During the final weeks of January, in the shadow of Sundance with all its hype and glory, Trolley Square Cinemas crept quietly into a corner and died.
Yes, I’m going to be melodramatic about it. Let us don our clothes of mourning. Trolley Square, a chic and trendy tourist destination frequented for the most part by out-of-staters, has no more use for a theater and has closed Regency Theatres in the first step of renovating it out of existence.
The now-humble theater opened grandly in 1988 as a Cineplex Odeon, with luxury unmatched by its competitors at the time: curtains for each of its four screens and Dolby Stereo, the height of movie sound technology. Its first closure was in February of 2001, a result of Cineplex Odeon’s bankruptcy. For two years, the theatre lay dormant before it was finally picked up again in April of 2003 by Madstone Theaters. The renovations of new sound equipment, wider rows, a sparkling lobby and the theater’s self-proclaimed title of “art house” failed to attract the necessary numbers of moviegoers. Madstone dreamed big, picturing “a distinctive, community-oriented cinema experience through varied programming, engaging discussion and collaborative partnerships with local and national organizations,” but unfortunately it, too, went out of business, closing its SLC branch in June of 2004.
Regency Theatres offered residents a Christmas present, opening the theater again on Dec. 25, 2004, promising such treats as espressos, foreign chocolates and Q-and-A sessions with filmmakers. It delivered on the gourmet treats, and in hosting Sundance screenings, it delivered on the second, but the visionaries who dreamed of turning the little theater into a year-round Sundance-like experience failed. Now the effort to keep the theatre alive is lost forever in the annals of www.utahtheaters.info, which faithfully chronicles the open, the closed, the never-opened and the demolished theaters throughout Utah.
The Salt Lake Film Society now reigns as the premiere source of independent film in Utah. Its beloved venues, the Tower Theatre (876 E. and 900 South) and Broadway Centre Cinemas (111 E. and 300 South), continue to screen the films that, although excellent, never hit the Megaplexes — for instance, this week’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “Persepolis.”
The importance of such “alternative” venues is unquestionable, yet the venues seem to receive little support (go to Broadway Centre on a Friday night at 7:30 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. and enjoy four or five seats to yourself if you like. In fact, take the whole row — it’s likely no one will object). The shiny Megaplexes and Cinemarks seem to monopolize the market despite the higher quality and better variety of products (and sometimes lower prices) offered by the local competition, much like Wal-Mart’s domination despite its unethical business practices and the availability of local markets (Dan’s, Harmon’s, Liberty Heights and Emigration markets).
Why, in the homestate of Sundance — the supposed best indie-orgy of the west — does the art house theatre suffer? Why, in close proximity to Salt Lake Community College and the U, does the Broadway Centre Cinemas fail to attract a crowd?
Is it the lack of advertising? Disinterest in independent film?
I’m inclined to believe that a lot of the problem is laziness on the part of consumers, as independent film (character and dialogue driven, fewer special effects and more unusual endings) has never been healthier. With such movies as “Little Miss Sunshine'” and “Juno” hitting the big time and big actors working on the kind of scripts that film festivals love and Hollywood execs hate, it’s easy to believe, na’ve or no, that art is thriving in the face of commercialism.
Word of mouth is essential to small, local, art-loving ventures. We need to call on our friends and neighbors to patronize these smaller cinemas. Some of the films are oddballs, some of them brilliant, but all of them are a little different and worth the price of admission (only $5.50 on Tuesdays for students) if only for the satisfaction of supporting local business, independent film and all that is creative, good and free in the world.
Cinema fails to attract crowd, dies