A change in ownership for the Somerville Theatre was approved Tuesday by the city’s Licensing Commission, with the Fraiman family passing along responsibilities after 41 years to a crew of trusted employees who say they plan to keep things running as they are. The switch is expected in the spring.
General manager and booker Ian Judge, with 23 years at the theater, is among the new ownership team called CSB Theatres, attorney Anne Vigorito told commissioners, but all four board members present have long histories at the Davis Square entertainment complex with its three traditional movie screens, community room and Crystal Ballroom music venue.
“Richard Fraiman has been the owner for many years. When he told me about this, I said, well, it makes complete sense, they know what they’re doing,” Vigorito said.
Judge underlined that the group – himself, fellow managers Jamie Mattchen and John “Jay” O’Leary and Ian Brownell, of The Brattle Theatre board and podcast and ScreenBoston listings website – expects to run the theater as it is.
“The reason we are doing this isn’t because we think we’re going to get rich, it’s because we value the roles that these theaters play in the community that we live in,” Judge said. “We consider ourselves stewards … We want to make sure that these theaters remain what they are.”
The change was first reported Jan. 2 by Michael Gutierrez of Hump Day News in his Cambridge Day column, Attend.
Commissioners reviewed the purchase and sale agreement – a cash deal with no financing for a five-year lease with the option of a five-year extension – and confirmed with Vigorito that Fraiman continues to own the property and will be landlord for the business run by CSB Theatres. Since it is a lease, “the only thing we had to purchase was the liquor license and the inventory/goodwill,” Judge said.
The limits on the lease is something of a formality, and the Fraimans “want them there for another 100 years,” Vigorito said of the new management group.
Arlington’s Capitol Theatre is also owned by the Fraiman family’s Frame One Theatres. Melvin Fraiman, who passed away in 2022, acquired the Capitol Theatre in 1979 and the Somerville Theatre in 1984. His son, Richard Fraiman, assumed leadership more than a decade ago and oversaw the reintroduction of the space’s Crystal Ballroom in 2021.
Vigorito said she is working on a similar transfer of ownership to the team in Arlington for the Capitol, but the timeline is unclear. (The company name, CSB, simply stands for “Capitol Somerville Ballroom,” Judge said in email – encompassing Arlington and Somerville’s film and music venues.)
“We as a group decided to do this to make sure that the theaters remained independent. Each person involved has deep local roots, lives in the community and recognizes the value in keeping these businesses locally owned and operated,” Judge said. “We’ll continue programming our mix of new films, repertory programs, live music and so on. We’ll continue to work with local schools and businesses. We’ll keep hosting film festivals. Our membership program will continue. Gift cards are all still valid. We’ll continue to schedule public and private events. There will still be real butter on the popcorn.”
“The goal is to make the transition as seamless as possible,” Judge said.
Support for the Somerville Theatre change came from City Council president Judy Pineda Neufeld – who was married at the theater – and councilor Lance Davis, as well as former councilor Jack Connolly, Vigorito said.
Licensing Commission chair Joe Lynch was also enthusiastic. “There is no better partner than the Somerville Theatre,” Lynch said.
The Hollows
Also at the Tuesday meeting, commissioners approved the transfer of the Rudy’s Cafe licensing at 248 Holland St., Teele Square, to a restaurant called The Hollows. The new eatery will be run by Charlie Redd, of Dragon Pizza and the Dragon’s Lair in Davis Square, and partners Doug Sherman and Bridget Zerner. The transaction was a cash sale for what Redd has said he expects to be a “neighborhood haunt.”
“You know you have big shoes to fill up there,” Lynch told the partners.
Rudy’s, a Tex-Mex cantina, closed Sunday. It had been open since 1982.
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