July 14, 2002
CONTACT: Leland Stein

Positively 4th Street: Reviving the '60s folk scene on film
By Loren King, Globe Staff, 7/14/2002


Murray Lerner's feature documentary ''Festival! Newport Folk 1963-66'' has been out of theatrical distribution for nearly 10 years. But this definitive portrait of the folk scene of the '60s and its major players - Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, July Collins, Donovan, Odetta, Peter, Paul & Mary - the film that paved the way for ''Woodstock'' and others on counterculture music, holds a loyal and youthful following. Lerner, who lives in New York and summers on Martha's Vineyard, says there's renewed interest ''among the kids'' in the philosophy and folk music of the early to mid-'60s.

The Arlington Regent Theatre, now under the stewardship of musician Gary Adelson, has booked Lerner's Oscar-nominated documentary for a one-night-only engagement on July 29, in conjunction with Harvard Square's celebrated Club Passim. The film will be followed by live performances from three rising stars of the contemporary acoustic world: Deb Talan, Rachael Davis, and Sean Staples's the Resophonics. For Lerner, the performances complement his documentary, which is more than a filmed record.

''There's a philosophy in the film. It's about the purity and idealism of music that hadn't yet been corrupted by commercialism,'' says Lerner, who won an Oscar in 1981 for his documentary ''From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China.''

Lerner's ''Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix Live at the Isle of Wight'' played at the Regent in April, along with other Lerner music films including ''Festival!,'' but ''there was so much emphasis on the Hendrix film that the other films got overshadowed and were not as well attended,'' says Leland Stein, who's helping Adelson turn the beloved 500-seat neighborhood theater into a performing arts/film space with children's shows and live performances.

''Festival!'' screens at 7 p.m., followed by the concert, which will be a preview to Club Passim's Roots Stage at the Apple and Eve Newport Folk Festival on Aug. 3 and 4, at which Bob Dylan - at age 61 - will make a historic return. The Regent Theatre is at 7 Medford St. in Arlington Center. Tickets are $12 at the door and $10 in advance. For tickets and information call 781-646-4TIX or visit http://www.clubpassim.org/ or http://www.regenttheatre.com/home.html.