As part of its renovation of Milwaukee's East Side movie palace, Milwaukee Film is replacing the seats in one of the small theaters carved out of the Oriental Theatre's main house during a 1988 renovation and you can own some!
Head over to the Oriental, 2230 N. Farwell Ave., today until 9 p.m. or Friday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and for $25 each you can take home a comfy theater seat. But (heh, sorry), the seats are sold in connected pairs, so bring $50.
There are about 220 seats, installed during the 1988 renovation, for sale and you can take home as many as you want – or can carry (they're not delivering them).
Replacement of the seats in the main and east houses is expected to take place next year. The only original seats left in the theater are up in the balcony and the plan, according to Milwaukee Film's Karina Henderson, are expected to be replaced at the same time as the main house seats.
You know you want a comfy @TheOrientalMKE seat for your own home! $25! @mkefilm pic.twitter.com/igxxgwQxzk — Bobby Tanzilo (@BobbyOnMKEcom) June 27, 2019
Henderson thinks those seats will also be sold.
Proceeds from the sale of the seats will help fund theater renovations.
The seat replacement in the west house is slated to be complete by September.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
