Grand Theatre launches film series featuring summer classics

The Grand Theatre, the oldest performing arts centre in western Canada, is hosting a summer film series featuring such classics as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Grease, Casablanca and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The Grand Theatre is turning going out to the movies back into a special occasion this summer.

Starting July 11, the folks who program the second-oldest performing arts venue in western Canada -- there’s a Grand Theatre in Indian Head, Saskatchewan built in 1904 -- will be screening a classic every Friday night, beginning with one of the all-time favourite summer blockbusters, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

On July 18, it will be Barbarella, featuring Jane Fonda is a sci-fi film from the 1960s unlike any other.

On July 25, they’ll screen the legendary Casablanca, the 1942 Oscar-winning classic that made Humphrey Bogart a movie legend.

On August 8, they’ll feature Grease followed on Aug. 15 by John Hughes’ Pretty in Pink. On Aug. 22, it will be the movie version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, on Aug. 29 they’ll screen Scream and on Sept. 9, the summer series will conclude with Practical Magic.

Tickets are $15. There’s a full bar, snacks, air conditioning and a 15 per cent discount if you use the code SUMMER15 when you book tickets at thegrandyyc.ca.

“Whether you’re reliving a favourite or discovering a classic for the first time, The Grand is the perfect place to enjoy summer nostalgia in style,” said executive director Erynn Lyster, in a media release. “It’s more than just a movie night - it’s a cultural experience in Calgary’s most iconic theatre.”

Built in 1912 by Senator James Lougheed and his wife Belle, the Grand has hosted everyone from Fred Astaire to Sarah Bernhardt to the Marx Brothers to legendary performance artist Laurie Anderson, to Canadian dance legend Crystal Pite to American play Young Jean Lee to Calgary’s own award-winning Old Trout Puppet Workshop.