Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
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Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by Mazy Mon 02 Jun 2014, 04:50
Kentucky Theater reopening
The Kentucky Theatre celebrated its reopening and marked the completion of the second phase of the historic theatre's recent renovation. Photos by Rob Bolson
Wednesday, May 21, 2014 at 9:37 PM
The Kentucky Theatre in Lexington celebrated its reopening and marked the completion of the second phase of the historic theater’s renovation. The sold-out event was hosted by Nick and Nina Clooney and featured a showing of the 1958 movie classic South Pacific. PHOTO BY ROB BOLSON — Herald-Leader
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The Kentucky Theatre celebrated its reopening and marked the completion of the second phase of the historic theatre's recent renovation. Photos by Rob Bolson
Wednesday, May 21, 2014 at 9:37 PM
The Kentucky Theatre in Lexington celebrated its reopening and marked the completion of the second phase of the historic theater’s renovation. The sold-out event was hosted by Nick and Nina Clooney and featured a showing of the 1958 movie classic South Pacific. PHOTO BY ROB BOLSON — Herald-Leader
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THE BEST ONE
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Last edited by Katiedot on Mon 02 Jun 2014, 09:44; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : added more info to the title)
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by Mazy Mon 02 Jun 2014, 05:03
Renovated Kentucky Theatre's future is bright (literally)
BY RICH COPLEY
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] 20, 2014
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Harold Tate, manager of the renovation project, in the auditorium of the renovated Kentucky Theatre. It will have a grand reopening Wednesday night after a major renovation. Nick and Nina Clooney will host a screening of South Pacific as part of the grand reopening.
Movie theaters, Harold Tate points out, usually aren't lit up as brightly as the Kentucky Theatre was Tuesday morning, "because you really don't want to see them that well."
Too often, a petrified blend of sugary soda and popcorn greets the soles of movie patrons at cinemas across the country. That sticky substance you just touched under the arm rest is probably best left to the dark.
But these days, the Kentucky holds up as well under the bright lights as Scarlett Johansson in a closeup. Or George Clooney.
On Wednesday night, Clooney's parents, Nick and Nina Clooney, will host a sold-out screening of the 1958 classic South Pacificat the grand reopening of the Kentucky, which closed in mid-February for a nearly $1 million renovation.
The theater actually reopened in late April, but project managers said there was still some work to be done.
Now Tate, the project manager, and others involved with the renovation are ready to declare this phase of the renovation done (though the theater still has a to-do list).
Among things patrons will notice Wednesday night are:
New seats: There are 802 of them. Many of the theater's old seats ranged in condition from creaky to unusable. The new chairs come with cup holders and on the armrests the names of donors who paid $500 each.
Names include many state and local politicians and celebrities such as Kentucky-born actor Harry Dean Stanton. There are also some names of notables who probably did not buy the seats themselves, including Boris and Natasha of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame. (Seat sponsorships are still available for $500 a pop through Kentuckytheater.com/friends.)
New lighting: Throughout the theater, new LED lighting has been put in. Tate says it should last a long time, save money and, as we have said, shine a lot brighter.
The lighting extends to the chandeliers in the foyer, but not as far as the marquee. Tate says LEDs were tried in the marquee but deemed ineffective. The marquee is still undergoing renovation and will be outfitted with new lighting and letters in coming months.
Also, there is new stage lighting inside the theater for concerts and events, and there is new track lighting to direct people out of the theater in the event of an emergency.
New hearing assistance: Patrons might note seams running through the concrete floor under which lie telecoil, or T loop, wires that in many cases will broadcast sound directly to hearing aids.
A TV in the lobby: A new high-definition flat-screen TV in the lobby will feature previews of upcoming films and the names of major donors to the renovation project. Probably most important, they will show University of Kentucky basketball games when they are being broadcast at the theater, so concession stand patrons don't have to miss any of the action.
The concession stand is still on the to-do list. It has been outfitted with new LED lighting, Tate said, but the entire stand will be replaced early next year.
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BY RICH COPLEY
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] 20, 2014
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Harold Tate, manager of the renovation project, in the auditorium of the renovated Kentucky Theatre. It will have a grand reopening Wednesday night after a major renovation. Nick and Nina Clooney will host a screening of South Pacific as part of the grand reopening.
Movie theaters, Harold Tate points out, usually aren't lit up as brightly as the Kentucky Theatre was Tuesday morning, "because you really don't want to see them that well."
Too often, a petrified blend of sugary soda and popcorn greets the soles of movie patrons at cinemas across the country. That sticky substance you just touched under the arm rest is probably best left to the dark.
But these days, the Kentucky holds up as well under the bright lights as Scarlett Johansson in a closeup. Or George Clooney.
On Wednesday night, Clooney's parents, Nick and Nina Clooney, will host a sold-out screening of the 1958 classic South Pacificat the grand reopening of the Kentucky, which closed in mid-February for a nearly $1 million renovation.
The theater actually reopened in late April, but project managers said there was still some work to be done.
Now Tate, the project manager, and others involved with the renovation are ready to declare this phase of the renovation done (though the theater still has a to-do list).
Among things patrons will notice Wednesday night are:
New seats: There are 802 of them. Many of the theater's old seats ranged in condition from creaky to unusable. The new chairs come with cup holders and on the armrests the names of donors who paid $500 each.
Names include many state and local politicians and celebrities such as Kentucky-born actor Harry Dean Stanton. There are also some names of notables who probably did not buy the seats themselves, including Boris and Natasha of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame. (Seat sponsorships are still available for $500 a pop through Kentuckytheater.com/friends.)
New lighting: Throughout the theater, new LED lighting has been put in. Tate says it should last a long time, save money and, as we have said, shine a lot brighter.
The lighting extends to the chandeliers in the foyer, but not as far as the marquee. Tate says LEDs were tried in the marquee but deemed ineffective. The marquee is still undergoing renovation and will be outfitted with new lighting and letters in coming months.
Also, there is new stage lighting inside the theater for concerts and events, and there is new track lighting to direct people out of the theater in the event of an emergency.
New hearing assistance: Patrons might note seams running through the concrete floor under which lie telecoil, or T loop, wires that in many cases will broadcast sound directly to hearing aids.
A TV in the lobby: A new high-definition flat-screen TV in the lobby will feature previews of upcoming films and the names of major donors to the renovation project. Probably most important, they will show University of Kentucky basketball games when they are being broadcast at the theater, so concession stand patrons don't have to miss any of the action.
The concession stand is still on the to-do list. It has been outfitted with new LED lighting, Tate said, but the entire stand will be replaced early next year.
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by Mazy Mon 02 Jun 2014, 05:30
SORRY TO GO BACKWARDS WITH THESE THAT'S HOW I FIND THEM
For Clooneys, Kentucky Theatre and 'South Pacific' make for some enchanted evening
BY JANET PATTON
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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] 16, 2014
Nina and Nick Clooney, George's parents, will host the Kentucky Theatre's grand reopening, featuring South Pacific, which they saw there in 1959. EVAN AGOSTINI — Invision/AP
When the Kentucky Theatre shows the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic South Pacific next week for its grand reopening celebration, it will be a romantic homecoming for the evening's hosts, Nick and Nina Clooney.
The downtown Lexington movie house was where they had their first date in 1959, to see the musical based on the James A. Michener novel. Tickets were 75 cents each.
Then 25, Nick Clooney was living in Lexington, working in broadcasting, and he had been asked to direct the Miss Lexington pageant. Nina Warren, a beautiful University of Kentucky student from Perryville, won the pageant — and Clooney's heart.
"He just swept me off my feet," Nina said in an interview Wednesday. "If I hadn't been right in from the sticks, who knows?"
Nick left little to chance: Before their June first date, he traded in his old Chrysler.
"He was certain I needed to be impressed. So he goes and buys a 1959 cherry-red Corvette," Nina said. "Brand-new. And believe me, I was impressed. I was also horrified, because he came to pick me up at the farm ... and the road up to our house had boulders as big as the car. I was afraid for the car, embarrassed by the road."
But Nick was undaunted.
"Knowing what Nina looked like, I didn't care about the road," Clooney said. "Off we went, on a 50-mile drive, in my brand-spanking-new Corvette, which I barely knew how to drive, to the Kentucky Theatre. It was a very big deal.
"The movie was South Pacific, and I had been lucky enough as a kid to see it in the theater in New York, when visiting my sister Rosemary. So I was being a big-shot, telling her what the movie was going to be about."
It was raining on the way up, Nick remembers, so he put the hard top on the car, a convertible.
"But the roof leaked, and it leaked all over her nylons," he said.
Didn't matter.
"It was beautiful, and a terrific story," Nina said.
"The Technicolor just enveloped you, with Mitzi Gaynor, just as cute as 7-Up ... And the music. It was great," Nick said.
Must have been: They were married two months later.
Like their nearly 55-year marriage, the film has staying power.
"It's a great film, a cutting from time," said Nick, who once used the Kentucky Theatre as the set for introducing (what else?) South Pacific when he was the classic-films host on the AMC television network.
Nick also has lectured at American University on films and how they have shaped our times.
South Pacific, a musical about the romance between an American nurse and a Frenchman on a tropical island, reflects the World War II era, Nick said.
"Everything before it led up to it and everything since led away from it," Clooney said.
The film's themes of American optimism and overcoming racism resonate today, he said.
Despite the cultural relevance, his favorite memory from that night in June 1959 is more personal.
"If I go back to the moment, with Nina and me, it's the love song from it: Some Enchanted Evening," Clooney said.
"Nina knocked my socks off the very first time I saw her. Nina was Nina. She's absolutely one of a kind. And she's still a knockout. I married the prettiest girl I ever saw, and we had two kids (George and Ada), who still talk to me."
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For Clooneys, Kentucky Theatre and 'South Pacific' make for some enchanted evening
BY JANET PATTON
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] 16, 2014
Nina and Nick Clooney, George's parents, will host the Kentucky Theatre's grand reopening, featuring South Pacific, which they saw there in 1959. EVAN AGOSTINI — Invision/AP
When the Kentucky Theatre shows the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic South Pacific next week for its grand reopening celebration, it will be a romantic homecoming for the evening's hosts, Nick and Nina Clooney.
The downtown Lexington movie house was where they had their first date in 1959, to see the musical based on the James A. Michener novel. Tickets were 75 cents each.
Then 25, Nick Clooney was living in Lexington, working in broadcasting, and he had been asked to direct the Miss Lexington pageant. Nina Warren, a beautiful University of Kentucky student from Perryville, won the pageant — and Clooney's heart.
"He just swept me off my feet," Nina said in an interview Wednesday. "If I hadn't been right in from the sticks, who knows?"
Nick left little to chance: Before their June first date, he traded in his old Chrysler.
"He was certain I needed to be impressed. So he goes and buys a 1959 cherry-red Corvette," Nina said. "Brand-new. And believe me, I was impressed. I was also horrified, because he came to pick me up at the farm ... and the road up to our house had boulders as big as the car. I was afraid for the car, embarrassed by the road."
But Nick was undaunted.
"Knowing what Nina looked like, I didn't care about the road," Clooney said. "Off we went, on a 50-mile drive, in my brand-spanking-new Corvette, which I barely knew how to drive, to the Kentucky Theatre. It was a very big deal.
"The movie was South Pacific, and I had been lucky enough as a kid to see it in the theater in New York, when visiting my sister Rosemary. So I was being a big-shot, telling her what the movie was going to be about."
It was raining on the way up, Nick remembers, so he put the hard top on the car, a convertible.
"But the roof leaked, and it leaked all over her nylons," he said.
Didn't matter.
"It was beautiful, and a terrific story," Nina said.
"The Technicolor just enveloped you, with Mitzi Gaynor, just as cute as 7-Up ... And the music. It was great," Nick said.
Must have been: They were married two months later.
Like their nearly 55-year marriage, the film has staying power.
"It's a great film, a cutting from time," said Nick, who once used the Kentucky Theatre as the set for introducing (what else?) South Pacific when he was the classic-films host on the AMC television network.
Nick also has lectured at American University on films and how they have shaped our times.
South Pacific, a musical about the romance between an American nurse and a Frenchman on a tropical island, reflects the World War II era, Nick said.
"Everything before it led up to it and everything since led away from it," Clooney said.
The film's themes of American optimism and overcoming racism resonate today, he said.
Despite the cultural relevance, his favorite memory from that night in June 1959 is more personal.
"If I go back to the moment, with Nina and me, it's the love song from it: Some Enchanted Evening," Clooney said.
"Nina knocked my socks off the very first time I saw her. Nina was Nina. She's absolutely one of a kind. And she's still a knockout. I married the prettiest girl I ever saw, and we had two kids (George and Ada), who still talk to me."
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Last edited by Mazy on Mon 02 Jun 2014, 10:10; edited 1 time in total
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by bgarabedian Mon 02 Jun 2014, 07:46
Beautiful parents of George Clooney. Very happy, and loving smile and Nina looks stunning and is very beautiful. Loving couple and are very proud of George Clooney and they are just nice kind people. love your famlly, bg
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by Katiedot Mon 02 Jun 2014, 09:53
That's such a great story of their first date. And if I'm not mistaken, that's the car that Nick ended up giving to George isn't it?
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by Mazy Mon 02 Jun 2014, 09:57
Katiedot wrote:That's such a great story of their first date. And if I'm not mistaken, that's the car that Nick ended up giving to George isn't it?
I think so but not 100%.
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by it's me Mon 02 Jun 2014, 09:58
Must have been: They were married two months later.
oh my!!!
was it usual
or unusual ?
oh my!!!
was it usual
or unusual ?
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by Joanna Mon 02 Jun 2014, 10:51
Lovely anecdotes from The Clooneys.
South Pacific aye ?
Memories for me regarding seeing that film
in the 60's here in UK on a very cold frozen snowy day !
Such a contrast to the film.
That Kentucky theatre certainly looks wonderful.
South Pacific aye ?
Memories for me regarding seeing that film
in the 60's here in UK on a very cold frozen snowy day !
Such a contrast to the film.
That Kentucky theatre certainly looks wonderful.
Joanna- George Clooney fan forever!
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by Alisonfan Mon 02 Jun 2014, 11:00
it's me wrote:Must have been: They were married two months later.
oh my!!!
was it usual
or unusual ?
Usual, when love knocks you of your feet. George with the whole engagement thing going on is not in the same league . Nice to meet a man who knows his own mind, if George was like his Dad he would have married Amal before Christmas.
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by LornaDoone Mon 02 Jun 2014, 13:24
Unusual it's me. Most people take longer to get to know each other.
Nick said they were at a dinner, he asked Nina for the butter, then as she passed it to him he asked her to marry him. Luckily for him she said yes.
Nick said they were at a dinner, he asked Nina for the butter, then as she passed it to him he asked her to marry him. Luckily for him she said yes.
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by it's me Mon 02 Jun 2014, 13:39
totally head over heels
both of them
I guess
both of them
I guess
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by hathaross Mon 02 Jun 2014, 13:53
Aaawww that is a beautiful story 
They are a great couple, and great people. You can see why George is how he is, and I guess Ada is same. Their children must be so proud of them.
They are a great couple, and great people. You can see why George is how he is, and I guess Ada is same. Their children must be so proud of them. 
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by Joanna Mon 02 Jun 2014, 15:57
In 1959 it wasn't usual for young couples to engage in pre marital sex here in UK....same in USA I presume ?
So....if a couple "felt the fever" the only recourse was marriage.
Johnny Cash..."Jackson" ?
Some couples didn't last obviously, some had stickability.
The permissive 60's started the change to where
we are today.
So....if a couple "felt the fever" the only recourse was marriage.
Johnny Cash..."Jackson" ?
Some couples didn't last obviously, some had stickability.
The permissive 60's started the change to where
we are today.
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by LornaDoone Mon 02 Jun 2014, 18:00
Well I wouldn't personally know about that Joanna given I wasn't born in 1959 but I'll take your word for it!
I'm sorry I just couldn't resist!
But in my HISTORY books I did read that. Okay I'm going to stop...
Yes, in the USA pre-marital sex was frowned upon. Not that it didn't happen mind you but it certainly was not the norm.
I'm sorry I just couldn't resist!
But in my HISTORY books I did read that. Okay I'm going to stop...
Yes, in the USA pre-marital sex was frowned upon. Not that it didn't happen mind you but it certainly was not the norm.
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
by Nicky80 Mon 02 Jun 2014, 19:11
Great story.... 
""But the roof leaked, and it leaked all over her nylons," he said."
""But the roof leaked, and it leaked all over her nylons," he said."
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Re: Nick and Nina Clooney attend Kentucky Theater reopening and talk about their first date
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