I'm bustin' out of this one horse town this weekend to go to Calgary (a six or seven horse town at least!) to see Oasis and Ryan Adams live!  So instead of a movie review this weekend --- I'd love to share some awesome news from the Broadway Theatre in Saskatoon!

Kirby Wirchenko from the Broadway tells me that the renovations are complete!  Now, I love this theatre, and the idea that you can see different programming than we see at the multi-plex.  As quaint as Broadway and this theatre is --- it's something that helps us film lovers compete with bigger cities.  I'm especially fond of the Midnight Madness grindhouse movies that horror/cult afficianado Tyler Baptist has been screening. 

I have to admit though, I'm also an audio/visual geek (well, I wasn't in the club or anything, but I demand a quality viewing experience!)  I never liked the sound quality or the size of the screen at the Broadway, and that caused me to rent a lot of stuff that I would have rather seen in the theatre.  But as Kirby puts it, "The Broadway is entering a new era --- the current one!"

The theatre has undergone a $200,000.00 renovation to the screen, audio system, and projection systems!  This means that the restored 1946 art deco building now offers the cinematic experience patrons expect, replacing technology from the early 70's.  Kirby says, "We've gone from one mono speaker to 22 speakers with 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound; increased our screen size by over 50%, and installed brand new projection equipment."

The Broadway runs about 90 nights of live music a year, leaving them 270 nights to play the best films in World and Canadian cinema.  A hearty congrats and high five from the Movie Geek for all that Kirby and his partners and staff have done to bring this amazing theatre up to wonderful new standards.  They are not a multi-million dollar corporation, so they have to fundraise and stretch every dollar like you wouldn't believe.  This is not an easy task, and they obviously do it because they love Saskatoon, and they love quality films! 

For more info --- go to www.broadwaytheatre.ca!  Keep watching the screens!