By Jaime North
LEWISBURG -- Two months after a pipe burst at The Campus Theatre, causing a small fire and flooding the structure with four feet of water, the renowned Lewisburg theater is set to reopen Friday with a special showing of Woody Allen's newest comedy.
The extensive clean up is just about complete, according to theater officials, who say the historic building has a fresh new feel to it.
"We did a super-thorough cleaning of the seats and carpet, as well as upgrading the air conditioning system," said Jenni Stieler, theater board member. "Part of why it took so long to get everything done was the fire damage to the electrical system. We wanted to wait and see how the project was going to be funded and how much work we wanted to do."
Stieler said the theater's insurance covered the recent cleaning and upgrades. Meanwhile, Bucknell University, which maintains the theater, may use a portion of its recent $9 million state grant to support the Lewisburg Core Community Initiative to renovate the 67-year-old theater, according to Stieler.
"Right now we're in the early planning stages to see how it's all going to work," Steiler said. "In the meantime, we're real excited about reopening and getting back to business. The theater has probably never been this thoroughly cleaned in all of the years it's been open."
The theater will show Allen's new comedy, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," starring Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz, at 7 p.m. Friday, as well as offer free popcorn to everyone. The movie is only open on 700 movie screens across the country, according to Mary Bannon, executive director of The Campus Theatre.
"Not only is it doing really well across the country, but it's also gotten great reviews," Bannon said.
According to Bannon, a grand opening will be held on Sept. 21 featuring wine and appetizers before the regular 7 p.m. show, which will be an exclusive look on the new Coen Brothers comedy "Burn After Reading" starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Tickets for the showing will go on sale soon for $30 each, Bannon said.
For more information on The Campus Theatre, call 524-9628 or visit www.campustheatre.org.
n E-mail comments to jnorth@dailyitem.com.
