MINNEAPOLIS — Entertainment outside your home isn't easy to come by these days, but The Parkway Theater has found a way.
Co-owner Ward Johnson hopes they've done a good job revitalizing the hub near 48th Street and Chicago Avenue in south Minneapolis.
The theater normally plays host to live events, music, comedy and spoken word. But, COVID-19 has put a stop to business as usual.
"I believe it was Wednesday [March] 12th we had the Moth story hour ... and it was sold out and people were having fun. The next night we had Spaceballs and it was about half what we'd normally see in a movie and the day after that it was, we gotta close down," Johnson explains.
He says his company's goal right now during COVID-19 is as much as it was before the virus to try and entertain the surrounding community.
Every week, they've been using their marquee sign to play with the titles of well known films to help crack a smile.
Some of the examples include: ET Stay Home, Home Alone Too, When Harry Met Sally on Zoom, Homeward Bound: The Relatable Journey, and In the Month the Earth Stood Still.
Johnson says they crowd-source suggestions for what to put on the marquee from their Facebook community. "And the ideas are awesome," he says.
"One of the ones that we didn't do that was one of my favorites was 'Zero Dresses.' I thought that was really funny but the rest of the people on my team didn't like it as much," he says.
The company tries to steer clear of more negative titles, such as Thelma and Disease.
"I was like, you know, I feel like we need to be more of a positive beacon for folks in the neighborhood," Johnson explained.
With more time on their hands since the onset of the virus, Johnson says his employees ran out of side projects to complete within the first couple of weeks.
"The mandate became how can we stay relevant, and maybe have some fun, and be creative and just keep on people's radars while all of this is going on. Whenever that date is that we're able to re-open, hopefully the lines will be going down the block again," said Johnson.
You can learn more about The Parkway Theater in Minneapolis on their website.