ESTEVAN — Estevan’s independent gem, the locally owned and operated Orpheum Theatre, is marking a big anniversary this year.
This week the theatre will celebrate its 110th birthday.
To make it special for the community and to thank everyone for their patronage, Orpheum owners Jocelyn and Alan Dougherty curated a collection of classic movies and people’s favourites, which they will play April 5-7 at no cost to guests.
“I was trying to get a mixture, so that there's a little bit of something for all ages. I wanted some animated and some comedies,” said Jocelyn.
“It was tough. It was a huge list. And then when I did get it narrowed down, not all of them were available either … in DCP [format], that’s what we work with, with our projectors … That's a format for movie theaters, so they'll look astonishing. I'm looking forward to it. Some of these are my favourites, so it'll be nice to see them again.”
They decided to do something different from 10 years ago, when they celebrated the theatre’s centennial. Back then, they had movies from every decade and even some silent movies with live accompaniment. This time they decided to go with a variety of films from different decades featuring something for everyone in the community. Some of them they’ve played before, but others will make it to the Orpheum for the first time.
On Friday, April 5, the Orpheum is starting with Rugrats movie at 1 p.m.
“We played this movie the first year Alan and I bought the theatre in 1998,” Jocelyn shared.
The same day at 3 p.m. will be The SpongeBob SquarePants movie, which was first released in 2004 and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
Finally, at 7 p.m. the theatre will be showing all-time favourite Forrest Gump with Tom Hanks. The film is celebrating its 30th anniversary, Jocelyn noted. Friday will be the only day they will be showing the Oscar-winning flick.
All other movies have different times throughout the three days, so people have a chance to see every one if they so wish. The schedule is available in the accompanying ad in this week’s Mercury, online through the Orpheum’s website at orpheumtheatre.ca and on their social media.
The other movies Orpheum will play on Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7, are:
•E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982);
•Back To the Future (1985) starring Canada's Michael J. Fox;
•Wayne's World (1992), starring Canadian Michael Myers; and
•Up in Smoke, the comic team of Cheech and Chong's big screen debut (1978).
“It will be great seeing these movies on the big screen again. It will be amazing to hear some of the soundtracks with our 7.1 surround sound. Forrest Gump has such great music throughout the entire movie and of course Bohemian Rhapsody in Wayne's World,” Jocelyn said.
Besides a variety of free movies, the theatre will also be giving the 110th customer each day a "swag" bag with some promo items from several different movies and some movie gift certificates.
“[This is our way to say] thank you to everybody. It's still a struggle keeping our doors open this past while between the pandemic and the strikes in Hollywood. We've had trouble finding or getting some content but hopefully that's going to start changing more. But we're keeping our doors open and want to thank everybody for their patronage. And here's hoping the theatre sees another 110 years,” said Jocelyn.
The theatre will also be showing the new Godzilla x. Kong: The New Empire movie, but it will not be a part of the celebration collection and will not be free. They’ll have a matinee on Friday at 1:30 p.m., all seats are $9, and it will play at 7:30 p.m. every night all week at regular admission prices.
