Movie project coming to life at former Rialto Theater

CHAMPAIGN – Talk about a labor of love.

About 90 percent of the people working on a new movie, "Leading Ladies," at the former Rialto Theater are unpaid, for now.

"We hope that when the movie is sold, we can pay them back," producer and co-director Daniel Beahm says of the volunteers, who come from New York, Colorado and, of course, Champaign-Urbana.

The movie's theme is "Let Love Lead," fitting for a ballroom dance setting. The project was nursed over about four years by co-authors Jennifer Bechtel, who teaches theater at Mahomet-Seymour High School, and Erika Randall Beahm, a professor of dance at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The two met when Bechtel operated a novelty store called Hot Diggity in downtown Champaign. Randall Beahm was then a dance instructor at the University of Illinois.

They clicked, went for a lengthy walk at Allerton Park where they hashed out ideas, and then spent every Monday evening together for three years fine-tuning the screenplay.

Bechtel said part of her hopes for the film were to portray gays unsensationally in a family friendly movie. She has extensive experience writing and directing plays for children here.

Meanwhile, the Beahms raised $100,000 to start hiring, and hire they did.

They talked Benji Schwimmer, the first-place winner of "So You Think You Can Dance" and a three-time winner of U.S. Open Swing Dance competitions, into playing Cedric Michaels, a major role. Schwimmer is in two other movies, "Love 'n' Dancing" and "Debonair."

Melanie LaPatin is another big name in dance. She was a longtime U.S. Latin champion and has coached Vanessa Williams, Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo (for the movie "The Thomas Crown Affair"), Patrick Stewart and Jennifer Beals, who famously did not actually dance in "Flashdance."

Most recently, she has choreographed "So You Think You Can Dance" on TV.

LaPatin plays the mother of two dancers. She said she's happy to co-choreograph "Leading Ladies" and experience the Midwest. A New Yorker, she was impressed by the eagerness with which some local people work, even without pay.

Many of the technical staff were drawn into the production when the Beahms talked Pete Biagi into serving as cinematographer. Biagi, who works out of Chicago, did camera work on two Robert Altman films, "The Company" and "A Prairie Home Companion." He has worked on 45 feature films.

"When people heard Pete was involved, everybody wanted to work with him," said Brett Hays of Champaign's Shatterglass Studios. Some of them hope to make connections through him for further movie work, he added.

Costume designer Markas Henry has worked on Broadway in Tony-winners such as "Beauty and The Beast" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie."

Henry's film work includes "Elf."

"That was great fun. My job was overseeing the construction of the elf costume, so I worked a lot with Will Ferrell, who was hilarious," Henry said.

Beahm said he expected filming to be done by June 24, which would give him and his wife time to make "Leading Ladies" a late applicant to the Sundance Film Festival. It will compete in the category of independent Screen Actors Guild movies with a budget around $500,000.

Lots of love left in long-closed Rialto Theater

The Rialto Theater has been closed for 28 years, but it has been full of actors, dancers and movie people lately.

Many of them were born after the Rialto closed, and few others remember the theater hidden away behind William W. Capel Photography, next to another relic, the former Robeson's Department Store.

Yet when Ernie Martin gives a tour, it's clear that if the moviegoers should ever deign to do it, there's a lot of life left in the Rialto.

The marquee is gone, but the RIALTO letters survive in a spot on the balcony. The stage looks great, and there's even some projection equipment left in the booth. Capel and Martin have fully updated the electrical system.

The screen is gone, and many of the seats. But there's still a phone booth on the balcony floor, so you don't have to use your cell phone during the movie.

There has been a theater at 123 W. Church St. since the Belvoir opened in 1915, Four years later, it was renamed the Rialto. For decades, the Russell family owned it; they leased it to the Kerasotes chain in the last few years before it was shuttered n 1981, a time when many downtown single-screen theaters took a hit.

Capel and Martin have resurrected several features, including the stage. They hand-scrubbed the soundproof walls.

"It didn't need to be done quite that thoroughly," Martin admits.

Everywhere there are signs of former glory. Scrubbing off wallpaper, the partners have found an old mural. They can date every small renovation, such as a 1950s shiny wallpaper.

If the men's room sign looks familiar, it's not because of the Rialto. It comes from Campustown's Co-Ed Theater, which was whittled down into several tiny rooms by the Kerasotes chain before it was demolished to make way for Green Street improvements.

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• Mahomet man dies after being struck by car
• Champaign man faces drug, weapons charges
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• Planning commission chief likens agency to corporation
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• Major pane repairs will help with climate, pest control
• Several burglaries to houses, vehicles reported in C-U
• Lincoln Hall occupants clear way for potential renovations
• Obituaries

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