Garden Theatre runs first film in 45 years

posted by irvl on January 31, 2008 at 8:00 am

WINTER GARDEN, FL — The first film to be projected in the restored Garden Theatre was shown Saturday night, January 26. The movie was SHE, and it was the first production ever shown in the house when it opened in 1935.

The theatre opens officially on Friday, February 1, with the Jester Theatre production, THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS. Call 407-877-GRDN for tickets. The website is here.

(Thanks to Irv Lipscomb for providing the photo.)

Theaters in this post

Comments (10)

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short on January 31, 2008 at 9:20 am

If that is the ceiling they installed, the Garden has not been restored. You just can’t say that if the entire “sky” has been covered up. Renovated would be a better word.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad the facility is active.

terrywade
terrywade on January 31, 2008 at 9:49 pm

The screen masking seems to be off? Does it go up any more. Do they do video or film 35mm? Any Dolby Stereo in the new place? I hope they have color lights up on the sides. Good luck with the new house.

drumrboy36
drumrboy36 on February 1, 2008 at 4:24 am

A drop ceiling? You have got to be joking. Is that the “ before” picture?

irvl
irvl on February 1, 2008 at 7:52 am

In the picture, you are looking at in incomplete installation. The stage curtains and some masking are not installed yet. We had to open while the construction work is finishing up. We are using DVD high definition projection. The sound system is state of the art stereo—I’m not sure about Dolby. We have a Conn theatre organ in storage that will be installed within the next few months. The drop ceiling was advised by an acoustician to improve the sound reproduction in the hall. Spanish lanterns with amber lamps will light the sides.

PeterApruzzese
PeterApruzzese on February 1, 2008 at 8:03 am

Good luck with everything! Just one thing – DVDs are not high-definition.

terrywade
terrywade on February 1, 2008 at 9:48 am

I don’t see any stereo surround speakers. Are they hidden in the false ceiling? Please put in blue lights in the side lights when you run a Dvd. Are the stage curtains going to open and close? Go up and down waterfall or open side ways? Hope you can get some 35mm projectors some day. You need the correct video lens for 16x9 video. Do you have three stereo speakers behind the screen or just one? If you have 3 place them far right, center and far left to give a better stereo balance. If you don’t want to put in surround speakers on side walls put in rear of theatre. The place looks great. Do you have photos of the marquee and front? Any neon?

drumrboy36
drumrboy36 on February 1, 2008 at 10:17 am

The drop ceiling really destroys the historic look of the theatre. Still, the rest looks great!! Best of luck.

classictoonsand
classictoonsand on May 2, 2008 at 11:28 pm

Please ignore these 35MM film purists. They just can’t accept change. Bravo to your efforts and best of luck! I’ve played over 500 DVDs to my employees after hours and it comes extremely close to film projection WITHOUT the hassle of maintenance nightmare, threading, etc.

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on May 7, 2010 at 10:42 am

Good luck to them.

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