The final curtain
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

The last picture show was a time of memories, reflections and of course Milk Duds and popcorn.

On Thursday night, audience members for the final screening at the Appalachian Twin Theatre in downtown Boone expressed sadness at the loss of the town’s oldest theater with some showing up out of loyalty and others wanting to sit through a final couple of hours in the place where they’d been exposed to movie magic.

While some of the customers were aware the theater had announced its sudden closing, others were surprised they’d no longer be drinking big sodas in the flickering semidarkness.

Maleah Printz had watched movies there as a kindergartner, saying her mother would leave her there with friends to sit through a double feature.

After she moved back to Boone with her husband six months ago, they’d talked about going to a show there.
Thursday was the first time, and the last, they made it.

“We’d actually planned to come tonight,” Printz said, unaware the theater was closing. “I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been here.”

Appalachian State University students Whitney Weaver and Katie Waters enjoyed coming to the theater and are studying film. They found out from one of their professors that the theater was closing and wanted to attend the last show. They created a Facebook page and invited about 80 friends, but they said they didn’t have time to mount an organized effort.

“We come here a few times a month,” Weaver said, adding she one day hopes to teach film. “I’m real sad to see it go.”

Waters said, “I’m going to miss that it’s only two dollars and you get to see movies that you missed the first time. I always looked at the pictures on the wall but now they’re gone.”

Lawrence Marks of Foscoe said he’d been going to movies there for 30 years, going “once or twice a week.”

He often went with his wife, but she had to work Thursday so Marks went by himself. He thanked the staff as he exited the theater for the last time.

“This reminds me of when I was young,” Marks said. “I grew up in Stanton, Va., where there’s still one like this called the ‘Beverly.’ I brought the kids here and they grew up going here.”

Marks said he wasn’t a hardcore film buff, he just enjoyed movies as an opportunity to get out for the evening. “I’m really sorry to see this place close,” he said. “It’s been a great place and a great movie theater, and there’s always been nice people there, too.”

Nancy McCarter, district manager for theater owner Carmike Cinemas, was on hand to take inventory and check the equipment. She oversees 19 theaters in five states and said a number of them were “discount houses” like the Twin. She had no insight on why the corporation chose to close the Boone theater, but said the building would be put up for sale.

The Boone theater opened in 1938 and was the oldest in her district — she described it as “unique.”

“Some ladies came in and talked about how they hated to see it go. They didn’t watch a movie, but they chatted and bought some candy,” McCarter said.

Zach Brown, a ticket-taker and usher who’d worked there for four months, said he’d only received notice that he was losing his job 19 hours before his last shift. He wants to keep working in the movie industry but isn’t sure where his skills will be useful.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of films and theatrical work,” Brown said. “I came here to learn to use the projectors, but these are so old, I’m not sure how valuable my services will be.”

The Appalachian Twin used 35-millimeter reel projectors, the most common form of theater projection. However, second-run prints are more prone to breaking or scratches, and one of the projectors broke down Wednesday night. Carmike is undergoing plans to convert many of its theaters to digital projection.

Theater manager Bryan McKnight said ticket sales on the last night were the best of the week, even though a couple of groups of would-be customers left when they found out the only screening at 9:15 p.m. was the Rob Zombie-directed remake of “Halloween,” which critics had given a lukewarm reception due to its graphic edginess.

“People have expressed some disappointment,” McKnight said, though he said he couldn’t make any observations on the possible decline of ticket sales. “I haven’t been here very long.”

The theater employed six people, and several of them gathered around the candy counter after the last ticket was sold and speculated on the building’s future. The prevailing theory was that ASU would end up buying it and possibly keep it open as a theater.

Michelle Daughtry bought the final ticket for her boyfriend, Alex Fish, who envisioned that one day it would be a valuable and highly sought collector’s item. They left without seeing the movie.