Sound Cinema: The Rose Theatre

The Rose Theatre, thus far the oldest theater in the Sound Cinema catalog, opened back in 1907 in Port Townsend, a city on the eastern tip of the Olympic Peninsula. The theater started as a vaudeville performance space—like most in that era—before converting to movies.

The space went through a couple of transitions after its initial run as a movie house, and by 1992 it was a junk shop in the heart of the lower portion of the city. At that time, a group of community volunteers, donors, and investors brought the theater back to life, and for the over thirty years since, The Rose Theatre has become a community staple. 

In those thirty years, the theater has expanded not only to have the original screening space, now called the Rose, but also a smaller space called the Rosebud and an elegant space named the Starlight Room. This third theater is on the third floor of the building right next door; the unique exhibition space offers stunning preshow views, its own bar and concessions counter, and comfy chairs and loveseats to enjoy film in style.

Walking to The Rose Theatre, one sees a city that embraces its past and looks to the future. Inside are walls covered with movie posters and framed one-sheets from events past. The lobby is cobbled together from the two buildings it was before, but it is still a cohesive structure that houses both the Rose and the Rosebud. To the left is the Rosebud and to the right is the Rose with the restrooms down the stairs between the two.

The Rose is a traditional theater setup with aisles on the right and left of the screen and a gentle slope that gives everyone a good seat. The Rosebud is similar, but with a single aisle down the middle. Like many old theaters, a stage remains front and center for whatever need may arise. The seats are comfy, but for the tallest among us, know that they can be a bit cramped.

The Rose Theatre sign in the heart of Port Townsend

The Evergreen Echo

I recently took in a showing of The Fantastic Four: First Steps in the Rose. The film is the fourth iteration of the titular team's origin story. If you are a little lost at that math thinking only of the 2005 and 2015 iterations, there is one version that was made but never released. In 1992, in order to retain his option on the intellectual property, producer Bernd Eichinger hired low-budget filmmaker Roger Corman to make a Fantastic Four film that never saw the light of day. This current version, now part of the grand MCU, is undoubtedly the best of the bunch, but at the same time the Marvel machine has become so bloated, rote, and played out that the film is bland in many ways. As a long time comic reader, it was cool to see some concepts and characters more closely resembling their drawn and inked counterparts, but knowing that these characters are in a future film really takes the stakes out of the harrowing danger they are in.

Like many small, independent theaters, The Rose Theatre does not have shows seven days a week. Their shows run Wednesday through Sunday with Wednesday being a 2-for-1 ticket day. They also offer a membership that gives rewards and has tiered options from a free version, to Cinephile ($100), and all the way to Rose Sustainer ($500), with increasingly enticing perks at each level. The theater shows a healthy mix of blockbuster films, independents, documentaries, international films, special presentations, and anniversary showings, along with the replays of The Met: Live in HD for the opera lovers out on the peninsula.

Every year The Rose Theatre also plays host to the Port Townsend Film Festival. This year the festival is being held September 18-21 with an option to go virtual from September 22-28. The festival tends to take over the town and puts festival-goers and filmmakers in conversation. There are usually forums, live music, outdoor films, and lots of independent features and shorts to explore.

The Rose Theatre is a great arts space within a great arts community. Port Townsend is a Washington spot where history is preserved with care, yet understands that history within the context of today. It’s a great place not just to see a movie, but to walk into one of the many shops themed on magic and the metaphysical. I particularly enjoyed wandering through House of the Faun and Pendragon's Labyrinth as well as taking in the great vibes and healthy local authors section at Imprint Bookshop.

Sometimes the community is just as important as the space. Port Townsend is a terrific community and is not that far from Seattle or the rest of the cities that make contact with our beloved Puget Sound. 

Take a ferry or the roads through the ancient forests of the Olympic Peninsula and experience a place and a movie theater where arts and culture matter. The Rose Theatre is not just a place to see a film, but a place to be immersed in magic.