Strand Theatre

Strand sells tickets for $3 and any snack in the place for $2. The theatre is rarely even half full, but the screen is huge and has a large stage in front. Basically, mostly original.

The Strand Theatre seated 484 people.

The web site for this theatre is located at: http://electronicvalley.com/strand.html

The Strand was previously known as the Seymour and the Art.

Recently went there to see Celluar and the place looks great. A new larger screen to see movies and a nice clean theatre with good sound and reasonable prices made it great.

i would like to get a hold of a neon sign that says PARK , I need 2 of them

Nice place! One of the few single-screen movie theaters left in Connecticut. Wonderful neon marquee in pretty good shape. Interior is clean and prices very low. I don't know how much longer this place can survive, but if the good people of Seymour support it with their attendance, perhaps it might stand a chance. I've always felt these small theaters deserved some type of official government recognition for their value to community. I'm not suggesting anything grand, here. Just something as simple as "Governor's Night at the Movies." Once a year, the Governor would make it a point to visit one or more of the remaining single-screen theaters in the state. Just a thought...

I have many good memories about the Strand...which we lovingly called "the scratch house." For a while I worked for Mr. Donovan who owned the Strand in the 50's when I was in high school. I changed the marquee twice a week in return for a couple of bucks and getting to see all the movies I wanted for free. These were the days of the double feature, and if the movies were particularly good, I'd sit through the second showings. The Strand occassionaly had stage events, e.g., yoo yoo exhibitions and beauty pagents. Following the great flood of 1955 which damaged Seymour High School, the Strand was the site of school assemblies. The local Council of the Knights of Columbus owned the Strand for a while, and I believe they were largely responsible for keeping it from being razed. The Knights refinished the social hall over the theater and rented it out for weddings and the like. Indeed a grand old theater.

From the town website:

Culture, Arts, Entertainment
The Culture and Arts Commission organizes an outdoor summer concert series at various locations in the community that features diverse musical styles. The high school Drama Club produces several professional quality plays and musicals and a regional theater company has scheduled several theater performances throughout the year. Commission members oversaw the renovation of the historic Strand Theater at 165 Main Street several years ago. The facility has been the recipient of generous grants and continues to upgrade its lighting and sound. The Art Deco period theater is used for films as well as live theater. It shows second-run feature films 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday.

In 1998 Entertainment Cinemas, a 12-screen movie theater complex in the Tri-Town Plaza shopping center, opened its doors. Located on Derby Avenue at exit 19 off Route 8, Entertainment Cinemas is the lower Naugatuck Valley's only multi-screen theater. This state-of-the-art complex offers movie fans stadium-style seating and stereo surround sound. The theater houses a cafe-style concession stand where, along with popcorn, consumers will find coffee, cappuccino, pizza, nachos, hot dogs, and candy. A recorded listing of current movie features and ticket prices may be heard by calling the box office at 203-734-2000.

From the Naugatuck Arts Commission:

The Strand Theater in Seymour is primarily a second-run movie house seating about 266 patrons. The theater also schedules live performances 3-4 times a year, and has worked with the Thomaston Opera House in running family events previously staged in Thomaston. The Strand Theater does not have its own lighting system, and theater productions must rent or borrow lighting when needed. There is a small orchestra area directly below the stage, and this allows for additional seating, if necessary. The theater is owned by the Knights of Columbus, and leased by the town of Seymour. The manager of the Strand Theater, Jeri Swinik, works with David Duff of the town’s Arts & Cultural Commission to program special usage.

Waterbury Republican-American Online, 10/11/06:

The movies are stale, but the popcorn's fresh. Second-run theaters show blockbusters after other theaters tire of them, but pushing a slightly used product for $2 to $4 a ticket doesn't always pay the rent.

While many old theaters in Connecticut have been closing, others like the Strand Theater in Seymour stay open because people keep coming back for the atmosphere and the familiar faces. "It's nice. You get to know the people," said Jeri Swinik, who has been the manager at the Strand for 11 years. "They come like clockwork. This is their thing to do on a Friday or Saturday." The regulars -- seniors, families, couples -- vary, but Swinik knows them all by name or story.

At the Strand, the red velvet curtains drawn back to reveal the screen make the theater seem like an old playhouse. The three regular employees -- Swinik, the concession operator Amanda Dezolt, and the projectionist John Jelasko -- make the outing seem like visiting a friend's house.

Even the popcorn, soda and candy don't feel like another movie theater: They only cost $2.50 each, less than half the cost of concessions at other theaters. "I don't want to gouge the people," Swinik said.

But that's where these theaters make their money: the concessions. Film distributors can take anywhere from 50 percent of ticket sales upward, the number depending on which company the film comes from. On a night when Swinik rents out the theater to a private party, she said she will still open the concession stand to try to make a profit. It's important, she said, that she can keep the theater self-sustaining.

If the money brought in from birthday parties, theater rentals, ticket stubs and concessions isn't enough to pay the rising utility and rent bills, the town chips in the rest of the cost. Some years the town doesn't pay toward the theater. Some years it gives as much as $20,000, according to the town budget.

But Swinik likes to be able to pay those bills. It's often a battle, though, with movies playing in the first-run places longer, creating fewer crowds when the Strand finally gets the show. On a good night, Swinik said she can get 150 people. An average show brings about 75.

The customers said they hoped the Strand will remain open for more reasons than the cheap tickets and fun atmosphere. It's the memories that keep some of them coming back. "It reminds me of the theater I used to go to as a kid," said regular Strand customer Susan Grobnagger. "And I like that it's trying to revitalize the downtown area. It's nice."

The theater was mentioned in the New Haven Advocate's Annual Manual and it said, "Downtown Seymour is straight out of the 1950s, with a retro diner, a movie theater with ticket prices under $5 and antique stores galore. The Strand Theater still bears its original neon marquee and is one of the las single-screen movie houses in Connecticut.

I was in Seymour but when I called on Saturday to see if she could let me in to check the place out, the only time she gave me was 4:30pm, when she gets there. I was biking to New Haven from Southbury and couldn't make it. Anyway, the interior lobby/hallway chandeliers are quite interesting. They look like 70s circular bathroom lights that you would put on the ceiling but they made them slightly ornate with faux gold chains to hang them from the ceiling. There's some art deco glass squares on the outside of the theater. The building is quite long like a box, with no apparent stagehouse, even though it's from 1921. Standing at the rear, there's a small old school diner to the right and a big billboard directly in front of the rear. There's a metal staircase going up under the billboard and then a platform and stairs going to the right and left to stagedoors.

The area it's in is so interesting. The population is now 17,000 and when it was a booming factory town, it was still small. The Main Street is the smallest I've ever seen. Very quaint and spooky.

Here is a photo of the Strand Theater.

This is a 2009 photo.

Here is an October 12, 2009 article about the Strand needing a little fixing up.

Good to see that it is still open,if only on the weekends, hope they can just repair the marquee instead of putting up those cheap looking replacements like most old theatres do.