Historic movie theaters often have had to close, or transform into something else, after the growth of television and now, the transition to digital film. Here's how two U.P. theaters have survived the changes.
Historic movie theaters are looking for new life in northern Michigan.
If they can find the funds, that is. Some historic theaters in Michigan's Upper Peninsula are being restored and renovated--but the resurrections can come with a lofty price tag and years of revamp work.
Some don't have much financial support to get it done. Some are lucky enough to be able to. Negaunee's
Vista Theater is among them.
Originally opened in the fall of 1926, the Vista was forced to close its doors--due in part to the widespread popularity of television--in 1972.The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2005.
Today, the Peninsula Arts Appreciation Council (PAAC) owns and operates the historic Vista Theater in downtown Negaunee, and according to the council, uses it to enrich the community with theater productions, concerts, poetry readings, visual arts events, musical reviews and more.
The Vista's films, recently returned to the theater, are frequently older movies--among September and October's showings were "Nosferatu," a 1922 German expressionist horror film, "The Little Princess," with Shirley Temple, in 1939, and "Charade," pairing Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in 1963.
Don't be fooled, though--PAAC made sure the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" also rocked the stage to entertain Marquette County this month. The community approves.
Marquette resident Bobby Glenn Brown, a actor, dancer, singer, performer and director, says, "It's always a pleasure to be on the Vista stage--one of the U.P.'s theatrical treasures."
Other historical theatrical venues are hanging by threads. The
Tahqua-Land Theater of Newberry, Michigan is in dire financial straits in an effort to keep up with the ever-evolving technological advances in film.
"I've owned and operated this place for over 40 years," owner Fred Dunkeld says, of his theater, built during the Depression and originally called "The State Theatre. "All of this [antiquated] equipment is being replaced with one little digital projector. A $40,000 digital projector."
Dunkeld knows that going digital is crucial to be able to keep Tahqua-Land in operation--but with the costs being so high to do so, he has launched a fundraising campaign called "Digital or Die," hoping to raise the $35,000 in community support it will take to remain open. At press time, he was still $15,000 short with very little time left in his campaign.
"We'll have to convert," he says. "That's what our future is. Either go digital or die."
Kelle Barr is a Michigan-based freelance reporter who can be reached atKellebarr@gmail.com or on Twitter at @BarrKelle.
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