I'll be the first to admit that I've been negligent in not heading over to the Grandview Theatre since the free horror trailerthon back in December. Work and other activities are a convenient excuse, but what it boils down to is that I tend to be a creature of habit, and having not gone to a regular show at the old barn in a few years I just got lax in my attendance. But today, I moseyed on over to 1247 Grandview Avenue to say hi to Dave Nedrow and to see how the old girl is doing, and I was pleasantly surprised by the general state of things.
For starters, the soundfold is finally up on the auditorium walls, and boy does it look nice. The rear 3/4 of the house is outfitted in silver, while the front (in and around the screen) is all in black, which adds a nice level of depth to the presentation. As well, the added fabric serves to deaden what had been a sometimes obvious reverb in the sound, so that now most everything you hear is much more crisp and full.
More good news comes in the form of the theatre's new video projector. Now, I'm quite critical of video projection in theaters; much of what I've seen in various venues is decidedly inferior, with an overly grainy sheen and washed out blacks. The Blu-Ray presentation of I SELL THE DEAD at last year's Horror Marathon was serviceable, but still lacked the sharpness, clarity and visual depth that it might have had. Well, I'm pleased to say that the theatre's new projector (which, ironically enough, is half the size of the rental from the Horror Marathon) delivers the goods. It's not a true hi-def experience (they are, after all, working on a budget) but the Blu-Ray clip that Dave showed me was impressive in its color, texture and especially in its framing (which is often the main flaw of theatrical video projectors.) Although film presentation is still our #1 priority for the Marathon, I'd be happy to show an indie film with no prints on this system, and I'm sure that we'll be able to pull out more of the archival videos of Marathons past that we wanted to show last year come this October.
And speaking of projection, a tour of the booth showed a well-oiled machine in operation. I know that Dave was aggravated by the various projection problems that bedeviled the system late last year, but everything looked to be in top notch shape. And plans are still afoot to install a second projector, which should help even more in procuring archival prints. It's admirable to see a theater devote so much time to ensuring a quality presentation for all shows, in all formats.
It's been a long haul for Dave and his wife/partner in crime Jennifer. I know that they expected to be up and fully running earlier, but a flaky economy and the somewhat dire state of the theater postponed much of their progress. There are still some kinks to be worked out, notably the installment of the full collection of seats. But I walked away today feeling very excited for their dedication and progress, and confident that this year's Horror Marathon will take place in a facility that should be a great place to spend 24 hours once again.
So in the meantime, shell out and go see a show there. You can help support a local business and a couple of good folks who have been big boosters of an event we all love.
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