Somehow, the thrill factor goes up exponentially when you’re rocking back on a velvety cushioned chair, buttery popcorn in hand, high up in the balcony of a nearly hundred-year-old theater.
Welcome to the historic Edmonds Theater, built in 1923. The theater has thrived through ownership and name changes (it opened as the Princess and became the Edgemont), the transition to the digital age that ended the lifespan of so many single-screen theaters, and a pandemic.
“I love the upstairs, but the whole place is amazing,” enthused patron James Williams, Jr. in offering a social media review. “When I go there it’s like taking a ride in the DeLorean, back in time. I like being able to take my kids to a place that reminds me of what things were like when I was their age.
The first talking picture, “Broadway Melody,” hit the screen in Edmonds six years after the theater opened. “Talkies” came at a cost, though. The ticket prices were jacked to a full 35 cents per movie — a ticket price that would amount to $5.60 today. Today’s prices remain around a third less of the big chain theaters’.
The theater in Edmonds historic downtown is a central community gathering place, showing new and old movies, hosting birthday parties, private events, the city-run Diversity Film Series and free holiday movies for families.
While it’s already a perfect place, it ups the ante of perfection with bottomless, fresh-popped popcorn. It just doesn't get any better than that.
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