A Valentine's Day screening of the 1952 film "Singin' in the Rain" might offer couples a fun date idea, Rebecca Stanze, the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Associate Director, said.
The Buskirk-Chumley Theater will screen "Singin' in the Rain" 7:30 p.m. this Wednesday evening.
Tickets are $7 and are available online or at the door.
Stanze said the film continues the theater’s tradition of showing older films.
“We have a tradition of screening occasional classic films,” she said. “That’s something that we like to do as a theater, and we’ve gotten a great response so far.”
The film, a widely beloved and much-celebrated musical in the eyes of critics and film fans alike, follows a silent film production company in the 1920s as it makes the arduous transition to using sound. It stars Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds.
Stanze said she thinks screening the film is a nice way of honoring the theater’s roots.
“This film is a really great match for this theater,” she said. “The age of the scenes that are being depicted on the screen are a really great match for the era of this theater and the beauty of this theater.”
The Buskirk, Stanze said, was originally built as a classic movie theater.
“It was built as a silent movie theater," Stanze said. "It was a theater for most of its life, so we like to keep that tradition alive by showing classic films."
She said the film has lots of allure in general, and she hopes it will offer anyone in search of fun Valentine’s Day plans a nice evening.
“We are looking to screen classic films with popular appeal, and this is one of the best movie musicals in the history of movie musicals,” she said. “It’s something that we thought would have good crowd appeal.”
The Burkirk-Chumley staff prefers to settle into its own niche for film screenings, said Stanze. While other community theaters show popular current films or obscure avant-garde pieces, Stanze said she feels classic movies are the Buskirk’s thing.
Stanze said the Buskirk-Chumley staff wanted to make the event into a bit of a celebration by decking out the lobby with colorful umbrellas. They will also offer a selfie station for couples in need of a cute Valentine’s Day Instagram snapshot.
“We’re hoping to make this into a bit of a party,” Stanze said. “We’re expecting a really good crowd, and it’s such a joyous movie that I think everybody will have a really good time.”
The film, like all great films, is a wonderful experience to see on the big screen, Stanze said. She noted that the film’s costumes and musical numbers seemed best suited for the big screen.
“This film is really known for its colors and its costumes and things like that,” Stanze said. “It’s a really great film to see in a movie theater where everything glitters in gold and bronze.”
