Everything old is new again at revamped State Theatre

TRAVERSE CITY -- A little more than year ago, it was a mess. Well, an organized mess, but still a wear-your-work-clothes and put-on-your-boots kind of place.

Now, on its one-year anniversary, the State Theatre is a downtown treasure. Patrons, staff and volunteers look back on the first year of operations.

Michael Moore, founder of the Traverse City Film Festival and programmer for the State Theatre

"I love the 'town square effect' of the theater. We have different groups, different people coming together for discussions and events. We've had farmers for a local food event that sold out the theater and we had to turn away 80 just last weekend from 'Flow.'

"We've had everything from debates to the St. Francis state football championship. It's a home for everyone in the community.

"People's perceptions are right -- Hollywood is full of liberals who make liberal-leaning movies. But I don't want the State Theatre to be like that. I've made a concerted effort to include conservatives and Republicans and to get them to come to the theater.

"People have thanked me. They've said, 'I don't agree with your politics, but thank you for bringing this theater back.'

Barry says there are 21/2 paid house managers and four to five volunteer house managers. Together, they make sure the theater's clean, the popcorn's fresh, the marquee is up to date and much, much more.

Barry notices a dropoff in enthusiasm over the past year and says there are some shifts where there aren't enough volunteers. "On the other hand," she says, "people know us and love us."

The best part of her job, which takes up 40 to 60 hours each week, is that "every day is different."

"We might have 400 kids at a matinee, then an opera about an atomic bomb. I'm just having a blast."

"The letters get stiff and it's $30 if one breaks. Plus, it's hard to reach the top line."

"Early on, we had a man come in about 8 a.m. to buy tickets to the morning matinee.The box office wasn't open yet, but I asked him if he could come in and help us clean. He's a volunteer for Big Brothers and he had his 'little brother' in the car. He wasn't sure if volunteering for the cleanup crew was on the activity list, so he went back to ask. They both came in that morning and helped and now they're regulars."

Wrangling five kids ages 6 to 10, Douglas Brown stays pretty relaxed. The group is at the State for a Saturday morning matinee. It cost $1.50 for all six tickets. "After paying that to take six people to a movie, you don't mind paying for snacks," Brown said. "It's a great thing to do with kids, especially when it's cold or rainy."

Among his charges is his daughter, Lisa, 10, a fifth-grader at Old Mission Elementary. She's the veteran of the group, with this matinee being her third movie at the State.

"'The Wizard of Oz' was the best," she says. Her favorite thing about the theater is when the curtain rises over the big screen.

First-time movie-goers Jordan and Taylor Pellerito, 10-year-old twins, are entranced by the starry ceiling.

Libby, a teacher at The Leelanau School, moved to Traverse City three years ago. He had been living in England and wanted to come home to the lakes and woods and nature but was worried about missing the culture he'd experienced in Europe.

Among his highlights from the past year are the recent Animation Festival, which he enjoyed as an educator and a movie-goer. "I hope it becomes a regular event," he says. He also likes the mix of movies he gets to see, including "Juno" and "Atonement" in the same week. "That's two ends of the spectrum right there," he says.

His 31/2-year-old daughter Ivy loves to see the starry ceiling, she says, and particularly enjoyed "The Wizard of Oz."

Peiffer has been working the box office "almost every Saturday and Sunday morning" since the theater opened in November 2007.

"The fire alarm during the opera" will be the event she remembers the most from the first year.

"La Boheme" was beamed live via satellite to the State on April 5. The performance was sold out. At intermission, the fire alarm went off. Peiffer had been working prior to the opera, then left and returned later to go to a movie. They put her back to work.

"They had contacted New York and were able to resume the opera at the place they'd left off," she says, "but there was a long break while they worked on the fire alarm, then all the opera-goers got free tickets, so I got back in the box office and started working on that."

"The opera is number one our list," says Campbell of Traverse City, who, along with his wife Sallie, plans to attend every opera this season. "We've only been to a few movies, but we love the opera. 'Romeo and Juliet' was phenomenal."

Olpin says that even though his perch in the projection room is nowhere near the best seat in the house, he thinks he has the best job in the world. Besides rolling the movies, he makes the trailers and programs the preshow music.

"We try to make everything special, from the Batman curtain graphic to the custom lighting at 'Iron Man' to the music," Olpin says. "It's something we can do as a single-screen movie theater."

He's especially proud of the Election Fest trailer he made touting 21 movies in 18 days and loves the "Wizard of Oz" trailer. "We had the trailer from the 1940s but at the end it said 'Coming Soon to the State' in the same font."

Olpin loves the movies, but also likes the non-movie events, including author Greg Mortenson speaking about his book "Three Cups of Tea" and the presidential and vice-presidential debates.

The fire alarm during "La Boheme" will also stick in his mind as far as first-year memories.

"I quickly plugged in the DVR and started recording the opera," he says. "It's no big deal if a fire alarm goes off during a movie, but during a live broadcast it can be bad. Now I run the DVR as a matter of course during the operas."

"One of the highlights for me has been the formation of the student film club," Stanton says. "I was always interested in the educational aspects of the theater, looking for ways to bring kids in.

"I formed the club with Traverse City Central, Traverse City West and Suttons Bay high schools. The students pick a movie, staff it and introduce it. They also show a short they made before the movie.

"Before they screened the original '3:10 To Yuma,' Margaret Parsons at Central interviewed Elmore Leonard, the writer of the short story the movie is based on. Another student interviewed Gretchen Mol, who starred in the remake.

"It's a great way to help kids learn to watch movies, learn about movies and learn to make movies."

Rotary Charities sold the State Theatre to the Traverese City Film Festival for $1 in 2007. Marsha Smith has been a strong supporter and regular attendee of the theater throughout the year. In an e-mail, she recounted what she'll remember most from the first year.

-- Most exciting event: Opening night, it was fun, glamorous, emotional and very memorable.

-- Proudest moment: Holding the Grand Vision Decision Kickoff event there to a "sold-out" house and sharing the stage with Michael Moore and Carl Levin, as the citizens of our region moved forward in a hopeful and positive manner to build a prosperous future.

-- Best film: "Lars and the Real Girl" -- oh, if only people really would treat each so kindly, decently and respectfully!

-- Most touching story: Greg Smith, a Rotary Charities board member (and no relation to me) has a recollection of Buzz from the day we closed the deal, May 29, 2007. Greg says he walked into the cool dark theater after the "big key presentation" out front in the hot glaring sun. As he stood in the back of the room and his eyes adjusted to the dark, he noticed Buzz sitting in the middle of the third row just staring at the empty stage. Greg said the look on Buzz's face was priceless. Buzz looked like a kid again, so full of happiness and expectation. Buzz did amazing things for the State Theatre, but the State Theatre also did amazing things for Buzz -- it made him a kid again and helped him realize a dream.

Photos

More than 400 people fill the finished product to watch Traverse City St. Francis take on Mendon in the state championship game. The State would like to continue the football tradition this year. Record-Eagle

Student film club members Heather McKitrick, Travis Smith and Susanna Suchan on concessions. Record-Eagle

Construction workers finish up renovations of the State Theatre. Record-Eagle

Michael Moore before the theater's grand reopening. Record-Eagle file photo