Avalon Theater in Bay View is set to reopen, in time for 'Tenet'
Chris Foran
The Avalon Theater, the restored movie palace at 2473 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood, will reopen Tuesday.
The theater, which has been closed since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic, will turn the lights back on in its main theater with showings of "Inception," the Christopher Nolan reality-bending thriller that's in theaters in a 10th anniversary reissue. The movie will be replaced Thursday with Nolan's new reality-bending thriller, "Tenet."
"Tenet," which is already showing in some Milwaukee-area theaters in "early access" screenings, had been one of the most anticipated releases of the summer, before everything this summer was basically shut down as part of the effort to rein in the pandemic by limiting large-group gatherings.
But it also has been held out as the hope of the movie-theater business, as the kind of blockbuster that will lure wary moviegoers back to the big screen.
The Avalon is part of the Neighborhood Theatre Group. Lee Barczak, who with his wife Jane Schilz owns Neighborhood Theatre Group, compared the Avalon's return to a "forced soft opening."
"We're following all of the guidelines," Barczak said, referring to the "CinemaSafe" safety protocols developed in August by the National Association of Theater Owners. Among the provisions that will be new to the Avalon: cashless ticketing, either online or using credit or debit cards at the theater; a new reserved seating system; and a new food-and-beverage ordering system, designed to limit contact between servers and patrons.
For now, Barczak said, only the Avalon's main auditorium will be open. Instead of its 200-person capacity, it will have seating for 60 moviegoers spaced out in the theater.
The theater also has some improvements, including expanding in-theater food offerings to include the menu from the adjoining Mistral restaurant.
"We're all in such a learning curve," Barczak said. "We've got to see what happens."
Neighborhood Theatre Group's other theaters, the Rosebud Cinema in Wauwatosa and the Times Cinema on the western edge of the city of Milwaukee, are not reopening yet. In Facebook polls earlier this summer, more than 60% of patrons at both theaters said they were not ready to return.
"The balancing act is how we make people feel safe" while operating a business that brings people together, Barczak said. "We just have to see how the public reacts."
The Avalon will be the second theater in the city of Milwaukee to reopen. The Landmark Downer Theatre on the city's east side reopened Friday.
Marcus Theatres, the Milwaukee area's largest movie chain, reopened most of its theaters in August, but has three area theaters that do not have return dates yet, including the Southgate Cinema, the company's only movie theater within the city limits. (The other two Marcus theaters that have yet to reopen: the Saukville and Showtime Value cinemas.)
Also reopened: the Fox-Bay Cinema Grill in Whitefish Bay; the Rivoli Theatre in Cedarburg; and Silverspot Cinema in Brookfield.
Contact Chris Foran at chris.foran@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cforan12.
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