Unless a film is just downright bad, I'll hold off going to the bathroom when I'm at the movies. Which is no small feat when you inevitably have to go at some point during those two hours given the massive amount of diet coke you've drank even before the previews are complete. But I just like sitting there, enveloped in the darkness, engrossed in the movie, not wanting to miss a thing. Plus, I am an utter dork about returning to my seat if I do leave. I always have this mini-panic attack walking back in, like I'm not going to find whoever I came with, as if the layout of the theatre changed in the time it took for me to go and there's a hidden camera somewhere about to capture my humiliation at not knowing how to quickly and quietly get back to where I had been only moments before.
But at the State Theatre, my city's downtown movie house, it's a whole different deal. I'm all about making sure I get to the basement bathroom at least once, possibly twice, during my visit. Even last night, while watching the Sean Penn movie Milk, which definitely had my attention, I didn't just shift in my seat and cross my legs like I normally would -- I got up, walked through the lobby and headed downstairs.
If you have never heard of or been to the State, you likely have no clue why I'd necessarily leave an Oscar-nominated film to check out a theatre's bathrooms - let alone blog about it. Actually, even if you have heard about the place, you may still be wondering what's so great about the bathroom -- a bathroom in the basement nonetheless. But if you grew up in Traverse City like I did, you just might be saying, "Oh, yeah, those bathrooms are cool!"
Walking downstairs at the State instantly takes me back to 1985, when a movie poster hung on the wall announcing that Coming Soon! was some new movie about time travel starring that guy from Family Ties. I wish I remembered all the movies I saw at the State as a kid - I know there were quite a few - but mostly I just remember being in junior high, when it was the place to hang out and make out.
I'm pretty sure it's where I held hands with a boy I liked for the very first time. (I think the movie was Legal Eagles, a Robert Redford-Darryl Hannah-Debra Winger dud that I'm not even sure why I wanted to see given that I was in maybe in fifth or sixth grade at the time...Maybe it was because it starred that actress who was a mermaid? I don't remember anything about this movie, other than I had sweaty palms in the beginning as I wondered if and when Joey Farrell's fingers would ever touch mine outside of the popcorn container.)
The theatre itself, including a sweeping balcony and the rows of seats down low, are gorgeously re-stored after a longtime-coming renovation of this downtown landmark built in 1918. But the bathrooms? They likely got some sprucing up, but look the same as they ever did, which is just fine with me. The tiled floors and walls of the "sitting room," even the mirror hanging above the tiled bench, are all how I remember them. At the bottom of the stairs I take it all in, and I swear I can almost see my 13-year-old self standing with my girlfriends dabbing on lip gloss and ratting our bangs before spraying our hair with Aquanet.
This morning, we took our kids to the State, to see the clever flick Nanny McPhee. You can't beat the admission price to these 10:30 a.m. matinees: 25 cents. But even greater is the thrill I get from taking my kids to a place that's part of my childhood story. The older I get, it seems, the more I appreciate my hometown and really want my kids to get to know just how cool it is themselves.
Down in those bathrooms this weekend, I overheard an interesting conversation that proved I'm far from alone in carrying with me memories of the State.
"Oh, it's such a treat to be here," a woman appearing in her 60s or 70s told her friend. "I remember coming here with my friends, and we'd stay right on through the first movie and watch a second. Then we'd walk home to my house on 14th Street..."
The women continue talking about the theatre, how wonderful it is to see it come back to life. I couldn't agree more.
The State is home to the Traverse City Film Festival, which celebrates its 5th year this summer, July 28-Aug. 2. Check out the web site for Film Fest info as well as movie times and admission prices. You can also order tickets online.
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