In this episode I journey to Youngstown, Ohio, to tour the Foster Theater on Youngstown's South Side. I'm joined by Lana Shagrin Oyer, whose father, Joseph Shagrin, built the Foster and managed it for twenty-five years. Along the way we learn about the Foster's history, the forces that have shaped the neighborhood over the last eighty years, and what the future holds for this theater.

In this first episode of Common Ground: Stories from America's Vintage Movie Theaters, I visit the Colonial, in Belfast, Maine. Belfast has seen some hard times, but this funky, colorful downtown institution has survived, even thrived, under the ownership of Mike Hurley and Therese Bagnardi. I hear about how they put an elephant on the roof, how they built a tunnel to Dreamland, and about when cleanup calls for the leafblower.

The Common Ground Theme is written and performed by Billy Kelly; you can hear more of his work at billykellymusic.com. Additional music from Blue Dot Sessions.

This is the trailer for Common Ground: Stories from America's Vintage Movie Theaters.