Patrons at The Bay Community Theatre in Suttons Bay will see things a little more clearly today after a 10-day closure.
A brand new laser projector has been installed.
“It’s much better color; the darks are darker,” said Graham Power, general manager of The Bay. “It makes for a much better experience.”
Power said that the efforts of two volunteer fundraisers helped make the project a reality. The previous projector was eight years old.
The new laser projector is one of four or five in northern Michigan, he said.
“We were teetering on the edge of ‘world class’,” Power said. “With help from Lisa Jenesen and Gerilyn May and the end-of-year mailer we went well beyond the $120,000 we needed.”
The projector represents the most recent improvement at the community theatre, founded in December 2018 to continue the legacy of a community-oriented movie house, which for 70 years has been a place for the community to gather, enjoy films and live events.
In late 2018, the family-owned Bay Theatre was set to close permanently. Uponhearing this news, the local community rallied to create a 501(c)3 nonprofi t organization and take over the operation of the theatre. The new non-profit showed its first film on New Years Day 2019. During 2019, community support continued to grow with enthusiastic movie-lovers, a large group of volunteers and generous donations.
Two years ago, The Bay replaced long-used seats with more space and leg space. A new retractable screen was also installed.
This weekend will be special at The Bay Community Theatre, reopening after a week-long closure for maintenance and improvements.
The weekend event is known as YES! which stands for Youth Entertainment Showcase, an annual event at The Bay specifically dedicated to bringing to the public the exceptional quality of students’ arts programs.
Saturday at 7 p.m., the jazz ensembles of Traverse City Central and Traverse City West high schools will perform.
The following afternoon at 3 p.m., The Bay will welcome to the stage the jazz ensembles of Kingsley and St. Francis high schools.
Doors will open one hour prior to each show.
Tickets are $10 online at thebaytheatre. com under “schedule and tickets.”
Half of all ticket sales will be donated to the participating schools’ arts programs.
In other programming, the Bay Theatre Cinema Society will offer classic films the fourth Wednesday of the month at 1 p.m.
Members are admitted free of charge; non-members $2.
Here’s the lineup:
• “North By Northwest” — Jan. 22.
• “The Red Shoes” — Feb. 26.
• “A Face in the Crowd” — March 26.
•”Driftwood” — April 23. “Chinatown” — May 28.
• “The Bad & the Beautiful” — June 25.
• “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” — July 23.
• “Cool Hand Luke” — Aug. 27.
• “The Searchers” — Sept. 24.
• “The Big Parade” — Oct. 22.
•”Baby Face” — Nov. 26.
A new laser projector was installed this week at the Bay Community Theatre in Suttons Bay. Courtesy photo
