Theater, Theatre (My hometown, pt. 3)
Since my last rant about the theatre production (did I use the word repulsive?), I decided to dedicate next installment to the theatre (not quite in my hometown, but close) and the theaters that I used to go to.
When I was growing up, there were 2 theaters in my neighborhood. I think they both started out as single screens, then went to double screens. There was also a drive-in.
My earliest memory of going to the movies was to the drive-in. My family went to the drive-in. My mom would make a dinner, usually musubis and some kind of meat, and we would go for a double feature. I have no recollection of anything I may have seen there with my family (maybe sis has a clue?). When I was in high school, it was one of a few places to go with your friends, although we didn't go very often.
Daiei used to have a movie theater in the parking lot. Two movies I remember seeing there were Poltergeist and Joy Luck Club. My sister and I begged my mom to see Poltergeist. She finally broke down and took us to see it. It really scared me. For weeks afterwards, we would sneak into each other's bed after mom turned the lights out and closed the door. We didn't want her to know that we were scared because then we wouldn't get to see spooky movies anymore. Of course, thinking back on it, she must have known because she woke us up in the morning and we were in the same bed... The Joy Luck Club, I remember seeing with my friends. We went in late, so the movie was crowded. We were in the first row all the way on the right side of the screen (don't ask me why I remember that detail). I wasn't at all prepared to cry, but I remember sobbing throughout the film and I had no tissue.
The second theatre was closer to my high school and I didn’t start going there until I was in high school. I went on my second date to the theater and saw Little Shop of Horrors. I loved the movie. This theater catered to the military, so there was a lot of testosteroney-type movies. I guess it’s a good thing they split it into a double theater.
Then, there’s the theatre. When I was in high school, the theatre at the high school was all the rage. People were dying to be in the productions. It is the beginning of my love for musical theatre. The first show I saw there could have been Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I knew lots of band people (Trini was one of them) and over the years I grew to love musicals. Like I said in the previous post, they were very well attended events. Most shows were sold out and they hired a police officer to direct traffic.
What are they now? Well, the drive-in is now the campus of a private school. The two movie theaters are still standing, but I think they just rent the spaces out to churches. The theatre is the only thing left. Today, I passed by and glanced in the parking lot (it was the last performance of the show), the lot was mostly full, so that’s promising.
My mood: itchy (from stress?)