Too many towns have but one vintage theater remaining; it is often located on Main Street or in the heart of downtown, and too often it sits empty. But, of course, those towns are lucky in a way, because other cities have lost their final vintage movie palace. And that is a shame. About as shame-y as the word shame gets.
Then there is our own city, which has a surplus of spectacular cinema venues. No, we're not crowing. No, that is boastful. And no, not all of our theaters are in tip-top shape. There are paint-peeling issues, and much larger tasks beyond the buying of new paint.
But when a theater is very old -- say, it is just about to mark its first century -- and when it is being renovated -- say, like the Palace Theatre is -- and when there is a free tour -- say, like there will be on Saturday, June 25 -- we make mention. Because there are many people grateful to live near such a beautiful and rare space.
Broadway 100 is presenting 100 Years on Broadway, and offering a peek inside the palace. Everything gets going at 11 a.m. on the 25th.
We'll only be the 11,009th person to muse how the movie palace is one of those rare structures that was built to look amazing, even as people entered it to stare, for the most part, at a screen, and not the walls and ceiling. That's remarkable in itself.
