Village Theater, Then and Now

A small footnote to all the hubbub surrounding the Thursday grand opening of the Village Theater:

While eager Islanders lined up for free tickets a week ago, Vic Todaro and I brought out our antique trucks and a wrinkled copy of the famous photo from opening night in 1947. Our goal was simple (we thought): To recreate that photograph. 

It wasn't easy, it turned out. People were lined up two blocks down the street, but the line ended far to the left of the 1947 line. We moved barricades and everyone inched forward in curious cooperation.

After asking two drivers to move their vehicles, we positioned Vic's panel truck on and my Model T. We had no spotlights, but everything else looked pretty much the same. The biggest problem was that in March 1947 it was dark for Opening Night. In June 2011 the sun was high in the sky, and directly in our faces (and cameras). 

A talented young photographer wandered over and asked us what we were trying to do. Thanks to David Kamatoy of the Kamatoy Media Group, we were able to create a pretty good reproduction of Opening Night 1947. 

We hope you enjoy our efforts, even though the reality is that no one will appreciate what we did until the 50th anniversary of the re-opening of the Village Theater in 2061, when some intrepid publicist or historian searches through photos at the Coronado Public Library for something interesting to help his cause. 

Submitted by Joe Ditler of Part-Time PR, which helped promote the Village Theater opening.