From silent movies to 3D, Orpheum Theatre marked 106 years of entertaining Estevan

The Orpheum Theatre in Estevan has seen it all, from mothers saying farewell to their sons leaving to fight in the First World War, to the soldiers coming back from the Second World War, from Dirty Thirties to all other kinds of economic crisis. But it seems that never before was it closed for as long as it is now due to COVID-19. 

In April, the Orpheum Theatre celebrated 106 years of its history. The Mercury talked to co-owner Jocelyn Dougherty about the achievements, challenges and the best memories she and her husband Alan have had through their years of operating one of the very few independent movie theatres remaining in Saskatchewan. 

Due to the current restrictions, the cinema's birthday quietly passed by, but with nobody to remember the first years of the movie theatre anymore, it became even more important to preserve its history and traditions. The Doughertys did some research for the 100th anniversary celebration, but Jocelyn said that not all of the history can be found in the archives. 

“A lot of it has been lost already because people that were here for the opening are not around anymore,” said Jocelyn. 

The Doughertys took over the theatre back in the late 90s. At that time, they were helping the previous owners, who ran it for about 40 years, and they ended up having the first chance of buying the Orpheum when it was put up for sale in 1998. Jocelyn said that never in her life could she have thought that she would be running a movie theatre. 

“We both grew up in Estevan, and the theatre was the place to go when we were growing up. But we never dreamed that one day we would own it. Neither of us.”

“Definitely you become fussier when you own it, because even things like watching a movie, you are looking for a presentation. And sound. We are always looking for things that could be improved versus just being a consumer and you are just there to enjoy it,” said Jocelyn. 

Right when the Doughterys purchased the theatre, they knew that it needed a lot of work. They totally changed the building and have given it a complete makeover, including plumbing and electrical. But one of the main drives for change was the willingness to make the theatre fully wheelchair-accessible. And in order to do so, they almost had to rebuild it. The second screen came as just another part of the big project.

“We had that in our vision when we bought it, we could see having twin screen,” said Jocelyn. 

The second breath the Doughertys gave the theatre was bringing the innovations, but still keeping the antique component. It was definitely within the biggest achievements of their time at the theatre so far.

“What feels great is when people walk into the lobby, into the concession area, and they’ve never been there before, just to see their expression. They are just like, ‘Wow, this is a beautiful place.’ They didn’t expect that from walking into the place,” said Jocelyn. 

The renovations became not only their biggest success but also their biggest challenge. To fix a 100-year-old building, which also includes a load of paperwork due to age, was not an easy job. On top of that, the time of changes for Orpheum coincided with the economic boom in Estevan, and finding not just the right, but even simply available contractors, became another challenge. 

“I wouldn’t want to (repeat) these years, but I’m glad we did it,” said Jocelyn. 

Another big change was going digital and also adding the 3D component. The Orpheum was one of the first theatres in Saskatchewan to add 3D, and a Yogi Bear movie was the first 3D movie they played about 10 years ago. However, up to this day, the Orpheum Theatre remains one of the very few cinemas that has the capacity to play 35-millimetre movies. 

Keeping a great palette of entertainment is another big task the owners of the independent theatre are constantly solving. It consists of understanding what kind of movies the community would love, balancing between the laws of the market and people’s interests and also working within the bounds of film companies’ rules and regulations.  

“I do my own booking. There are not so many independent theatres around either, but a lot of them go through what’s called a booking agent. I do my own booking, so I call every film company myself,” said Jocelyn.

Choosing movies to show in the theatre in a relatively small community is an art of its own. 

“I’m always in the future trying to see when the movies are coming out. You hope that you pick things that people of Estevan want to see. Some of the big blockbusters you know they’ll do well, and other things you try to bring for a variety so everybody can see a little bit of everything from comedy to horror,” said Jocelyn. 

She went on to explain that often companies have rules as to how long the movies have to be played for, which doesn't always work for smaller communities. 

“Sometimes we have to look that we are only a population of 11,000-plus, so we don’t have a market that we can play one movie for four weeks if that’s what they are asking for,” said Jocelyn.

“It can be tough being in a smaller city for sure, but we do our best trying to bring the newest movies as quickly as we can.”

Operating an independent theatre is more work than it may look from the outside. The Doughertys are also always trying to diversify their schedule, adding other types of entertainment. Sometimes it’s difficult to fit concerts or comedy shows into the movies, but after all, the live events they brought attracted a lot of interest from the community and brought a lot of joy. 

“Our very first concert at the theatre, while we owned it I mean, was the Legendary Ink Spots. Our first big name was Randy Bachman with his Every Song Tells A Story tour. We've had great local Saskatchewan performers including Brad Johner, Chris Henderson, Lori Solomon and Jack Semple,” recalled Jocelyn. 

“Some of our favourite rock bands were Kenny Shields and Streetheart, Stampeders, Five Man Electrical Band, Dr. Hook, Little River Band, Nazareth, Chilliwack and Rik Emmett of Triumph. Of course, Toque gave everyone a night to remember last December 31 and we were sure hoping to bring them back.

“Some of our favourite country bands were Michelle Wright, Deric Ruttan, Julian Austin and Almost Johnny Cash. And, of course, we've really enjoyed our Yuk Yuk concerts because everyone knows laughter is the best medicine!”

Jocelyn said going forward she also was looking into getting some gaming on the big screen and possibly having some tournaments to add to their entertainment menu. But for now, all their plans are on pause. 

They still don’t have a date when they will be allowed to reopen. And even when the Government of Saskatchewan lets them do so, Jocelyn pointed out that they still will need Hollywood to get back to somewhat normal, before they can invite Estevan for a movie again. While they may run some old classic movies, to get back to normal they would need the new product, which probably will start being released only when the bigger centres are open.  

But when it happens, the Orpheum Theatre will do their best to keep their employees and guests safe and they really hope that the community will be there to support them, so Estevan can keep enjoying its own unique, beautiful and community-oriented movie theatre.