Entertainment : Reminiscing 25 Years at the Palace Wk 3

Abby, Jackie and Zoey

Reminiscing 25 Years at the Palace Wk 3

By Marcy Horst

Abby, Then and Now

As I mentioned last week, Abby Hilton Cronk has been a member of the Palace family almost as long as I have - since late 2006, with a few breaks. She briefly worked at Farmer's Savings Bank & Trust and Monkeytown, but the big screen pull is real!

Abby now manages the theatre regularly and is our staff graphic artist and social media guru. I love collaborating with Abby. She is creative, knowledgeable about the business, and always eager to try new things.

To check out her latest project you'll have to come to the movies. Abby created a preshow video highlighting 25 years at the Palace. I just love the finished product, and she and I are both excited to get your feedback and inspired memories.

In 1999, photos were still printed from negatives, no digital copies. Many of the early photos you'll see on screen have been scanned and reproduced. Fortunately, scanning technology has come a long way. Then came a gap where digital photos happened, but adequate storage methods had yet to be created. Thankfully, Gerald, our resident technical expert, always makes back-ups of back-ups. He was able to retrieve many photos from the early 2000s from stored external hard drives. After 2009, again, thanks to Ger, I have several Palace pics saved on my computer and in the cloud.

After weeks spent locating and organizing, our task was then to pick and choose from 25 years of photos! You'll see many beloved faces in Abby's video, and more throughout the year as we celebrate 25 years of Palace friends and memories.

Runaway Bride

Speaking of memories, last week we re-screened our first-ever movie at the renovated Palace, "Runaway Bride." Abby and her daughter, Zoey, worked the Wednesday night showing with me. Abby mentioned that she was psyched to see the movie with 11-year-old Zoey and her mom, Jackie, because Abby and her mom had seen the original together. When Abby was 12!

Several more old and new friends and original attendees joined us to celebrate. Kim Staab, who incidentally sees EVERY MOVIE we show at the theatre, came to both the original and last week's rerun, and said, "Runaway Bride" was as good as the first time I saw it!"

Yes, Richard Gere and Julia Roberts hold up.

Upcoming Movies

Next month we'll find out how 25 years looks on both Nicholas Cage in "The Family Man," December 11, and Jim Carrey in "The Grinch," December 18. Abby and I couldn't choose, so we're doing both. "The Family Man" poster was discovered in perfect condition. "The Grinch" is a bit mangled, which tracks. Both are super-fun family films. Be sure to put those dates on your calendar.

Opening this weekend for three showings only, Friday at 2pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 7pm, is "Here," with Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, rated PG13, running 104 minutes.

Synopsis: Multiple generations of couples and families inhabit the same home over the course of a century. Digital detailing is utilized on much of the cast to portray their characters throughout the years.

ACT I's Nutcracker takes the stage Thursday and Friday night and Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Digital Cinema

I know I promised to continue our film saga with more on digital cinema - hold that thought! As we say in the biz, check out the preview:

When former manager Lu Karr trained me in my new role as Palace co-manager, (except for mopping - Aaron Pingenot taught me how to mop the aud) one of the first things she mentioned was that the film industry had begun the process of changing from 35-millimeter to digital projection. She said, "We need to be ready. Do you think Gerald could help us figure it out?"

See you at the movies!