Carolyn Fath
The 971-seat venue will be the festival’s largest this year.
The increasingly vibrant Atwood Avenue area is adding the Wisconsin Film Festival to its list of attractions. For the first time, the historic Barrymore Theatre will be a venue for the festival, which runs April 14 through 21.
In a move sure to call attention to the new location, the festival’s opening night celebration will take place at the historic theater, including a sold-out screening of the high-profile Hunt for the Wilderpeople, the latest from New Zealand’s Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows).
To get ready, a new screen is being installed, and the festival is renting state-of-the-art digital projection equipment. “Things will never have looked or sounded better than they do at the Barrymore this year,” festival coordinator Ben Reiser says.
The decision to expand east was a long time coming. “Three or four years ago when we made a decision to start working with Sundance, that was a big question mark as well,” recalls Reiser. All the other screens were on the isthmus. “Would our audience follow us west?”
Festival audiences followed, and now Sundance Cinemas has become a festival staple. “Our experience on the near west side made us feel that perhaps there’s a similar local audience for the festival in the Atwood area that would relish the opportunity to have this experience in their backyard,” says Reiser.
Brad Hinkfuss, chair of the Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara Neighborhood Association (SASY), says expanding eastward will benefit the neighborhood. “Siting some of the venues in strong neighborhoods like this one helps more people discover the SASY business district and all it has to offer.”
The Barrymore was built in 1929 as the Eastwood Theater. It’s a rare surviving example of an “atmospheric” venue, a style popular in the 1920s, which created the indoor illusion of an outdoor theater. The festival has scheduled offerings there during its entire week.
“Moving from venue to venue is part of what makes the festival fun,” says Hinkfuss. “Hopefully it means that a bunch more people will set foot in this neighborhood for the first time and see how much it has to offer.”
“It does seem to have generated quite a bit of excitement over in the Atwood neighborhood and beyond,” says Reiser, who adds that many Barrymore shows are selling well.
Selling out the Barrymore is impressive. It will seat 800 patrons, dwarfing other festival venues. For example, the Marquee Cinema at Union South seats 350, and each of Sundance’s six theaters seats 140 to 270.
To help film fans come and go, Madison B-cycle, the downtown bike rental service, will provide festivalgoers a special code for free rentals. Union Cab is also offering discounts to those with ticket stubs.
Note: This article was changed to indicate that the Barrymore will seat 800 patrons, not its full capacity of 971, as previously stated.
