Hollywood Theater Celebrates
90 Years of History
Dormont theater continues to prosper in the age of Netflix.
By Paul Glasser
T
he Hollywood Theater has been a cultural anchor in Dormont for
90 years, and supporters hope it will remain so for years to come.
Monique Fontaine, secretary for the theater’s board of directors,
grew up in Dormont and has fond memories of the cinema. In 1983
she saw “Flashdance,” the first R-rated movie she ever attended, and
remembers attending screenings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”
at the cinema in the 1990s.
“It thrills me now to see all of the families and the kids of my friends
coming to the theater for a show on their own,” Fontaine says.
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Like Fontaine, many patrons have strong memories associated with
the Hollywood Theater. Sometimes, simply going into the bathroom,
which still has the original tiles, can trigger a strong emotional reaction,
she adds.
“Some patrons have come back upstairs with tears in their eyes,”
Fontaine says. “It transports them back to the last time they were here.
It’s our own time machine.”
Colin Matthews, president of the theater’s board of directors, says
local patrons are very loyal to the Hollywood Theater in a way that a
multiplex theater could never reproduce.