman discusses 'Give Us The Ballot'; Upcoming author visits in Wellesley
  • Wellesley High Principal Chisum a finalist for superintendent/principal job at Lincoln-Sudbury High School

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Upcoming Events

Mar 29
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Wellesley Education Foundation Spelling Bee

Mar 30
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Author visit—Junkets with Julia: Cheery Memories of Julia Child

Apr 1
10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sock Drive for Cradles to Crayons starts in Linden Square

Apr 1
11:30 am - 1:30 pm

Linden Square, Fair in the Square

Apr 2
12:00 pm - 12:15 pm

Black Lives Matter Vigil

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 2023 Boston Marathon charity runners
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • Nancy Slamin on Remembering Bailey’s in Wellesley
  • nancy calderwood on Wellesley High Principal Chisum a finalist for superintendent/principal job at Lincoln-Sudbury High School
  • Richard Pirozzolo on Wellesley Club gets update on town affairs
  • Rory Strunk on Delicious gluten-free Italian classics a reality in cookbook co-authored by Wellesley resident
  • Charles on Wellesley High parents pan standards-based grading, school leaders say improvements planned

Links we like

  • Danny's Place
  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • 2023 Town Election (13)
  • Animals (429)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (596)
  • Beyond Wellesley (53)
  • Books (381)
  • Business (1,569)
  • Camp (12)
  • Careers/jobs (53)
  • Churches (82)
  • Clubs (241)
  • Construction (301)
  • Dump (131)
  • Education (3,223)
    • Babson College (252)
    • Bates Elementary School (18)
    • Dana Hall School (37)
    • Fiske Elementary School (11)
    • Hardy Elementary School (48)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (47)
    • MassBay (57)
    • Schofield Elementary School (26)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (12)
    • Upham Elementary School (35)
    • Wellesley College (616)
    • Wellesley High School (1,009)
    • Wellesley Middle School (208)
  • Embracing diversity (97)
  • Entertainment (824)
  • Environment (780)
  • Fashion (145)
  • Finance (15)
  • Fire (174)
  • Food (360)
  • Fundraising (650)
  • Gardens (165)
  • Government (627)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (15)
  • Health (870)
    • COVID-19 (203)
  • Hikes (6)
  • History (403)
  • Holidays (442)
  • Houses (165)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (869)
  • Law (8)
  • Legal notices (10)
  • Letters to the Editor (90)
  • Media (72)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (13)
  • Morses Pond (109)
  • Music (585)
  • Natick Report (30)
  • Neighbors (282)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (86)
  • Outdoors (658)
  • Parenting (63)
  • Police (786)
    • Crime (398)
  • Politics (560)
  • POPS Senior Profile (10)
  • RDF (7)
  • Real estate (349)
  • Religion (139)
  • Restaurants (345)
  • Safety (156)
  • Scouts (2)
  • Seniors (128)
  • Shopping (164)
  • Sponsored (6)
  • Sports (1,025)
    • Athlete of the Week (14)
  • STEM (109)
  • Technology (165)
  • Theatre (397)
  • Town Meeting (27)
  • Transportation (242)
  • Travel (17)
  • Uncategorized (1,246)
  • Volunteering (351)
  • Weather (180)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (282)
  • Wellesley Holiday Gift Guide (2)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (20)

© 2023 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login