MOUNTAIN MOVIES - THE BACKDOOR THEATER

Mountain dwellers, take note; we've got it close by, and we've got it
good.  Five dollars buys a movie ticket ($3 for kids), refreshments
are inexpensive, and driving distance is minimal.  It's called the
Backdoor Theater, and it's the answer to good mainstream movie
entertainment without spending beaucoup bucks or several gallons of
gasoline.

The Backdoor Theater's history resonates with vision and hard work.
The old Nederland elementary school, purchased by the town of
Nederland as a community center several years ago, was not being used
to its full potential.  The five-member Backdoor Theater Guild went to
the town board to suggest using the school's auditorium as a movie
theater.  The concept was embraced, projection equipment was purchased
for the project, and in August, 2000, the first movies were shown.
The audience viewed the films from the 1950s-vintage, folding wooden
chairs original to the auditorium (not the most comfortable in which
to be seated for the duration of a movie, but fortunately only a
short-term inconvenience).  The town board subsequently bowed out of
its sponsorship of the theater, but the guild members were able to
sustain the theater through a grant.  Colorado non-profit status was
then obtained, making the Backdoor Theater one of only a handful of
non-profit theaters in the country.  Grant-seeking remains a continued
focus to fund the theater's ever-expanding scope, along with
enthusiatic community support..

Renovation of the theater has been an ongoing process.  Comfortable
theater seats, sound panels for better acoustics and a bank of
theatrical lights were donated by the University of Colorado when its
student union was remodeled.  The transportation of these
eagerly-awaited gifts fell upon the theater guild to orchestrate, and
the community rose admirably to the task when its cooperation was
solicited.  Scores of volunteers appeared to load, haul and install.
Repainting was done, and the result was a clean, modest but adequate
theater that is an outstanding accomplishment and asset. The March,
2003, 7-foot blizzard was a temporary setback; it collapsed the roof
of an adjacent portion of the building, putting the intact theater out
of business until early July while structural safety and mold issues
from the snow damage had to be evaluated.  The momentum the theater
had managed to generate was impacted to some degree, but when word
finally got out that the movies again were being shown, attendance
gradually returned to normal.

The Backdoor Theater is in a comfortable holding pattern, but this
unique work-in-progress is only going to get better. The theater has
been a venue for occasional excellent live theater productions and
music events as well as movies, and guild members envision the facility
as a future local center for the performing arts and cultural
education, functioning as an auditorium and conference center, and
having the capability for more frequent use. The building itself is
likely to undergo a much-needed metamorphosis when insurance coverage
from the snow damage funds replacement construction; in that process
the structure could be more suitably oriented toward the broader scope
that is imagined.  As the theater expands, it could become an even
more integral part of the community, complementing existing local
businesses as part of a comprehensive package of entertainment, such
as dinner before and drinks after theater attendance.

The Backdoor Theater is located one-half mile northwest of the
Nederland traffic circle on Highway 72.  Look for the sign beside the
highway (the scheduled movie for the next Friday and Saturday evening
7:30 p.m. showings will be posted there); then follow the driveway
down to the lower parking lot.  A list of upcoming films may be found
in local newspaper listings, or on the theater's website at
www.backdoortheater.org.

Surprisingly, many local residents either remain unaware of the
Backdoor Theater's presence, or they simply have not made the effort
to acquaint themselves with it.  Their loss.