Something funky is happening to Towson's night life.
The historic Towson Theatre in the heart of Baltimore County suburbia is reopening tonight as a high-profile concert venue serving a new blend of live music. Whether it's acid jazz, reggae, rock or swing, this old movie house is hoping to become the next "it" place.
The event doesn't just signal the theater's transformation from billiards parlor to a concert hall accommodating 850 people. It also marks Towson's latest attempt to attract night life to a troubled commercial area.
"Now there's something to do in Towson," said Brian Recher, 39, a co-owner of the renamed Recher Theatre, which has been in his family for 40 years. "There is no other live venue in the area at all.
"We believe that if you build something attractive and you have the right kind of show, people will come," Recher added.
Recher and his two brothers, Steve, 42, and Scott, 34, opened an upscale billiards parlor in the building in 1996, four years after the cinema closed when a multiplex theater opened across the street in Towson Commons.
Rec Room Billiards quickly became a success as Towson University students and town residents frequented the parlor for its pool, burgers, pizza and late-night breakfast. But it wasn't until the Recher brothers introduced sporadic live music and comedy nights at the theater more than a year ago that the business hit its stride.
"The success we've had in the short amount of time we've done this so far is overwhelming," Brian Recher said.
Working with Paul Manna's 24-7 Entertainment of Baltimore and Walther Productions of Columbia, the theater has been able to bring groups such as rock band Laughing Colors from Annapolis, reggae artists Jah Works and the phat blues and Baltimore-based Kelly Bell Band into town. Some of these concerts drew 500 to 600 people from as far as New York and the Carolinas.
"We brought people to Towson who wouldn't normally come here," said Scott Recher as workers dismantled pool tables last week to prepare for the concert hall's opening. "We're hoping for spillover. We're hoping other restaurants are benefiting as our customers are stopping to get something to eat before the show."
The newly renovated theater will feature regular performances. The owners also have added a dance floor and a bar. In the building next door, the Rechers plan to open a restaurant and a cocktail lounge with billiards this summer.
"It will benefit Towson and Baltimore County to have an attraction in town," said Brian Recher.
It's a purpose that the Towson Theatre is familiar with. First opened in 1929, the theater on York Road played host to the Marx Brothers and other vaude- ville acts. As talkies emerged, it became the town's only movie house. People stood in lines that stretched around the block to see Hollywood legends Greer Garson, Greta Garbo and Fred Astaire in their newest flicks.
The movie house was purchased in 1959 by the Recher brothers' grandparents, Stanley and Elizabeth Baker, whose family at one time owned more than a dozen Baltimore theaters. Barbara Recher took over the business in 1974 after her parents died, but in 1982, began leasing the building to major theater chains such as Loews.
"I think the mere fact that we've been able to keep this in the family and make it successful is a wonderful thing," Scott said. "This new thing is risky, but we think it will pay off."
Pub Date: 3/11/99