Grandma's Q&A with the Plaza Theatre!

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MAGH: Hello! Thank you for taking time to answer some questions about the theatre! What’s the story behind your theatre? When did it open, and what drew you to this location?

Doug Sorrell (DS): The Plaza Theatre was originally built and opened by the Weaver Brothers on Christmas Day, 1919. It was their 2nd movie house in the Burg.

Closed in 1968, the rumor mill had Daytonians buying it to use as an Adult Theater. At that time, in a 6 block area on Main Street there were 27 Bars, Taverns, Saloons and Beer Joints.

My mother had a two-room retail store at the corner of Main & Central called The Western Shop, selling equine equipment & clothing along with Square Dance apparel. Mom had a few young female sales clerks and Dad thought adding dirty movies in the midst of all those establishments selling alcohol was a terrible thing.

He went to the remaining Weaver Bros home and bought the shuttered Plaza Theatre.

He informed Mom that he was going to retrofit the theater into a retail space for her store and re-name it Sor-Rell’s.

After extensive remodeling the building re-opened on Nov 1, 1969. Over the decades we added 3 Mezanines, built a Square Dance/Banquet Hall up the street and the Baum House Annex to sell our horse trailers from an indoor showroom. All within a block of each other.

We sold off the business Dec 31, 1992 to new owners, the Banquet Hall to others, and our horse trailer building to a 3rd buyer. That structure has an indoor, 6,000 pound, freight elevator to take your car to the 2nd floor. It’s now a 10,000 sq ft 2 story, single family residence that sold on Oct 24, 2024 for $1 Million.

I was drawn to this building and a handful of Citizen Volunteers because I knew it’s history, I worked in the building with my family selling saddles, hats, boots, apparel for 20 years….and it was sad for me to see it deteriorating for a decade after the folks we sold the thriving business to went bankrupt.

MAGH: Wow that is a lot history. How has your theatre changed since you first opened, and what has stayed the same? 

DS: Our original concept was to only show old & classic films for $5.00. We still charge $5 or less, but in year 2 we added New Releases, when the Studios would agree to permit us to show their product. Remember, we are a non profit, heavily reliant on Volunteers with a single screen. Now in our 10th year, the Studios offer us NEW releases, older and classic fare because we have proven to be wildly successful.
At the end of the day it’s about money for the Studios. Who is selling tickets?

MAGH: Very cool! What makes watching a movie at your theatre different from the big chain cinemas? 

DS: We have a 38 foot screen, one of “only” 12 Christie, Digital 4K Laser Projectors in Ohio. Closest to us is in Cincinnati, Columbus, Chillicothe. We have a Dolby 7.1 theater sound system with 12 auditorium speakers, and our speakers behind the screen are mounted on 8 foot platforms aimed at our seats. With 288 seats and a minimum of 4 wheelchair spots we have the largest seating capacity if any facility regularly showing films in Montgomery County.

We are fully handicap accessible with hearing and sight impaired devices. We have the ability to offer closed captioned to deaf patrons.

Our theater is clean. Our concessions very reasonable. Our downtown has 740 free unlimited parking spaces and within a block both North, South and East are multiple varied dining options.

Mere steps from the Plaza front door is ice cream, gelato and Grandpa Joes Candy Store.

It’s normal for us to offer a brief welcome and curtain talk prior to films. We pride ourselves on being “personal”.

Last June, we began offering child-friendly family films at 11am on Wednesdays for $1 admission and always attracted between 121 & 188 patrons from 6 counties (we asked).

Once a quarter, we offer a film for an admission of 25 cents with FREE candy in our lobby from Grandpa Joes. Our next 25 cent film is Saturday, August 16th showing Men in Black.

In December, 2021 we unveiled “A Century of Cinema” where I choose a theme, actor, actress or director, created a script that included onscreen pictures, posters, film clips and then offered a film related to the subject. In 2023, we opened these presentations to the general public (with our oversight). To date, over 30 individuals of all ages have offered “A Century of Cinema”, created by them. We run this the 1st & 3rd Wednesdays January thru November.

In the Summer of 2023, UD’s Osher Lifelong Learning Ctr included “A Century of Cinema” on their Summer curriculum. MVCC video taped my Barbara Streisand presentation and asked if we (I) would be willing to retape these past programs for vignette rebroadcasts.
I agreed. DATV asked to use them as well. These Century of Cinema “presentations” are now being being broadcast weekly in Prime Time into 4 counties, streamed worldwide, and posted to YouTube.

In October 2024, we won a PHILO in the 4 state area. A PHILO is Cable TV’s equivalent of an Emmy. We have been told we are the ONLY Theater in America to EVER WIN a PHILO.

Recently we taped 8-10 new shows with 4-5 NEW presenters from the General Public.

Can chains do this? Of course not. We aren’t managed by any corporate entity. We can do what we please.

We built the Plaza with funds from under 50 Private Donors. If needed, the City of Miamisburg has our back. We have balanced our books starting in year 3. We are debt free, with money in the bank.

We have 2 simple objectives: balance our books, create downtown foot traffic.

MAGH: How do you decide which movies to show? Do you take requests from the community?

DS: Our Executive Director with our East Coast Booker decide on our films. Our staff and volunteers have input on the films we show with the ultimate decision resting with our Executive Director. We DO take requests from the Community.

MAGH: What role do you feel your theatre plays in the local community beyond just showing films?

DS: We offer the Plaza for private rentals. Some pay, some are pro bono. In 2024, we have 170 private rentals that paid. Our marquee is available pro bono to advertise & promote local events. Our messages change colors and messaging every 10 seconds.

MAGH: Have you ever had any famous visitors or hosted special premieres that surprised?

DS: We’ve had famous visitors and World Premieres. Few surprises. We arranged most via our networks. If you recall my original career path was Radio & TV broadcasting. I’ve maintained those contacts, and worked with many onstage across America conducting Charity Auction events.

MAGH: Very nice. And finally, if you could give one piece of advice to someone thinking about opening their own small theatre, what would it be?

DS: Courage and stupidity.
Be brave enough to try anything & too naive to realize you might fail.

MAGH: Awesome, thank you for your time!