Editor’s Note: “Mountain Movie Palaces” is an 828newsNOW miniseries spotlighting the independent movie theaters of Western North Carolina. From historic, single-screen arthouse theaters to unique, independently-operated multiplexes, we seek to celebrate the community of cinema through these feature stories.
TRYON, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Tryon Theatre is the first subject of “Mountain Movie Palaces,” our new miniseries spotlighting the independent movie theaters of small Western North Carolina communities. Read about what makes the little theater so special to its small town.
Theater specs
- Location: 45 S. Trade St., Tryon, N.C.
- Hours: Screenings typically begin at 7 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday, with an occasional 2:30 p.m. matinee
- Number of screens: One
- Number of seats: 150
- Number of staff: 10-12
- Type of theater: First-run/Repertory
A big part of a little town
If you have ever driven through Tryon, N.C., you’ve probably noticed the big, beautiful marquee of the Tryon Theatre. The tiny mountain town may be renowned for its horses, but Tryon also sports a robust community of arts-lovers. The Tryon Theatre embodies the local creative culture.
“I mean, this area, for its scale and for its overall rule of setting, [has] a phenomenally vibrant art scene, and more than just an art scene of people producing art,” said Evan Fitch, manager of Tryon Theatre. “Just a ton of people who love to consume it, and will fill their entire recreational time and recreational budget with just consuming art, via music or theater or movies. It’s tremendous.”
Tryon Theatre is a proud and active member of the Tryon arts scene, regularly collaborating in parades and festivals and fostering a symbiotic relationship with other local arts centers. The Tryon Fine Arts Center, for example, hosts a fundraiser at Tryon Theatre called TFAC at the Movies, screening classic films like “Lawrence of Arabia” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” on the big screen.
According to Fitch, the building itself is a point of pride for locals, as well as a landmark for tourists.
“On the actual downtown strip, we probably just have the largest and most obnoxiously bright sign. Did you know we have a marquee?” Fitch joked. “That alone kind of keeps us constantly in the minds of the community. And to our benefit! But also, having an old theater that we have lovingly maintained, with a beautiful old marquee, it’s just pretty. From a pure point of aesthetics, most people who live in Tryon, they like the old, beautiful buildings, and the theater’s one of them.”
In the 2020 census, the population of Tryon clocked in at a whopping 1,562 residents. Despite the diminutive number of denizens, Fitch said screenings at the theater regularly fill at least 60% of their seats, a testament to the tight-knit bond between Tryonians and the Tryon Theatre. Occasionally, screenings sell out entirely, though that phenomenon is based on the popularity of that week’s particular title.
Like most small movie theaters, Tryon Theatre is limited to showing one major studio movie at a time. Occasionally, studios will license their films in an alternating pair, like when NEON, an indie distributor of international films, permitted “The Secret Agent” and “Sentimental Value” to run simultaneously to spotlight their respective Oscar nominations. But usually, the theater is tethered to a two-week run of a single title.
That limitation means Fitch has to choose carefully what to show.
“It’s always a gamble. There are plenty of times where we kind of go, oh, okay, we’re maybe not going to take a chance on that film, and then a couple months later, we’re going, well, we missed that boat,” Fitch said. “ Sometimes, we get a film and we think, well, this will play, and then nobody turns out.”
Fitch is not shooting entirely blind. After several years of running the theater, the manager has a good handle on what the Tryon community will and will not respond to. Horror? No thanks. Oscar-nominated? Now you’re talking. Older, repertory titles? Attendance in a landslide.
One benefit of running a business in a small town is the personal relationship Fitch has with his theatergoers. Just like Fitch knows Tryon’s taste, his regulars trust his judgement. Fitch writes a column in the Tryon Daily Bulletin called “Film Talk,” which previews upcoming features at the Tryon Theatre.
“It’s not a review and it’s not my opinion. It is my best ability to approximate: Who is the intended viewer for this title?” Fitch explained. “A sense of tone and perhaps some background that would give them, reading the paper, that blurb of, I want to take a chance on this or not. Just enough. What the theoretical benefit of a teaser is.”
Through “Film Talk,” Fitch is not only able to share what’s coming to the theater next, but ease his regulars into experiences that may expand their movie-watching palette. Horror titles may not usually play at Tryon Theatre, but Fitch said showings of “Sinners” did very well. Another recent success story was “Bugonia,” an alien conspiracy film starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons. The film is violent, weird and a little confusing, but thanks to that week’s column, the audience was prepared.
“If we can present a film the right way, our trusting community does take a chance on it, and nine out of 10 times, those chances, they find rewarding and they praise us for giving them that opportunity,” Fitch said.
Tryon Theatre may be a small cinema in a small town, but Fitch likes to think of the movie theater as a place for Tryon to experience big emotions together.
“You think of a comedy, where you laugh harder in a theater than you do at home, having other people laugh with you. Same with something that’s tragic, knowing other people around you are processing heavy emotion too,” Fitch reflected. “It’s beautiful. It’s almost like, you know, those really old folk traditions of so many cultures of public grief, and of communal grieving when somebody goes through something. Sharing those emotions collectively enhances the potency of them.”
For more information about the Tryon Theatre, visit www.tryontheatre.com.