- Kathleen Nyberg/McMenamins
- ST. JOHNS THEATER AND PUB New screen, new seats, new sound, new movies. Old dome.
McMenamins has been on THEATER-RENOVATING TEAR lately: Last year they renovated the Bagdad Theater, turning it back into a first-run theater, not to mention the best place to see new movies in SE Portland. Last spring, they renovated the Mission, shifting that venue’s focus from events to second-run films. And now, the regional behemoth has cast its gaze northward and decided to fix up the St. Johns Theater and Pub. Starting this Friday with The Boxtrolls, the St. Johns Theater and Pub will stop showing older, second-run films and start showing new, first-run films.
“We increased the size of the screen as much as the space allows, upgraded the sound, and added comfortable theater seating,” says McMenamins Chief Operations Officer Lars Raleigh. “We left a lot of space in between rows so people aren’t shoehorned in.”
Noting the building’s extensive history (it was originally built on the other side of the Willamette as a theater for the 1905 World Expo, then was pulled by oxen teams across the river, because people in olden times knew how to work, unlike you), Raleigh notes that it was key to maintain the building’s “very unique space.” In other words, don’t expect that seeing a movie at the St. Johns Theater and Pub will feel like seeing a movie at the Bagdad. Not only is it much smaller—the dome-roofed auditorium at the St. Johns Theater seats 90, while the Bagdad seats over 500—but, as Raleigh says, “The space has charm where the Bagdad has awe.”
As is the case with the Bagdad and the Mission—and all of McMenamins’ theaters—the bookings at the renovated St. Johns theater will be overseen by Greg Wood, who also owns the Roseway Theater on NE Sandy and manages the Cinerama in Seattle (arguably the best theater in the Pacific Northwest, and another place that’s currently getting some work done).
Wood had an open mind when I asked him how the booking at the St. Johns theater would compare to the films that show at the Bagdad and the Roseway, let alone McMenamins’ other theater pubs.
“I always believe each theater has a life of its own and should be treated accordingly. Thus, for programming it’s really a case-by-case basis,” Wood says. He adds that they’re still trying to “figure out what the future holds” when it comes to McMenamins’ five theater pubs in the Portland area. “Some will be clearly first-run, and others will take a more dynamic mix of second-run and rep titles as we go.”
Since switching from cheaper second-run theaters to more expensive first-run theaters seems to be a trend for McMenamins, I was also curious if the writing is on the wall for McMenamins’ remaining second-run theaters.
“There are advantages and disadvantages to both [first-run and second-run],” says Raleigh. Because second-run theaters don’t have to worry about restrictive deals with film distributors—who can determine how many times a theater has to play a movie in its opening week, for example—second-run houses have more freedom to book what Raleigh calls “non-movie programming,” like live music, Blazers and Timbers games, lectures, and comedy. But that flexibility comes with a risk.
“Second-run movies do so so, and they seem to do okay at some places,” Raleigh says. “It seems to work okay at Kennedy, but was terrible at Bagdad. We were pretty nervous about converting Bagdad [to first-run], but it seems to have been a home run. Mission is still second-run. We are trying to work out what programming works best there…. Right now, we are leaving Kennedy in second-run, but we will probably do some updating to the seating, screen, sound, etc. It’s been a constant discussion on what we want to do there.”
Raleigh adds that before the renovations, St. Johns Theater and Pub was a magnet for sports fans. “[The] Ducks, Beavers, Seahawks, Timbers, [and] Blazers had a pretty good following on the big screen there,” Raleigh says. “Second-run movies, not so much…. We decided that we would give first-run a shot, so we are going to first-run movies full time in there. The pub has an upstairs balcony, [so] we are going to add big screen TV in there to accommodate our TV sport-viewing fans.”
Admission prices for first-run movies at the St. Johns Theater and Pub will be $7 for adults and $5 for kids—probably not coincidentally, those are the same prices one currently pays at St. Johns’ other movie theater, the first-run St. Johns Twin Cinemas. The St. Johns Twin has long been one of the more charming and less crowded options for first-run movies in the area. Now St. Johns residents—and Portlanders who don’t mind the trip—will have another option. At least when it comes to new movies.
We’ll have showtimes for the St. Johns Theater and Pub—along with all of our other movie times, and a review of The Boxtrolls—online later this week.
LAME.
Oh monopolizing corporations, they’re so cute until they bite and take over.