Vienna Theatre

blam1 on October 24, 2008 at 12:51 am

When this single was twinned, rather than cut the house lengthwise down the center, they cut across the center, and build a new screen/booth. The original width of the screens maintained, but with a very short throw from the booth port, maintaining focus was somewhat troublesome.

The slope of the floor was maintained, so screen 1 was at a gentle angle, while screen 2 maintained the slop and then curved back up to the orginal screen. The original doors to the house were retained for access to screen 1, and a new hallway was constructed on the outside of the original exterior wall to gain access to the new house. This ‘outside hallway’ was enclosed in a new construction, and the hallway had windows to the parking lot and one-sheet poster cases down the hall.

The screens were so large and the seats so close to the screen, when I saw “The Last Starfighter” there in 1985, I couldn’t read the name “Catherine Mary Stewart” without moving my head. It was literally impossible to watch the entire screen all at once.

I worked there for two weeks in 1987 when it was operated by Showcase theaters. I projected “Over the Top”, “The Color of Money” and “A Room with a View”.

When the site closed, the building was gutted and became an eye glasses shop. The old parking lot has a new building, but the original theater structure still stands.