Theatre 1

Why it’s Awesome:

Amazing History!  You can read this in a bunch of other places, but the internet says this is a 4^th generation theatre! (We met the nephew of the current owner, so that makes it 5^th generation maybe?) Same family running the place since 1929! This is one of the oldest "atmospheric" movie theatres in CANADA!

Look at this cool little thing out front!   This kind of says, “Hey, some even cooler stuff is coming up! 

They play classical music out front. I believe it’s the 1812 overture on a loop. Like the one from the movie “Caddyshack”!  It’s like that, but bouncier and shorter.  Do they do this to keep people for loitering, or because there's an orchestra pit under the stage?

They play one of those super retro snack bar animations!  It goes like this: SNACK MATH …Wholesome Organic Popcorn…plus…Sparkling soda… Equals Delicious REFRESH-O-RAMA {sfx canned laughter} for the whole family! Visit the snack bar today and TASTE THE MOVIES! 

What is this thing? 

Local commercials before the movies!  And they’re good! One was for wireless speakers. Which made me think, Why doesn’t every audio visual shop advertise on movie screens?  If you want to sell wireless speakers, advertise on radio and on Movie theatres, where sound matters!

The Theatre looks like an old castle inside!!! I know, I totally buried the lead here! This theatre is a total gem, and this is the icing on the cake! We even discussed NOT showing you these pics and saying YOU HAVE TO GO SEE THIS PLACE! But take our word for it, the place looks even better in person!  Instead of a black or blue wall, you have big castle bricks and wrought iron balcony and the lights look like they’re on top of a medieval weapon! There’s even a roof up by the ceiling!

AND there’s a bit of roof right above the movie screen. Even more amazing, is it fades brilliantly into the background when the movie starts. When it’s over, then you go back to being amazed that The Theatre looks like an old castle inside!!!

Wood handled chairs. Yes, you’ll have to hold the drink in your hand or on the floor, but if you aren’t willing to make this one concession, then we can’t be friends! The wood is classic and smooth and makes you feel like being at this theatre is a privilege! Enjoy it and tell your whining nephew that this is how adults watch movies!  

An important point is these chairs were made for people in 1929. So if you’re around 200 centimetres or weigh twice as much as a 1929 person, then your seating will be tight. There are some bigger seats, but not a lot. If you don’t go to this theatre because your whole family shops at Big n Tall, we can still be friends.

World famous popcorn! That’s what they claim, but little did they know they were talking to two HUGE popcorn snobs. I askedthe man who turned out to be the nephew of the current owner “WHY is the popcorn world famous?”, and he said, “Because it’s so good!”

Well, did it measure up?

YES! this popcorn is awesome! It’s up there with our absolute favourite popcorn {Town 8 Winnipeg}. It could even be…can’t believe I’m saying it…a TIE!

Popcorn in a round tub! This is great! Especially since there may be times you have to put it on the floor, so it won’t topple like those bags do. You know what I’m talking about, those popcorn bags that are like a wonky old coat rack that falls like a redwood if you put more than one coat on one side.

Gentlemen and Ladies!  Cool old things like this are the best! If we took pictures of ALL the cool things like this, then we would have been there for another hour!

Other stuff: The people were very nice as they explained the history of this theatre, and Lora liked that instead of a napkin dispenser, they had the napkins folded neatly! That’s great because do you really need EIGHT scrunched up napkins you wrestled out of one of those spring loaded tin dispensers? No! You need two. And here they are!  

We also liked the “Dolby 7.1 Sound” thing that played before the movie, but we stop all pictures before the movie starts.

Should you go?  YES! YES! YES! The LIDO Theatre in The Pas is 500 seats of awesome!

Here are some links to find out more!

https://www.lidotheatre.ca/

https://www.facebook.com/lidotheatre

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g183812-d2108694-Reviews-Lido_Theatre-The_Pas_Manitoba.html

BONUS: We went to the Museum in town and they had some cool old pictures and old playbills! It only costs five dollars to chek that out.

By the way, in case you’re interested, we saw “Hotel Transylvania 3” 7p show on July 19th, 2018