click to enlarge Photo by Ryan Filgas

The Eureka Theater.

The Eureka Theater is many things. It's a stately cinema hall lovingly restored to its Art Deco glory through years of hard work by preservationists and volunteers. Its stage supports artists of all types: musicians, dancers, comedians and vaudeville performers. Its velvet seats transport audiences back through decades with classic and cult films, many previously only seen on TVs and tablets — without that special sense of shared experience in a vast auditorium on a full and magnificent screen. It is a grande dame and a class act all the way. On Saturday, March 2, the Eureka Theater turns 80 years old. Cue applause.

Celebrate its octogenarian status with a one-time-only 35mm screening of the first movie ever shown at the Eureka Theater: Going Places (1938) on Saturday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. ($8). Settle in for that feeling you get when you sit in the same cushioned seat some chap sat in 80 years before you, eyes up at the same screen, watching the same credits roll.

Come back Sunday for more nostalgia. It's a 1939 Triple Feature all day March 3 from 2:30 to 8:30 p.m. with showings of The Wizard of Oz, Destry Rides Again and At The Circus — with cartoons and shorts filling in the gaps. Admission is at original 1939 prices: 35 cents for adults, 10 cents for kids 12 and under. All you need is couch cushion change, plus a few singles for a bag of popcorn and a soda. At these prices, dropping a fiver or two in the theater renovation jar is easy-peasy. Beer, wine and cocktails are available for those with ID at the respectable hour of 4:30 p.m. Cheers, old gal.