The Majestic Theatre in downtown Dallas.
The venerable Majestic Theatre in downtown Dallas has had a wonderful life since the 1,704-seat venue opened on April 21, 1921 as a vaudeville theater. How fitting, then, that the city’s only remaining downtown theater that last showed a movie July 16,1973 with the James Bond film Live and Let Die returned cinema to the venue last month on Dec. 20 with the1946 James Stewart classic It’s A Wonderful Life.
According to venue General Manager Michael Schwedler, there is more where that came from, beginning on Feb. 13 when another Frank Capra classic from 1934, It Happened One Night, graces the screen on Valentine’s Day weekend.
“That film was rereleased but did not play in Dallas last year, so we thought that would be a perfect choice for this classic theater,” Schwedler said. “It has not been seen on the big screen in many, many years, especially around Dallas.”
It certainly has not been seen at the Majestic, but it and three other films are on tap for 2016 showings. Schwedler said those are not being announced at this time as the venue is working on a sponsorship package to help fund the screening nights.
Schwedler joined the venue in May 2013 and said it came up very early in his tenure about screening films at a facility that over the years has become primarily a concert setting.
“There were some issues with equipment and some other situations at the time but it was something I had on my radar from the very beginning,” he said. “We sort of passively discussed it for a year or two thinking we needed to put together a little program and screen some films.”
Schwedler said an encounter during the 2015 League of Historic American Theatres conference in New York City with Barak Epstein of the Texas Theatre (famed venue where Lee Harvey Oswald was captured following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy) in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas sped the idea up.
“That really got the ball rolling on this,” he said. “We were chatting about our respective theaters and how great each of them was and what we’d like to see going on and hit on the idea of partnering to show the movie at Christmas. We eventually put it in place.”
“We talked about some ways we could work together as far as continuous film programming went,” said Epstein, whose Aviation Cinemas took over the lease at the Oak Cliff Foundation-owned Texas Theatre in 2010. “We run movies almost every day and knew we could assist in the areas of programming and the tech stuff. We literally could not fit It’s A Wonderful Life in because for a full month we were running Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We were going to start programming over there anyway, so we said let’s start with that one. It’s kind of an easy one to start with.”
The Majestic runs between 130 and 175 event days and in addition to live music offers comedy, proper theater, dance events, lecture series, private events, parties and presentations. Schwedler is one of five full-time employees at the Majestic, a venue that operates as an arm of the city’s office of cultural affairs.
Schwedler did not comment on the cost to show It’s A Wonderful Life, but said that patrons paid $10 to attend and that popcorn, light snacks and soft drinks were sold and allowed in the theater.
“The city is very supportive of all the programming we’re doing here and they’re very supportive of this idea,” Schwedler said. “One of the striking things about the Majestic is that it touches a lot of hearts in various ways. It’s a place that is very nostalgic for a lot of people. When I run into folks a lot of things they first say to me is that they came here to see movies when they were a kid.
“The same is true for me. My parents brought me here when I was a kid. I remember seeing It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. It’s a place that touches a lot of heartstrings and the city is very, very aware of that. The nostalgia includes film and I think that all indications I’ve had so far is that everyone is very supportive of this idea. We’re not going to become a movie theater; we’re just going to include film screenings as part of our programming.”
Schwedler said that all doubts about whether returning film to the venue’s screen were erased during the showing of It’s A Wonderful Life.
“First, that move was a slam dunk,” he said. “It was a seasonal holiday film and to be shown at an iconic theater created an ideal chemistry. “But I never could have anticipated the response we got not only when we announced the movie was going to be screening but what happened when folks came to the theater for the showing.
“Robert Wilonsky (staff writer for The Dallas Morning News and respected film/concert reviewer) was nice enough to speak a little before the movie and when he introduced the film, the response from the crowd was overwhelming, especially when he said it looked like we were going to be bringing some films back to the Majestic. I mean, people just cheered. It was amazing.”
Schwedler said the venue will utilize its website and social media to trumpet future showings, and acknowledged that should a sponsorship fall into place some other obvious marketing doors will be opened. He added that the venue is currently entertaining any sponsors interested in further discussions.
As for the grand venue, it did not have to go through any renovations or retrofitting to make the return of film possible. Schwedler said that on screening days AV equipment will be brought in, installed for the day and removed following the showing.
“The theater is pretty much set up and ready to go for this,” he said.
Schwedler said that, as with any 95-year-old venue, there is nonetheless something that always needs attention.
“I would like to show the building as much love as I can,” he said. “But at the moment we don’t have any major renovations scheduled. The theater was fully renovated in 1980 and all our systems including HVAC, sound and lighting have been renovated over the last five or six years. We’re already in the planning stages of putting together our 100-year anniversary show.”
Don’t be surprised if film is a big part of that milestone event.
Interviewed for this story: Michael Schwedler, (214) 670-1869; Barak Epstein, (214) 529-3725