And now, the dramatic conclusion to the blog I just typed 20 minutes ago.
Previsouly on The Hippodrome: Dine-in Theater: I mused what it would be like if Katniss Everdeen could just have a chilled-out normal life, which was really just a literary device to brag about my own Thursday.
So anyway, the rest of the story is that the food was delicious and the staff at the Hippodrome was extremely attentive while we were shooting photos Thursday afternoon. Before we left, we picked up our Mockingjay badges (yes, badges, we're badasses).
We had a fantastic time watching a great movie in the balcony. The Hippodrome ran Mockingjay Part I concurrently on two separate screens in the main theater and the balcony. We enjoyed beer and upscale popcorn. It was awesome.
The coolest part of the evening, though, was arriving and leaving the theater. It's been a long, long time since I had a movie-going experience that felt like an event the way it did on Thursday night. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, going to the movies felt like a big deal. You would actually expect to see people you knew there, so you would wear decent clothes. It was a legitimate social experience. (BTW, that is the oldest I've ever felt while writing). When Chelsea and I left the theater, folks were lined up outside on Austin Avenue to get into the late show. Downtown was alive and it felt really cool.
I know it's been a hectic week for the Hippodrome with a lot of trial-and-error, but I have to applaud them for a job well done and the atmosphere they created. Kudos.
One more bite: I'm also very pumped to have Chelsea Santos shooting photos for us. The food pics are so good that we might all get a little fatter, but it's a small price to pay.
