It’s been a few months since Red River Theatres has been at full strength.
That’s because a capital campaign project – the first since Red River opened its doors almost 10 years ago – had temporarily shutdown use of the Simchik Cinema.
But the wait is over – and was well worth it. During the first week of February, the screening room was reopened for public use, and after taking a little tour of it last week, we can’t wait to go catch a showing.
Not only was it completely redone, but it turned the Simchik into a totally new movie-going experience.
“It’s like someone’s personal screening room setup,” said Katie Mosher, events and marketing manager at Red River.
They redid the seating, because let’s face it, keeping your bottom happy is one of the biggest factors when you go to the movies. Gone are those standard red chairs that everyone thought were folding chairs (which, for the record, they weren’t). Now there are two rows of big, plush chairs, 22 in all, which brought down capacity quite a bit, but more than makes up for it with their level of comfort.
“I think people are really going to like it,” Mosher said.
The back row has a cafe bar in front of it for your popcorn, candy and drinks, while the front row chairs have little arm tables for all your snacking purposes. If it’s a bigger crowd, they can also bring in more chairs.
“Right now, it’s a work in progress,” Mosher said.
They upgraded the digital projector to 4K, which if you’re not up on the latest visual technology, is the way everything is starting to trend.
“The old projector was on its last legs,” Mosher said.
Another big piece of the movie watching puzzle is your ability to view the screen from a preferred angle and one important part of the project was to improve sightlines, so no matter where you sit, your view will be top-notch.
“The space is so flexible,” Mosher said. “Its always been a versatile space.”
They added sound boards to the back wall and really enhanced the soundproofing, including this carpetlike fabric on some walls. Now they can crank up the volume on just about anything and people in the lobby won’t have a clue what’s going on behind the wall.
“You can really lose yourself in the feeling of being at the movies,” Mosher said. “And that’s the experience we wanted people to have in the Simchik.”
Oh, and not sure if you knew this, but they also added a sweet new bar window. It’s really more for functions, so you won’t be able to grab drinks during the movies, but it is a cool new feature.
“We had a lot of events where people would have a bar, so it made sense,” Mosher said.
If there isn’t a function, the plan is to show films in the Simchik every day.
So you should definitely go check out a showing – it’s an experience worth the price of admission.
