The Movie Palace with The Mom

This weekend we took the girls to see a movie at the Fox Theater in downtown Atlanta.  It is one of three "movie palaces" in the United States, where on a regular basis you can see movies in an enormous theater that also serves as a venue for concerts, Broadway musicals, etc.  We went to "The Wizard of Oz" and there were thousands of people there, which is a pretty fun experience.

First off, we snapped a photo with the theater greeter.  He is the best greeter in the whole wide world and Wal-Mart and Cracker Barrel could learn a lot from him.  You feel like you have come to the best place on earth after you meet this guy.  Then, you go inside and tour the place which is historic and architecturally incredible and opulent and exciting.  Inside the theater, they show you how special the place really is, with an antique pipe organ that has so many bells and whistles it makes you smile.  An old man in a white tuxedo plays old timey songs for a sing-a-long, the kind of stuff I learned by watching Bugs Bunny cartoons.  Everyone sings along and claps and it is very sweet and very corny, but very personal.  At this point in our afternoon, I'm smiling and getting silly and Scott says to the girls, "Look, you mother is turning into Granny."  In other words, The Mom is emerging.  I am doing The Mom, as my brother and I would always say when we were kids and our mom would start to embarrass us with her unique behaviors.  So Roxy gives me a kiss and all is well.

The sing-a-long is followed by old newsreels from the 1930s and old Mickey Mouse cartoons, and it is all enjoyable with the audience going along with everything.  When the movie starts, everyone continues to interact with the movie, cheering for Dorothy, clapping when the witch gets melted, cheering for the Lion, and singing with the music.

There is a real phantom at the Fox - there is an old man that has lived there since the 1960s and keeps the pipe organ fixed and is the official caretaker of the Fox Theater.  I think that is pretty cool that they tell you all about the history of the place - they even show all the movie stars coming to the screening of "Gone With the Wind" when it premiered there in the 1932 or whatever year that was.  But, I digress...

Even before the movie started, probably when we were singing along to "Ain't She Sweet", I knew that my mom should have been here with us.  She would love the Fox and singing along and clapping with the girls and me.