Owners of the Rose and Starlight Room Consider Changes, Closures Due to Financial Concerns

One summer in a galaxy far, far away, the Rose Theatre and the Starlight Room were jam-packed every night. For nearly six weeks from July into August, every one of the Rose’s 159 seats held a moviegoer, while the Starlight’s plush sofas and chairs also swaddled flocks of popcorn-devouring patrons. 

This was the summer of 2023, the hot days of “Barbenheimer.” That’s the joyous portmanteau for the simultaneous release of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” the mismatched pair of blockbusters that brought droves of people into cinemas—including the ones on Taylor Street in downtown Port Townsend. 

“I thought, ‘OK, we’re going to make it,’” remembered George Marie, co-owner of the Rose and Starlight. With her partner Michael D’Alessandro, Marie purchased the cinemas from longtime owner Rocky Friedman in early 2023. 

But summer doesn’t last. And reality bites—hard, in this case. The Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes of 2023 stretched into the fall, halting movie production and delaying theatrical releases: a worse calamity for movie houses, Marie said, than the Covid pandemic. 

Movie studios and distributors have also been cruel. Films go to streaming providers shortly after theatrical release. Then people stay home to watch the streaming apps. 

Marie has watched her theaters go empty or near-empty, showing after showing. People may tell her they want to see art-house films, but too few actually walk into the movie theater when such fare is on the screen. “Calle Málaga”? “I Love Boosters”? These are the kind of offbeat films that Marie played at the Starlight—for too few viewers.  

Marie and D’Alessandro have realized that the Starlight Room cannot continue like this. They plan to keep it open throughout the Port Townsend Film Festival, which is set for September 24-27. Then comes horror-flick season in October, when audiences tend to turn out for scary movies. Follow that with the holidays, another period typically good for box-office sales, and the Starlight may make it to the end of 2026. But that’s as far as it can go, Marie figures. 

“I’ve gone through the five stages of grief,” she said. 

“Denial, anger, blame, I’ve gone through it all,” and she now believes the time has come for her to accept that the Starlight does not work as a business. 

The Rose is not doing so well either, Marie added. Operating costs have skyrocketed, she said, while revenues are sluggish. 

People are going to the movies once or twice a year, if at all. 

If everyone in town starts seeing a film once a month, that just might turn things around, Marie said.

Meantime, she and D’Alessandro have decided to form a nonprofit organization, which will require a board of directors, a small army of volunteers and a whole lot of community support. They would then sell the theater to that nonprofit. 

It’s either that or all three screens—the Rose, the Rosebud and the Starlight Room—will go dark. 

Plenty of onlookers have opined about all of this on social media. People readily advise Marie about what she ought to do to save the cinemas. But she’s contending with a one-two punch. The film industry doesn’t support theatrical releases, and the demographics in Port Townsend are such that the people who used to come to the Rose and Starlight just don’t anymore. 

Just this month, a documentary about the struggles of small-town cinemas is making the rounds on screens across the West. 

“The Last Picture Shows” by writer-cinematographer Rustin Thompson is a road movie that takes viewers to rural places across Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Utah and Montana. It screened at Kingston’s Firehouse Cinema this past Sunday evening—to an almost sold-out crowd. 

The film doesn’t include the Rose and Starlight, but it illustrates the problems afflicting such theaters. 

Since the pandemic, many people have gotten out of the habit of going to a cinema, “Picture Shows” explains. If a kid doesn’t go to the movies with their folks, they don’t get to have that communal experience. They don’t crave it.

The result: Like candles being extinguished, thousands of cinemas have closed down. They’re   abandoned, forgotten, or changed into a Subway sandwich shop, in the case of The Chief, a former movie house in Tonasket, Washington. 

The documentary also notes that there are now more than 250 nonprofit theaters across the United States. Washington has a few, including the Pickford in Bellingham and the Grand Cinema in Tacoma. There’s plenty of precedent for turning the Rose into a nonprofit. 

At the same time, other glimmers of light appear in the near future. One is the release of “The Odyssey” this week and “Spider-Man: Brand-New Day” at the end of the month. Tickets are on sale on the Rose’s website for the two possible blockbusters, which are premiering almost exactly three years after “Barbenheimer.” 

In addition, the Starlight Room is open for events. The space can be rented out for parties, memorial gatherings, business meetings and weddings—with movies or videos projected onto the wide screen. One need only email events@rosetheatre.com to find out the details. 

“It’s a party with a classic movie,” said Marie, “or they can not have a movie. Businesses have done presentations,” which can be more fun than the average meeting since the workers can get popcorn, candy, drinks and snacks. 

The Starlight space is also amenable to a memorial if the family has a video they want to show, Marie added. 

Whether the Rose and Starlight achieve a happy ending is yet to be revealed. Marie said that while operating the cinemas has been financially ruinous, she has run the business in alignment with her values. 

Those include providing a space where people can gather and experience art. The theater is a place for solace and connection with our fellow humans, Marie said. 

About the Starlight: “We never know how long we have with a thing. If something is precious to you, you should treat it that way. You should enjoy it while you have it. Because we can’t promise how long it’s going to be here,” she said. 

Marie’s mother, Phyllis Owen, feels similarly. “I work all of the shifts” at the theater, she said: greeting moviegoers, taking tickets, and sometimes giving tours of the historic building. 

“I love it,” she said. 

The possibility of shuttering the Starlight Room “is very sad. I know it’s very disappointing for George and Michael. They’ve put their heart and soul into making everything successful . . . They didn’t do this to become rich entrepreneurs,” Owen added. 

The Rose isn’t just about the building; the movie house matters for the whole community, Owen believes. 

“The Rose is a crown jewel.” 

Editor’s note: For the Rose and Starlight family, this has been a difficult period of time. Marie said this week that she and her team do not have the infrastructure nor the bandwidth to deal with a flood of questions from patrons and passers-by. So be kind, and give the theater staff a break, OK?