Well what an interesting and varied time we are having – last week Malton Show, this week cabaret at Milton Rooms and Ryedale Youth Theatre.

But first, is it really 12 years since I reopened the cinema? The opening date was Friday, July 12. We opened the doors with one member of staff short – we couldn’t attract enough staff for some reason.

The opening film was Star Wars Attack of the Clones on the Friday, though we had run two special screenings of Casablanca, in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind, with Jerry Scott presenting his Radio York afternoon show from here.

Our town mayor said some opening words, which I didn’t get to hear as I was in the apparatus room ready to start the film, but I was very grateful for the official approval of what I was doing.

In these 12 years we have ran a games club for a year and a radio station for training youth. The developments at the cinema have included making two screens from the quite wide single screen, and at that point the cinema became financially stable. We also had our first digital projector installed at that same time.

We went 3D the next year – it was a new car or 3D – then finally completely digital three years ago and latterly we have included the live stage shows.

At the outset of the cinema, I wanted to be open seven-days-a-week and always wanted to be open every day from 1.30pm, rather than all day at weekends and weekdays in school holidays, and I finally realised that ambition two years ago.

We then also opened our Screen 3 last year – while it is only 12 seats, which I am sure makes it the smallest commercial screen in the country, it is a full blown cinema screen equipped to the same standard as both of our other screens.

We had a particular issue over the weekend where we had booked Legends Of Oz: Dorothy's Return. The film didn’t arrive on Thursday and it was chased, and on Friday it was chased again. Finally, they said it would arrive before noon on Saturday without fail from Northampton.

We still haven’t received the film. So apologies to all concerned who have missed out. We have decided not to try to include the film again.

As I said last week, Scott Garnham played a series of two cabaret dates at the Milton Rooms last weekend. Unbelievably, there were some tickets still available. It was a fantastic evening’s entertainment, and I saw it twice.

Scott was very complimentary about the sound I produced, which was extremely pleasing. Lauren Hood was a guest as was Martin Lettin. Both tremendously funny and touching. Lauren said she would like to sing more serious parts – well she held the whole audience with her version of With You from Ghost the Musical and Martin gave a great version of Mr Bojangles, which had special symbolism for him. Catch it if it happens again this one was because of the short run of I Can’t Sing which closed a little early.

 

Films this week

Maleficent (PG) stays for another weekend.

Chef (15 and number six in the top 10) is with us for another week. Chef is centred on Los Angeles chef Carl Casper, who loses his job and his world comes crashing down. Rather than wallowing in his own self-pity, the courageous cook picks himself back up, heads back to his hometown of Miami and launches his own roadside diner.

Chef stars Jon Favreau, who also directs, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale. You might leave Chef feeling a little hungry, I am told.

Walking On Sunshine (12A and number seven in the top 10) is set to the music of popular hit songs from the 1980s. After a whirlwind romance, Maddie is preparing to marry gorgeous Italian Raf, and has invited her sister Taylor to the wedding. Unbeknown to Maddie, however, Raf is Taylor's ex-holiday flame, and the love of her life. Sounds a bit like Mama Mia and response has been good, enjoyable and light and fluffy.

The Fault In Our Stars (12A and again number two in the top 10) stays for another week.

Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie, (15 and again number one in the top 10) has seen a great deal of different people at the Palace that we haven’t seen for a while, as well as some new faces. I think that this film will be with us for a few weeks more.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (PG) in both 2D and 3D plays all week from Friday with some matinees for those schools who have already broken up. How To Train Your Dragon 2 is an animated adventure sequel, in which Viking villagers and their pet dragons face threat from an evil dragon trapper.

 

Stage productions

NT Live: Skylight with Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan on Thursday, July 17, has two individual seats available at the time of writing and the encore performance on Monday, August 4, has two seats. There is also an encore on August 14, which has about half the seats still available.

Schoolteacher Kyra Hollis receives an unexpected visit from her former lover, Tom Sergeant, a successful and charismatic restaurateur whose wife has recently died. As the evening progresses, the two attempt to rekindle their once passionate relationship only to find themselves locked in a dangerous battle of opposing ideologies and mutual desires.

Live from Maastricht on Saturday, July 19 is Andre Rieu’s 10th anniversary concert and there are still some reasonable seats available.

Monty Python Live (Mostly) follows Andre Rieu on Sunday, July 20. My daughter somehow got some return tickets to get to see it live and thought it was brilliant. There are still some tickets available for the encore on the July 29 and this is likely to be the one and only encore.