The smell of butter and popcorn no longer fills
the entrance of the Byrd Theatre on late Saturday
nights.
For the past five years, the historic Byrd Theatre
had featured a classic film every Saturday night at
midnight. Film fans flocked to the Byrd to see movies,
such as “The Goonies,” “The Princess Bride” and
“Labyrinth.”
Byrd Theatre manager Bob Enos recalls the Saturday
night crowds.
“Most of the films we played were from the late
’70s and into the ’80s. The midnight movies played
to the 16- to 20-year-old crowd,” Enos said.
Many students at VCU, such as mass communications
major Matt Becker, 23, used to go to Carytown
for the chance to catch a late-night classic on the big
screen for only a couple of bucks.
“Me and my friends would get together to go see
‘Donnie Darko,’ ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,’
and ‘The Goonies,’ as well. More often than not, the
theater was packed,” Becker said.
For now, VCU students will have to find other things
to do on a Saturday night, since the Byrd Theatre is
no longer a haven for fans of a late-night flick.
“The Saturday-night feature has got to bring in
enough money to pay the bills, and it has to support
itself . or at least break even,” Enos said.
The problem the Byrd is experiencing is a matter
of patronage, said Tony Pelling, president of the Byrd
Theatre Foundation. Patrons who once came to the
features are no longer present. Those former patrons
have either left town or lost interest in the midnight
movie, he said.
“Our patronage kept us going. Without the
patronage, we can’t keep showing the Saturday-night
feature,” Pelling said.
In order to show the Saturday-night feature, Enos
and the foundation had to pay their employees overtime,
which highly increased the theater’s overhead
costs to show the films.
“The operating cost for the feature would need
to maximize the return. The people just weren’t
showing up anymore,” Pelling said.
The lack of patronage for the Saturday-night
feature left Pelling and the other members of
the board no choice except to stop showing
the midnight movies. However, Pelling, along
with the rest of the foundation, wishes to keep
a relationship with VCU and its students.
“If the VCU students would like a movie,
they better let us know, for we would like to
continue our association with the school as
time goes on,” Pelling said.
The Saturday-night feature developed a
repertoire that often packed the 1,400-seat
theater, employing the balcony and the
lower level. However, Enos said eventually
the repertoire was stuck on repeats.
“The reruns we were playing – some worked,
and some didn’t. Because of this people stopped
showing up,” Enos said. “We just wore out the
three dozen films that did well for us.
“We will probably try it again; we will just
have to see,” Enos said. “But for now it just
hasn’t been in our interests financially.”