{"id":26751,"date":"2025-04-02T09:01:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T16:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/?p=26751"},"modified":"2025-04-02T11:31:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T18:31:24","slug":"the-roxy-theatre-brings-back-on-screen-cinema","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2025\/04\/02\/the-roxy-theatre-brings-back-on-screen-cinema\/","title":{"rendered":"The Roxy theatre brings back on-screen cinema"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Roxy theatre has long stood on Quadra Street a monument of the mid-20th century, its pale blue paint only marginally chipped and faded. After several years with an empty screen, and some years taken over by Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre, the Roxy has reestablished its origins with new owners: Golin Cinemas.<\/p>\n

In May 2024, the theatre began screening newer blockbusters while balancing their schedule with independent arthouse films, curating enough range for its new audience.<\/p>\n

Golin Cinemas director of operations Nathan Searer says the Roxy offers movie-goers a different experience to corporate chain cinemas. And they\u2019ve most recently acquired an alcohol licence; drinks can be purchased during select showings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Roxy theatre is screening movies again, under new ownership (photo by Greg Pratt\/Nexus<\/em>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to do something different at the Roxy than SilverCity,\u201d says Searer. \u201cWe\u2019re showing some films\u2014Oscar films, stuff like that\u2014but for the most part, we\u2019re showing arthouse films, we\u2019re looking at classics, things that you\u2019re not going to see at the other local theatres. We\u2019ve had French films recently; we\u2019re going to be doing event nights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike watching films at home, Searer says, the atmosphere of a theatre offers its audience an opportunity to disconnect from the outside world and tune into one collective experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cMovies are definitely a thing that\u2019s more enjoyable when you have an audience. The laughs are stronger, you get scared easier. It\u2019s a communal thing,\u201d he says. \u201cI know at home when I\u2019m watching stuff on streaming, I\u2019m on my phone the entire time. But when I go to a theatre, I\u2019m actually paying attention to the movie and absorbing what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a digital zeitgeist of on-demand movies at home, paying, too, for a movie ticket may, to some, feel expendable. However, Searer says, the theatre experience cannot be replicated at home; the theatre is an opportunity to break away from routine streaming.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely somewhere people can go have a night out, enjoy time with others,\u201d says Searer. \u201cWhy do people go out and eat? They want to go have a fun time and enjoy something that they can\u2019t do at home. Most people don\u2019t have a large screen and a sound system that knocks your socks off\u2026 Just to experience something with the lights down and the magic of movies that you\u2019re not going to get just at your home.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Searer, reviving the Roxy meant offering films that hadn\u2019t yet had the opportunity to reach Victoria. Along with leaseholder Andrew Golin, he saw that the city\u2019s cinema space had room for lesser-known films.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, for us in the Victoria market… we definitely felt there was enough movies that weren\u2019t getting played in that market that were important to play,\u201d says Searer. \u201cA lot of arthouse, foreign films, Canadian films, too, that just didn\u2019t get a wide enough release to hit Victoria. We\u2019re able to play those. We\u2019re definitely a home for Bollywood and stuff now. And we can just know that we have a space for those.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Roxy\u2019s historical significance is potent in the Quadra-Hillside neighbourhood, its marquee a reminder of lost years. To Searer, it was important to maintain the theatre\u2019s particular charm, presenting an old generation to a new one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely is iconic. It\u2019s had a bunch of different lives throughout these years, and we definitely felt it was worth bringing it back and keeping that style there, too,\u201d says Searer, \u201cbecause I think a lot of people have come in, they\u2019re still just finding out about us. They\u2019re super happy and excited to have the Roxy back, and it brings them a lot of nostalgia to be back in that building.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Roxy theatre has long stood on Quadra Street a monument of the mid-20th century, its pale blue paint only marginally chipped and faded. After several years with an empty screen, and some years taken over by Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre, the Roxy has reestablished its origins with new owners: Golin Cinemas. In May 2024, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26752,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,331],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-april-2-2025-issue"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26751"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26753,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26751\/revisions\/26753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}