The Cinema Theater is one of the oldest, continuously run, single-screen theaters in the United States. Since 1984, it has been owned and operated by Jo Ann Morreale in whose loving hands it has very much remained a neighborhood theater where an evening at the Cinema often includes a meal at one of the over 15 ethnic restaurants that surround it in the walkable South East corridor.

As a single-screen theater, it has many unique financial challenges, which in the fall of 2005, threatened its existence. Thankfully, many individuals and neighborhood organizations have stepped forward in a community effort to support Jo Ann and add some much needed resources to her sole pair of hands.

As you read this, much work is being done on a variety of fronts to ensure that Jo Ann is able keep the Cinema intact and to maintain her vision of it as Rochester’s Oldest Neighborhood Theater. If you would be interested to lend your abilities to this effort, please read on.