The Meanwhile Movie Series at Wealthy Theatre just turned five years old.
"When we started the series, there were many types of movies in Grand Rapids, but nobody was showing cult-classic movies," says Erin Wilson, Wealthy Theatre Director. "Probably because it's counter-intuitive that people would pay to see movies they've already seen ten times.
"But we thought it was a good idea."
Wilson says (Meanwhile Bar owner) Jeff Vandenberg met with him as both venues were trying to find their place in the neighborhood, and this idea emerged as authentic and "so crazy it just might work."
"If you look at things in terms of ecology, and we do," Wilson says, "there was space in Grand Rapids for us to introduce a cult-classic movie series."
The first couple years were rough, Wilson says, but The Meanwhile Bar and Wealthy Theatre remained committed to the idea, and they stuck with it.
"Over time, the community has made this into a Tuesday night tradition," Wilson says, "to enjoy a cult classic movie with a bunch of other people - all of whom have seen the movie ten times, already."
But not everybody has seen every movie before, Wilson says.
"Parents bring their children to certain Meanwhile Movies, to see their favorites on the big screen," Wilson says, "but sometimes it's too late on a Tuesday night, for families.
"So we're going to experiment with that, and see how it goes."
As an "experiment," Wealthy Theatre will screen "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" twice on Tuesday.
- 6 p.m. in The Koning Micro-Cinema (capacity: 60 persons).
- 8 p.m. in the main theatre (Peter Wege Auditorium).
Box office opens a half hour before each sceening time.
Members pay $5, non-members pay $6. The members bar will be open.
Wilson says children (12 years and under) accompanied by a parent can enjoy the 6 p.m. screening at no charge.
"We're going to try it out, to see how it goes," Wilson says. "The entire Movies Series is an experiment in progress, and we want to mess with it as much as possible, to make it even more useful to the community.
"We're deeply grateful for our part in what's become a real community tradition, over the past five years, at Wealthy Theatre."
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