Here’s a few more Trilogy Tuesday reports to whet your appetite …
Ringer Paul, Fort Wayne
Don’t know if you’re collecting information on Trilogy Tuesday experiences, but thought I’d pass along what we saw in Fort Wayne, Indiana on Tuesday.
We arrived at the theater at 10:15. We had been told that the doors would be opened at 10:00 and the theater would start seating about an hour before showtime (1:45). The doors were still locked, but opened for the 50-60 people in the cold at about 10:25.
We turned in our tickets to the usher and were given a 6″ length of yellow yarn to tie around our wrists. Our ticket stubs would get us back in the building if we wanted to go out for something and the yellow yarn would get us into the theater.
We were allowed to get into the theater immediately and a manager made an announcement about how things were going to be run. They passed out name tags and allowed everyone to stick a nametag to their seat so we didn’t have to worry about losing a seat if we left for some reason. The manager also said to stay in our seats after the Fellowship credits because they had a surprise for us. They had a huge number of pizzas delivered and everyone got at least one good sized slice (with seconds available to quite a few people). They got it done within about 20 minutes and it didn’t seem to hold up the start of the Two Towers.
They had a framing problem at the beginning of ROTK, but got it corrected within a few minutes so it was only a minor inconvenience. After ROTK, everyone was handed their Film Frame Collectible as we exited the theater.
I don’t know how this compares to other theaters, but I’d like to publicly thank the Rave Motion Picture theater in Fort Wayne for making my Trilogy Tuesday experience a truly great one.
Ringer Lance, Kansas City
I thought I would send you a quick note on the happenings at the Trilogy Tuesday event at the AMC Studio 30 Theatre in Olathe, Kansas (Kansas City). It goes without saying that the movies were as fantastic as we knew they would be. My comments have to do with the venue itself.
It was an extremely cold morning in Kansas City, yesterday. The Wind chill was about 10 degrees. I arrived at the theatre at 5:40AM thinking (foolishly) I would be first in line. When I arrived, I was 15th. At that point, my hopes of getting seats on my favorite row were dashed. Especially since many of those 15 were saving spots for others. And although many people arrived and “cut in line”, the crowd stayed pretty well behaved. But… I was just glad to be going.
As time grew closer to the event, the theatre management kept the line members informed on what would happen once we got in the door. They informed everyone they would receive a lanyard for their ticket; they told us they were having many discounted concession choices; and that they were going to let us directly in the theatre once the doors opened at 11AM. At that point, the thought of a 72 degree theatre cheered everyone up.
As promised, they let us in at exactly 11AM. The theatre staff was well prepared. They quickly got us in the theatre. I was extremely impressed of how they set it up. This theatre was roped off. The lanyards allowed theatre staff to quickly recognize if you were authorized in the “holy” area. They had even roped off a section of the concession area to tailor specifically to Trilogy Tuesday patrons. They even provided Pizza for the entire audience between the TT and ROTK. Even “THAT” was done in an orderly fashion. The staff knew this was something special and they treated the event as such.
Kudos to the management team and staff at the AMC Studio 30 theatre.
Ringer Julie, Cleveland
Just thought you might want to hear reports about Trilogy Tuesday from various cities (plus, I can’t really get my mind on work yet this morning!) Our theater management worked hard to make it an incredible experience for everyone.
My husband and I got there about 8:30 a.m. and we were 15th in line. We were able to wait inside the lobby, although as the line grew, some fans had to wait outside in the cold. We were told that we could save one seat each in the auditorium, that we’d be served a free lunch, no outside food (although we were allowed to have it in line), and our bags would be searched. Once we were seated, the theater manager jotted our names on a chart so that we didn’t have to worry about seats being stolen.
The worst part of the day was the “free lunch” that was catered by a local restaurant. It turned out to be a tiny sandwich (about 1/4 of a sandwich), and we were only allowed one! They served personal pizzas at the second break, and that went better.
A New Line rep turned up before ROTK, and after the movie we got a LOTR memorabilia thingy (I think it has frames from the movies.) It was OK; we would have liked a T-shirt better. We stumbled outside about 2:30 a.m. Several TV stations came and interviewed people in costume. Overall it was an incredible experience, and I wish you all could have participated!
Ringer Anthony, Unknown Location
There and Back Again, A Moviegoer’s Tale
When I first purchased my ticket so long ago for New Line Cinema’s Lord of the Rings “Trilogy Tuesday” I was ecstatic. The fact that I was going to be a part of this unique piece of cinematic history, available to only a select few, was a thought I could have only dreamt of. Little did I know, however, that something seemingly so simple and trivial would affect me so greatly.
I am sure many others, like myself, were tempted to sell their tickets to the event, even if only for a moment, at many times their face value. In fact, I am sure many of the original buyers did sell their tickets. For those of you who did indeed sell your tickets and are now reading this: you missed out. I wouldn’t have traded anything in the world for what I was a part of today.
On the Big Day, I awoke after a scant night’s rest, thanks to work the previous night, and stumbled into the shower…being driven only by the thought of getting to the theatre and securing a good seat. The thought of being stuck in the far corner of the front row, doomed for the entire show to crane my neck to look at the screen, spurned me on faster.
By the time I arrived at the theatre the line of people waiting had already been let inside. I entered the auditorium armed and ready for battle with my giant cup of coffee, an energy bar, and a Game Boy…it was three hours until show time. To my dismay, many of the seats had been taken, and those not filled by a human being were marked clearly with jackets and sweatshirts, indicating that they were not vacant. I despaired briefly, visions of the front row filling my mind, before spotting the Perfect Seat – halfway up, directly in the middle; this was the single advantage of being alone…it was much easier to find a good seat. No person, jacket or sweatshirt marked this seat as taken. Just to the left of it, a man slept soundly.
I hurriedly asked the people around if the seat was being held…no one knew. I took a gamble, hoping the slumbering man was not holding it for anyone, and sat down. I pulled out my Game Boy and prepared to do battle with time. Everywhere around people were talking and laughing excitedly…the atmosphere was very positive. I was about forty-five minutes into my duel with boredom when the man sleeping next to me awoke. I took notice of it, but said nothing. He looked at me dazedly.
“How long have you been here?” he asked.
I turned off the Game Boy and looked at him. He had a very thick accent, and it made him somewhat hard to understand.
“About two hours”, I replied, before quickly rethinking…it had only seemed that long. I corrected myself.
“I mean, forty-five minutes.”
Down below, at the foot of the screen, an impersonation contest was being held.
“That’s my bahs’ seat,” he said, his accent making him almost unintelligible.
“What?” I asked, although I already knew what was coming.
“That’s my boss’ seat,” he repeated.
This was a fatal blow … not only had I lost the Perfect Seat, but also now that even more time had passed I was almost certainly doomed to a front-row seat.
I apologized and got up, and watched the remainder of the impersonation contest from the aisle, all while scanning for another decent seat. It was during this search that a very courteous woman offered me a seat only four places to the right of the Perfect Seat. I thanked her profusely while settling in to my newfound property, and resumed my duel with boredom.
This woman’s courtesy was a perfect example of the attitude of everyone in the theatre. Not once, throughout the entire show, did I hear ill words spoken. And while everyone did boo and hiss Britney Spears when she came on the screen, it was all in good fun.
As for the films themselves…they were wonderful to see on the big screen, back to back…to back. While the audience watched Frodo and Sam embark on their quest, we were all embarking on a quest of our own. I formed bonds with the people I sat next to, and even though I will probably never see them again, I will always remember them and this one small piece of history that we shared.
Like the fellowship, we endured our own hardships, though they were of a different nature. Instead of Ringwraiths and orcs, we had sore backs and full bladders to contend with (by the time RotK ended I was afraid my bladder was going to explode). But we endured to the end. We received our complimentary gifts, which are quite wonderful, and were sent on our separate ways.
On my way to the parking lot I was filled with sadness – sadness for the event being over, and sadness for the movies being finished. However, I was at the same time filled with hope for the future…the films, RotK especially, were an inspiration to me. They helped me overcome an emotional hurdle I had been attempting to jump for a very long time.
And now that I have seen Return of the King for the first time, I am ready to embark on the final part of Tolkien’s adventure a second time…and a third … and a fourth …
Ringer Lilania, Springfield
I’ve seen Return of the King and it was, of course, beyond incredible, but I’m hoping that everyone else’s Trilogy Tuesday experience didn’t quite match ours. Springfield, MO had an unplanned intermission. Halfway through Shelob’s lair, the screen changed to some unusual effects which changed to the film frying before our eyes. It was restarted in just a few minutes, and I *think* we only missed a couple seconds of the movie, but in the meantime, Springfield nearly saw the rioting of 400 geeks.
