For those Virginia Tech students who
are looking for a cheap but enjoyable date, the Lyric — a small downtown
historic movie theater that has been in Blacksburg since 1930 — could be the
perfect place to go.
“I would definitely go to the Lyric on
a date,” said Shane Forsythe, a Virginia Tech freshman who frequents the Lyric.
“The prices are really cheap and the theater has this kind of classic
atmosphere, romantic even.”
Unlike the average multiplex movie
theaters who charge an average of $9 per ticket, the Lyric provides tickets
that are, at the most expensive price, $5.
“Traditionally speaking, dinner and a
movie is a pretty safe date,” said Lyric employee Flavio Carvalho. “Dinner
isn’t usually that cheap so by coming here, they get a great evening without
investing too much money.”
Another money saving aspect of the
Lyric is the fact that apart from the cheap ticket prices, they also provide
very reasonable concessions prices.
“Our concessions are extremely
affordable,” said the Lyric’s executive manager Susan Mattingly. “And if you
come in on a Monday night, you get free popcorn, what’s better than that?”
The Lyric could also be a good place
to go on a date because of its central location in downtown Blacksburg. Any
students who live on campus are within walking distance of the theater.
“This location is really quite
convenient,” Carvalho said. “Especially for those that live in dorms, and even
for those students that live off campus, there is usually an easy way to make
it here.”
The Lyric is also unique, in
comparison to the average movie theater, because of the kinds of movies it
shows. Most films shown at the theater are almost always very well reviewed,
and usually of the indie variety.
“We have some very high quality films,
while not all of them are indie films they are unique,” Mattingly said. “Take
‘Letters From Iwo Jima’ for example, that film had four Academy Award
nominations.”
The Lyric has been a part of the
Blacksburg community since 1930, and while it closed for a brief period in the
1980s, it remains today one of the most unique aspects of Main Street.
“A group of citizens known as the Lyric
council, the non-profit organization that operates the Lyric today, got
together after it was closed in the 1980s and worked to re-open it,” Mattingly
said.
A fun fact about the Lyric is that it
is rumored to be haunted. The story goes that when the theater was being built,
there was a man who was killed during the construction and it is said that his
ghost haunts the Lyric to this day.
“Some people say it is a haunted
theater, I myself have never seen or felt the ghost, but there are rumors that
he exists,” Mattingly said. “There are a lot of dark corners in a 77-year-old
building.”
The Lyric will be showing Bridge to
Terabithia’ this weekend.
“I think we’re more than just the best
cheap-date in town,” Mattingly said. “I think we’re the best date-date in
town.”
