Julia Garrison
News Editor
A photo of me standing inside the theater right before seeing Les Miserables in 2012. My life was changed.
Randomly and abruptly, a few days after the new year, one of the movie theaters in my town closed. It wasn’t a small theater; it had over 10 auditoriums and saw full houses when I saw “Les Miserables” in 2012, “Nope” in 2022 and –– most recently –– “Wicked” in 2024.
The theater was called Hollywood Theatres, and the name remained even after it was sold to Regal Cinemas at some point during its existence. The theater never changed from how you might envision an “older” movie theater by this point: rows of chairs, cupholders, oddly ornate lights on the walls that dim when the movie starts. This theater also had a small arcade and — for some reason that I still don’t understand — only played intense movie soundtracks in the lobby where the concession stand was.
It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic forced a lot of different entertainment industries to shutter their doors, so I was genuinely surprised to find that both movie theaters in my town were going strong following the pandemic. Hollywood Theatres would play Regal’s secret movie on Mondays, where patrons could pay for a five dollar ticket to a screening of a mystery movie that would come out later in the week. I loved meeting my grandparents here for bad and good films alike –– something that I don’t feel like I can do anymore with the closure of the largest theater that my hometown has to offer.
When the closure was only rumors on social media, I felt myself become very sentimental over the theater’s closure, as any normal person does when something they like is about to close. I can’t help feeling like this nostalgic sentimentality will follow me into adulthood, as many things that I held dearly throughout my childhood are being replaced. Sorry for making fun of you, millennials. This does actually sting.
The emergence of new theaters that operate as hybrids –– like the newly-installed Lyric Theater downtown –– brings me hope. I want the movie theater to be a place where young people can still go to meet with friends and see new films with surround sound and comfortable chairs. I know I can sink thousands of dollars to make my own home setup, but that’s not something I currently have the budget or desire to do.
Seeing a movie in Wooster, either at Movies 10 or the Lyric, is pretty cost-efficient if you’re looking for a fun night with friends. I will remain a patron at my local theater as long as they continue to operate, because I appreciate the space that it gives me to disconnect from other distractions and watch movies. I hope that others will continue to appreciate the joy of going to see a movie while you still can.
Julia Garrison is a News Editor for the Voice. Garrison can be reached for comment at jgarrison25@wooster.edu.
