NORTH ADAMS -- Have you ever wanted to see George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" on the silver screen -- in 3D and digitally remastered?
This weekend's special midnight screenings of the zombie cult classic, tonight and Saturday, is just one of the new offerings being added to the schedule at the North Adams Movieplex.
The eight screen cinema, owned and operated by First Hartford Realty Corp., which also owns Steeple City Plaza, will also debut its live broadcasts from The Metropolitan Opera, with "Otello," at 12:55 p.m., on Saturday.
More on tap are midnight screenings of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," on Friday, Nov. 2, and Saturday, Nov. 3, a free community showing of "The Goonies," on Nov. 10, at 11 a.m., and a broadcast of a taped performance of a live Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" on Dec. 1.
"We wanted to add more for the community and more culturally to our offerings," Scott Ingalls, general manager, said Thursday. "We're also showing more art and independent films. We're dedicating one screen to more alternative films. This weekend, we'll be showing ‘The Master.'"
A free showing of "E.T.," earlier this month, sponsored by Dr. Gene Messenger, Zumba in the Berkshires and the Berkshire Dream Center, drew a crowd of about 120 people.
"We're hoping that more people will turn out for our second free offering," Ingalls said. "I'm really excited to see how The
New film offerings and community screening aren't all that's new at the theater, which finished converting its final four screens over to digital projectors at the end of September. There's also an expanded concession stand, serving hot dogs, pizza and ICEE drinks.
"People are responding well to all of our screens being digital," he said. "People are noticing that the films are crisper and clearer; they aren't seeing the graininess and imperfections that film has."
First Hartford, which began the conversion in May with the first four screens, invested between $520,000 to $600,000 in total. The upgrade, changing the projectors over from 35 mm film to digital projectors showing the equivalent of 1080p [high-definition] television picture, also allows the theater to show films in Real 3D.
"Over the summer, we had customers who would call to see which films were being offered in digital [format] because that's what they wanted to see," Rich Lemieux, assistant manager, said. "Now they don't have to worry about it."
Ingalls added that customers are responding positively to the new offerings at the expanded snack bar.
Another new feature of the cinema is an in-progress mural, being painted along the stretch of hallway from the main entrance to the ticket booth, by Kira Guidon and her sister, Sarah George, of Stone Home Studio Design.
"The mural is going to be pretty awesome," Ingalls said. "We had the idea of having a mural painted along the wall and started talking about it. One of my friends mentioned Kira, who submitted her idea."
Guidon said the mural, which features the city's skyline, will have 10 adult figures and one child, each representing a time-period from the city's history.
"At one end, we'll have a 1900's projector, which will show people walking in time, from the beginning of the city as a fort to the present day," she said. "It will end with U.S. Army Spc. Michael DeMarsico holding the hand of a little boy, who will be walking forward into the future. We worked with the DeMarsico family on his image."
Other figures in the mural will be more non-descript, such as a Hoosac Tunnel worker, an employee of Sprague Electric Co., a hippie and a dancer, representing the start of Mass MoCA.
"What's been great is to hear that it's already resonating with people coming into the theater," Guidon said. "People are already relating to the skyline and to the figures."
For more information on North Adams Movieplex and its offerings, call the movie line at 413-663-6300, or go to www.northadamsmovieplex.com.
Font Resize
