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“THE CAT IN THE HAT” – Meet the Cat in the Hat you don’t know! In the wonderfully whimsical tradition of Dr. Seuss, “The Cat in the Hat,” voiced by Bill Hader, comes to the big screen in his animated theatrical feature film debut, an all-new, epic adventure where mischief, magic and mayhem reign supreme.
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Photo taken by Noah Larson
The new owner of the Dells Theatre, along with the Dell Rapids Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, February 6th. Brian Anderson, a former employee of Logan Luxary Theatres Corporation, celebrated his new ownership with the ribbon cutting prior to an afternoon of movies.
Anderson’s plans for the future include expanding the concession menu, and he also brought back the Bargain Tuesdays. He will continue to offer first run movies at lower prices than the Sioux Falls theaters and will continue bargain matinees on weekends when all ages are only $5.00 for shows starting before 6:00. Anderson will continue the theatre’s Rewards program and honor the annual popcorn buckets. Other new promotions will be announced in the future.
Current hours of the theater are Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesdays for evening showings. Afternoon matinees will be held every Saturday and Sunday. Showtimes will vary depending on the running time of the current movie.
Moves and times will be posted each week on their Facebook page as well as their website, www.dellstheatre.com (which is currently under construction). The theater opens 30 minutes before the first show of the day. The box office will close 15 minutes after the start of the last show of the day.
Prices are $7.00 for ages 13 and older and $5.00 for ages 12 and younger. Bargain matinee price is just $5.00 for all ages and showings starting before 6:00 p.m.
The Dells Theatre in Dell Rapids has been sold to an employee of the theatre. In a joint announcement, Logan Luxury Theatres Corporation said it has sold the theatre to Brian Anderson, of Dell Rapids, who has been a long time employee of the company. Final papers will be signed, and Anderson will take over operation of the area landmark on February 1.
Anderson said, “My wife and I are thrilled to purchase the theatre and continue bringing Dell Rapids and the Sioux Falls area new movies in a classic theatre with state of the art projection and sound. We want to continue the friendly, hometown feel of the theatre.”
Their plans for the future include expanding the concession menu. Anderson will bring back Bargain Tuesdays immediately beginning February 5. Currently the theatre is operating on weekends only, but Anderson hopes to return to 7-day-a-week operation as soon as the pandemic is over. He will continue to offer first run movies at lower prices than the Sioux Falls theatres. Anderson will continue bargain matinees on weekends when all ages are only $5 for shows starting before 6:00. Anderson will continue the theatre’s Rewards program and honor the annual popcorn buckets. Other new promotions will be announced in the future.
Anderson has an extensive show business background having been a child actor in TV shows such as “Saved by the Bell: the College Years” and “Full House” before his family moved to South Dakota. He and his wife met while working at the Century Stadium Theatre in Sioux Falls. He later went to work for Logan Luxury Theatres at their Luxury 5 Cinemas in Mitchell while attending Mitchell Technical College. He has worked for the past 10 years as a Relief Manager at the Dells Theatre while working fulltime in the IT Department of Sanford Health. He will continue at Sanford while operating the theatre. Anderson will retain theatre’s staff.
Jeff Logan, president of Logan Luxury Theatres headquartered in Mitchell, said, “We are confident Brian will maintain this beautiful building and operation to the highest standards. We love the Dell Rapids community and want to thank everyone for their tremendous support over the past 22 years. The theatre is an art deco treasure that has been a labor of love for us. Brian lives in Dells Rapids and will be able to work even closer with the community to serve it better.”
The Dells Theatre attracts a large audience from Sioux Falls and a wide radius to its unique architecture, prices and service. It was built in 1938 having been designed by noted theatre architect Perry Crosier of Minneapolis.
Logan said, “It was a beautiful building that was like walking into a time machine to the glory days of Hollywood. In our restoration we tried to enhance the original décor with the thought, how would Crosier have designed this building if he had a larger budget and the theatre was to be located in a suburb of a larger city such as Minneapolis or Chicago.”
Logan updated all the projection and technical aspects of the theatre, enlarged the lobby and installed new seats and a concession stand. He brought in decorative moldings from Chicago theatres of the same vintage and period signage removed from his theatres in Mitchell and Huron.
The theatre has gained national attention being featured on Small Business Saturday on NBC–TV’s “The Today Show” and hosting the Midwestern premieres and stars of “Walt Before Mickey”, the live action version of “The Little Mermaid”, and “He Leadeth Me.” The theatre also hosted the Library of Congress film festival for South Dakota in 2000 that included an appearance by James Earl Jones.
Logan Luxury Theatres will continue to operate its Luxury 5 Cinemas and Starlite Drive-in Theatres in Mitchell and the Huron Luxury Theatres in Huron. The company was founded in 1933.
A Fergus Falls, Minnesota pastor’s wife, Sarah Larson, has made her fifth movie titled “He Leadeth Me.” The South Dakota premier of the movie will be held at the Dells Theatre in Dell Rapids starting Friday, November 15th.
There will be a Meet and Greet reception with Larson and many of the cast of the movie at the Dell Rapids Museum at 5:30 Friday night followed by a showing of the film at the Dells Theatre at 7:00. Larson will host a question and answer session after the movie.
The film, set in the American Midwest in the 1930’s, tells the story of a minister and father struggling with their past, and the love shown by the adoptive father. The film was inspired by the Biblical story of the Prodigal Son.
Twenty-five percent of the proceeds from ticket sales of the showings of the movie will be donated to the Dell Rapids Food Pantry. The movie will show every night at 7:00 for one week through Thursday, November 21st. There will be Saturday and Sunday matinees at 1:30 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.
More information on the movie can be found at www.redeemerssongministries.com.
The Dells Theatre is celebrating its 80th anniversary this month by hosting back-t0-back South Dakota premieres of two movies and bringing in the stars or producers of those movies. The art deco theatre was designed by famed Minneapolis theatre architect Perry Crosier. It opened on August 19, 1938. Logan Luxury Theatres Corporation purchased it in 1998 and is the third and current owner of the theatre. They have constantly restored and upgraded the theatre since purchasing it.
“The Little Mermaid” will premiere Thursday night (August 23rd) with a special reception for actor/producer Armando Gutierrez at the Dells Rapids Museum at 5:30. At 7:00, Gutierrez will go to the red carpet event at the Dells Theatre where he will introduce the movie and answer questions following the screening. The movie will play for the next eight days through Thursday, August 30. It will start a week’s engagement on Friday, August 24 at the other Logan Luxury Theatres locations, the Luxury 5 Cinemas in Mitchell and Huron Luxury Cinemas in Huron.
Armando Gutierrez plays a lead role and is the producer of the live action version of “The Little Mermaid.” This movie is based on the characters from the original story by Hans Christian Anderson. Gutierrez will be in Mitchell Friday, August 24. He will make an appearance at the new Mitchell Indoor Aquatics Center at 5:30 with a live mermaid. At 6:30, he will be driven to the Luxury 5 Cinemas for a red carpet event. Gutierrez will introduce the movie and answer questions after the movie. “The Little Mermaid” will play for one week through Thursday, August 30, and may be held over another week.
In this new story, a grandmother (played by Shirley MacLaine) tells her daughters the story of the Little Mermaid but they don’t believe until she tells them a tale of her own. A young reporter finds a circus with a beautiful mermaid trapped in a glass box. The mermaid appears to the girls as a woman with legs. The girls soon learn of a prophecy about a girl born on land blessed with the heart of a mermaid. As the prophecy comes to life they become entangled in a plot by a sinister wizard.
Gutierrez produced “Walt Before Mickey” which had its Midwestern Premiere at the three Logan Luxury theatres two years ago. Gutierrez is excited about his new movie and is anxious to return to South Dakota. He said, “We hope that the South Dakota Premieres will bestow “The Little Mermaid” with the same attention and success as “Walt Before Mickey” enjoyed.”
More information and the trailer can be found on the movie’s website at www.thelittlemermaid.tv
“Farmer of the Year”, which was shot around Tyler, MN and in South Dakota at the Corn Palace, will have its South Dakota Premiere on Friday, August 31. The film was written by Tyler, MN native and farmer’s daughter, Kathy Swanson. It was produced by her and her husband, Vince O’Connell, who have been taking it to film festivals around the country.
O’Connell and Swanson will be in Dell Rapids Friday afternoon (August 31st) to promote the film. They will then travel to Mitchell for a public reception with the producers at the Second Floor Art Gallery at the Corn Palace at 5:30. They will be driven to the Luxury 5 Cinemas at 6:30 for a red carpet event where they will introduce the movie. They will also answer questions following the screening.
Saturday they will be at the Freedom Stage at the State Fair in Huron as guests of the SD Farmer’s Union. That evening, they will be at the red carpet event at 7:00 the Huron Luxury Cinemas to sign autographs and introduce the film.
The comedy-drama is an affectionate look at farm life and generational differences. A widowed 83-year-old Minnesota farmer sells his farm to his daughter. Bored with retirement, he decides to travel with his rebellious granddaughter across country in his 40-year-old Winnebago to a reunion of his World War Two army outfit. On the way, they stop at the Corn Palace and other locations in South Dakota and Nebraska.
Sioux Falls resident and Stepping Stones counselor Arin Winger along with Mitchell residents Cheryl Miller, John, Lori and Ryan Solberg have parts in the movie.
“Farmer of the Year” has been selected to play at film festivals across the country. It won the Audience Choice Award at the Minneapolis St. Paul Film Festival and was an Audience Choice finalist at the Sedona, Arizona Film Festival. It was nominated for Best Feature Film and Best Actor for Barry Corbin at the Soho International Film Festival in New York City.
More information and the trailer can be found on the movie’s website at www.yellowhousefilms.com/home/farmeroftheyear
A Sioux Falls five-year-old was presented with a specially-designed bicycle at the Dell Rapids Theater on Thursday, September 8th, thanks to fundraising efforts led by Variety, a children’s charity.
Phoenyx Benson is living with a significant brain injury and is unable to ride a traditional bicycle. Variety has led fundraising efforts to have a specially-designed bicycle given to Phoenyx to allow her the joys of having her very own bike to ride.
Dell Rapids Theater owner, Jeff Logan and Logan Theaters chain, have been big supporters of the Variety children’s charity. They have sold limited edition gold pins from Variety’s Gold Heart Campaign to help raise money for the charity. All the monies raised in South Dakota stay in South Dakota to help locally. This year’s pin featured artwork from the “Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” movie. The previous pin featured artwork of the minions from “Despicable Me”.
“They are like collector’s pieces. They tie in with a different movie, and we have support from the studios that they donate the license to use the artwork. They are able to use a special pin to make it more popular,” Logan said.
Variety was initially founded in 1927 by a group of 11 theater owners and showmen in Pittsburgh, PA as a social club. The so-named Variety Club evolved into a charity during 1928. Today Variety has a network of 42 offices in 13 countries operating as a children’s charity.
After receiving the bicycle, Phoenyx took a ride around the lobby of the theater and posed for pictures with her mother Emily Bartscher and everyone that helped make the bicycle possible. The specially-designed bicycle was made by Chad Pickard the owner of Spoke-N-Sport bike shop.
The Midwest premiere of the new movie “Walt Before Mickey” will be held at the Logan Luxury Theatres in Mitchell, Huron and Dell Rapids on Friday, August 28. The producers of the film, Armando Gutierrez and Arthur L. Bernstein, will be at all three locations for the festivities. The film will show at all three theaters for one week Friday through Thursday, August 28-September 3.
The producers will arrive at the Dells Theatre at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, August 27th, for the 7:00 p.m. “Red Carpet Advance Showing” where Mayor Scott Fiegen will welcome the producers to Dell Rapids and honor them with a presentation. The movie will be introduced by the producers who will also hold a question and answer discussion following the film. The movie will begin its regular showings for the week on Friday, August 28. The public is invited to the Thursday advance showing as well as all showings during the week.
Premiere festivities will also be held Friday at the Luxury 5 Cinemas in Mitchell and on Saturday at the Huron Luxury Cinemas in Huron.
“Walt Before Mickey” stars Jon Heder (“Napoleon Dynamite” and “Blades of Glory”) as Roy Disney. Jodie Sweetin (from TV’s “Full House”) plays Walt’s young bride, Charlotte. Thomas Ian Nicholas (“Rookie of the Year” and “American Pie”) plays the young Walt Disney. David Henrie (“Mall Cop 2” and “Wizard of Waverly”) plays artist Rudy Ising. Few people today realize the struggles and failures Walt went through before finally finding financial success before he created Mickey Mouse. Walt assembled a team of animators who would lead animation for Disney and other studios for the next four decades. It is an inspirational story of a young man’s vision and fight to succeed despite obstacles and unfair treatment by larger companies. The producers, Gutierrez and Bernstein, also took roles in the film.
Gutierrez previously produced “Henry and Me” starring Richard Gere and “Ask Me Anything” starring Britt Robertson. Gutierrez holds a graduate degree from Harvard.
Bernstein is an award winning filmmaker who has produced movies, TV shows and commercials. He previously worked with Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison productions and with Burt Reynolds. He has also produced or acted in many movies, TV shows and commercials.
Logan Luxury Theatres Corporation president Jeff Logan first met the producing partners at the Cinemacon Convention two years ago. Logan worked with them over the past year to develop the plan for the midwest premiere over the past year.