March 23, 2006
Kabuki Theatre Sold to Sundance Cinemas
With January's merger between AMC and Lowes theatres, the company they became, AMC Entertainment Inc, is required by U.S. Department of Justice and the attorneys general of California to sell the Kabuki and 1000 Van Ness theatres. While the Van Ness property remains available, today the long-rumored purchase of the Kabuki by Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas was officially announced.
Expected to become "a state-of-the-art independent movie house", Sundance plans on beginning renovations to the theatre in early May, following the San Francisco International Film Festival. This fall it'll reopen as the "Sundance Kabuki" (that has quite a nice ring to it, doesn't it?), with stadium seating in at least five of the eight auditoriums, larger screens, and booze sold in the mezzanine and balcony levels.
The Reuters piece we read stated that "the company plans on keeping the Japanese-influenced decor in the complex's largest theater", which we applaud. Hey, Redford, while you're at it, bring back the Kabuki disco ball!
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I like the disco ball idea. I remember seeing "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" perform at the old Kabuki nightclub...the opening act was so hated by some of the fans they were buying things to throw at them. Really wild.
I saw "Boogie Nights" opening weekend at the big theater in the Kabuki, and they spun the disco ball during scenes with a lot of disco music (and actual disco dancing during, one scene). It was so rad that I went to see it again a week or so later, and they didn't spin it. I was so dissapointed, I asked a manager why they had stopped and he said it was because one guy--ONE guy--had complained.
A few years later I'm at a friend's new apartment, which he was sharing with a few other people, and I find out one of his roomates was THE GUY who had complained about the disco ball!
Weird!
Booze in the mezz? You mean I can finally stop strapping pints of Taaka in order to get my buzz on while watching V for Vendetta?
Who am I kidding, I'm not got stop rocking the Taak.