HISTORY IN THE MAKING …
CORONADO – The Village Theatre is open. The restoration by Vintage Cinemas in Los Angeles far exceeded any and all of our greatest expectations. It is so wonderful to have our little movie theatre back, and Thursday night’s opening ceremonies were indeed special.
A small historical footnote to all the hubbub surrounding the Grand Opening took place the Monday before. While eager Islanders lined up for free tickets to Opening Night. Vic Todaro and I brought out our antique trucks and a wrinkled Xerox of the famous photo from Opening Night 1947. Our goal was simple (we thought): To recreate that 1947 photograph.
The problems in recreating a 1947 image in 2011 were many. The people were lined up two blocks down the street but the line ended far to the left of the 1947 line. We moved barricades and everyone inched forward in curious cooperation.
There were no bicycles in the photo. No problem. We carried locked bikes from down the street into the photo frame (thankfully no one screamed “He’s stealing my bike!”).
A large UPS truck kept circling the block, trying to land in the spots we had marked off with barricades. He wasn’t very happy about that, and we do apologize.
Once we had the curbside space reserved (after asking two vehicles to please relocate down the block) we positioned Vic’s panel truck on the left and my Model T on the right. We had no large spotlights, but everything else looked pretty much the same.
The biggest problem, however, was that in March 1947 it was dark for Opening Night. In June 2011 the sun was high in the sky, and directly in our faces (and cameras).
A talented young photographer wandered over and asked us what we were trying to do. It took him all of ten minutes to return to the scene with his professional cameras and camera lenses.
Thanks to David Kamatoy of the Kamatoy Media Group (www.kamatoymediagroup.com) we were able to create a pretty good reproduction of Opening Night 1947. We hope you enjoy our efforts, even though the reality of all this effort is that no one will really appreciate what we did until the 50th anniversary of the Re-Opening of the Village Theatre in the year 2061, when some intrepid publicist or historian searches through photo files at the Coronado Public Library for something interesting to help his cause.
Still, we thought you might get a kick out of all of this. On behalf of David Kamatoy and Rotarian Vic Todaro, thank you. And welcome back Village Theatre!
Joe Ditler
Part-Time PR
This famous 1947 Opening Night photograph innocently captured the excitement in front of the Village Theatre. Photo courtesy Coronado Public Library.
The UPS Store, Coronado Floor & Window, and Island Cleaners have replaced the Beachcomber, but everything else looks pretty much the same. We even had one back door on the panel truck open (as in the original), but a well-meaning gentleman closed it just before this shot was taken. Photo by David Kamatoy.
In black & white or color, the Village Theatre is a welcome sight along the 800 block of Orange Avenue. The Model T truck on the right is the Coronado Brewing Company’s beer truck. The panel truck on the left is the official Coronado Floor & Window truck, owned by Vic Todaro. Photo by David Kamatoy.
Update: It’s Now Open – Click Here for Movie Times.
