Lifelong friends Melinda Benson and Wendy Hernandez wept as the closing credits rolled for “Frozen 2” at the Avalon Theater in Catalina Island. But their tears had nothing to do with the movie.
Around them, children ran up and down the aisles of the 1,184-seat movie palace, built in 1929 as part of the iconic Catalina Casino and the first cinema in the world designed for talkies. Adults admired the epic Art Deco murals on the walls and craned their necks to look at the silver-leaf stars that twinkled from the ceiling like the sky outside.
Screen legends from Charlie Chaplin to Louis B. Mayer to Marilyn Monroe long used the Avalon for premieres and showcases. For Catalina longtimers like Benson and Hernandez, both 48, it was more than just a stage for the stars; it was the setting for first dates and high school graduations and nights out with the kids.
“It was a fun, safe place for teens, in an island where there was almost nothing to do,” Hernandez said. “You get your girlfriends together and go off alone together, and your parents didn’t have to worry.”
Added Benson: “As corny as it sounds, the Avalon was a way for me to see and imagine the world. It was so big and special and magical. Other theaters were like nothing compared to it. “
And now, it was time to say goodbye.
At the end of this year, the Avalon will stop showing first-run films for good, ending a 90-year tradition. The Catalina Island Co., its owner and operator and the main landlord around town, plans to continue daily tours and offer up the theater for special events like the long-running Catalina Film Fest and Silent Film Benefit.
Chief Executive Randy Herrel said not enough people attend the new flicks to make the Avalon financially viable. He said it needs at least 137 theatergoers every night to break even; average attendance this year, excluding blockbusters like the live-action “Lion King” remake, is just 37.
“It’s not going to get any better for our movie theater,” he said. “What small town that has 4,000 population has a 1,000-seat theater that’s still open?”
formerly Mad Cornish Projectionist.