The outside marquee won't be ready until the end of the month. Neither will the licence to sell beer and wine.

But the 280 new rocker seats with adjustable arm rests have arrived. The state-of-the-art digital projector and the all-new surround-sound system are ready to be fired up.

The specially designed confection stand is getting some last-minute touch-ups for Friday's opening of the beautifully restored Playhouse Cinema on Sherman Avenue North with a special showing of the Academy Award winning classic "Cinema Paradiso."

Standing below the lobby's sparkling new stamped tin ceiling, you can almost smell the fresh popcorn the new owners will be serving up — topped with real butter.

The 105-year-old Playhouse is a wonderful vestige of the city's past. Built in 1914, the year the First World War began, as one of the city's first Vaudeville houses.

It offered live theatre and silent movies in an opulent architectural setting unique to the time. Fortunately, almost all of the ornate plaster work in the walls and ceilings has survived unscathed through the years.

"Really, it just needed paint," says Wendy Tutt, who selected the burgundy, gold and grey colour scheme. "The plaster only needed retouching in one spot where there was some water damage."

Wendy and her husband John purchased the building for $630,000 and have put another $450,000 in to renovating it. The couple have more than 30 years experience running indie movie theatres in Kitchener-Waterloo, where they own The Princess and The Princess Twin cinemas.

Their 22-year old son Jacob, who recently graduated with a business degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, moved into the Playhouse's upstairs apartment in August and will remain their as the theatre's day-to-day manager. He can walk from the apartment directly into the projection room.

From left, Terrence Odette, Jacob, John and Wendy Tutt. Odette tipped off the Tutts that the Playhouse was up for sale. | Barry Gray , The Hamilton Spectator

The Playhouse has been through many different guises since its 1914 opening.

Just a few blocks south of the steel mills, the theatre provided the meeting hall where the 1946 Stelco strike was launched.

In the '50s and '60s, it featured Italian-dubbed Hollywood blockbusters like "Spartacus" and "The Ten Commandments" to serve the ever-changing character of the neighbourhood.

It's that era that explains the Tutts' decision to open the Playhouse with a screening of "Cinema Paradiso," a heartwarming 1988 Italian film (with English subtitles) about the restoration of an old movie house. "Cinema Paradiso" is sold out, but there are still tickets available for a 9 p.m. opening night screening of the Oscar-nominated Polish film "Cold War."

The mayor is expected to be in attendance at the Friday opening and will be part of a special ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"I've found a length of 35 mm film that we can use for the ribbon," says John Tutt.

The Playhouse has been programmed for the entire month of March. Other features include "The Wife," "Free Solo," "Shoplifters" and "Stan and Ollie."

There will also be retro favourites, including a Stanley Kubrick series and a special showing of "The Room," possibly the best bad movie ever made with a live appearance by Greg Sestero, star of "The Room" and author of the bestseller "The Disaster Artist." Complete Playhouse listings can be found on the website playhousecinema.ca.

The more you look into the history of the Playhouse, it becomes clear how extraordinary it is that the theatre survived to undergo the Tutts' restoration.

By the '80s, the theatre was in rapid decline, degenerating into an "adult" film centre. It was saved in 1998 when the children's charity CityKidz purchased the building from the city for $60,000 and upgraded the washrooms and heating system. (The city had ended up with the Playhouse after a local theatre group defaulted on an interest-free loan.)

CityKidz put the Playhouse up for sale in 2017 when it moved to new digs on Burlington Street.

The Tutts were tipped off about the location by longtime friend, Hamilton-based filmmaker Terrance Odette.

"I'm helping out any way I can," Odette says. "I'll even make the popcorn, once I learn how."

A month ago, Hamilton had no independent movie houses. Now with the opening of the Playhouse and the restored Westdale, it has two.

The Tutts, however, believe there is enough of a market in a city long-starved of art-house cinema for both theatres to thrive. Judging from the response so far, they may be right.

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"We've had two open houses in the last couple of weeks ," says Jacob Tutt. "We sold more than 300 memberships at the first one alone."

Now, about that marquee. The front of the theatre does look a little barren without it, but that will soon change.

The Tutts were able to obtain an old one from Brantford's Sanderson Centre, another classic theatre from the Vaudeville era that has benefitted from a grand restoration.

"The Sanderson Centre has the same number of letters as the Playhouse Cinema," explains Mary Tutt. "So we're getting new letters made for it at Sunset (Neon) in Hamilton."

Playhouse Cinema

What: Opening night, Friday, March 1, 6:45 p.m. with a sold-out screening of "Cinema Paradiso." Tickets are still available for the 9 p.m. showing of "Cold War" at 9 p.m.

Where: 177 Sherman Ave. N., wheelchair accessible

Tickets: nonmembers $12 for each film; Over 65/students, $9; members and under 12, $8.

Memberships: $10 for the year, can be purchased at the theatre. Annual memberships provide $4 off regular admission price, plus free film guide mailing.

grockingham@thespec.com

905-526-3331 | @RockatTheSpec

Playhouse Cinema

What: Opening night, Friday, March 1, 6:45 p.m. with a sold-out screening of "Cinema Paradiso." Tickets are still available for the 9 p.m. showing of "Cold War" at 9 p.m.

Where: 177 Sherman Ave. N., wheelchair accessible

Tickets: nonmembers $12 for each film; Over 65/students, $9; members and under 12, $8.

Memberships: $10 for the year, can be purchased at the theatre. Annual memberships provide $4 off regular admission price, plus free film guide mailing.



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