Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Old theater getting a second wind

WEEKEND EDITION

December 11 - 12, 2004

One Saturday night about two months ago, the lobby of the Tropicana Cinemas was crowded almost shoulder to shoulder with Indian and Indian-American moviegoers.

Most of the women had adorned themselves in floor-length, colorful saris while the men dressed in slacks and button-up shirts. Children were weaving between the adults and a large table was covered with silver steamer trays filled with Indian delicacies.

They had come to Tropicana Cinemas because it was showing "Will You Marry Me," a "Bollywood" film from India. Bollywood films are the genre of films from India that combine drama, singing and incredibly complex, choreographed dancing numbers.

Showing a Bollywood film was the brainchild of Ashok Goyal, a Las Vegas resident of 14 years who originally came from India. Currently a floor person at Treasure Island, Goyal had approached theater owner John Milano several months ago and asked if he could rent out one of the six screens at Tropicana Cinemas to show Bollywood films.

"I just do it for the community," Goyal said, adding that showing Bollywood movies brings together the Indian community of Las Vegas. He estimates there are about 9,000 Indians in the Las Vegas area.

"If we wanted to see a Bollywood movie (in a theater), we had to travel to Los Angeles," he said.

According to Milano, renting out one screening room to the Indian community is just one of many plans he has to bring different ethnic or cultural groups into the theater. Currently, he is in negotiations with Metro Pizza to start an "Italian movie" night where the theater would show Italian-themed films while the restaurant would have pizza cooks in the lobby twirling dough or giving pizza cooking demonstrations.

Tony Shea, director of operations at Metro Pizza, confirmed that Milano presented the owner of Metro Pizza with ideas.

"We want to do it," Shea said.

A longtime movie fan -- for two and a half years he owned and operated a video rental store in Las Vegas called Video Zone -- Goyal said he receives the prints of Bollywood movies from an East Coast distributor for several thousand dollars and charges about $9.

About 180 people crammed into the theater to watch "Will You Marry Me," he said. The second film he showed, in November, brought in about 150 people and he intends to show another sometime this month.

Although Tropicana Cinemas is not the first theater in Las Vegas that Goyal has rented to show a film, it is currently the cheapest and best in Las Vegas, he said.

"Tropicana Cinemas is the only private theater left in town -- the chain theaters don't want to rent to us anymore," he said.

In Las Vegas, it is rare to find a place where community groups can gather that isn't a church, casino or mall. The Tropicana Cinemas, which Milano purchased in 2003, is quickly becoming one of those places.

A few minutes before midnight last Saturday, about 40 people mingled in the lobby of the Tropicana Cinemas. They had come to the midnight showing of the cult hit "Donnie Darko," the 2001 film starring Jake Gyllenhaal about a teen who sees visions of a giant, grotesque rabbit that orders him to cause mayhem in an American suburb.

"I came here because I wanted to see 'Donnie Darko' on the big screen -- I've seen it before, but only on a television screen," said Gavin Goldbaum, a 17-year-old senior at Green Valley High School. Two weeks ago, Goldbaum went to the Tropicana Cinemas at midnight to watch "The Goonies," a 1985 movie considered a classic within certain film circles.

"Growing up, 'Goonies' was one of my favorite movies of all time, so I couldn't pass up the chance to see it," Goldbaum said.

On the other side of the lobby, a large group of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" performers were putting the finishing touches on their costumes before they strode into the screening room and performed scenes from the film as it was projected behind them.

"It's something to do on a Saturday night besides going out and getting drunk or going out and giving all your money to a casino," said Steve Vanmeter, 22, a senior at UNLV and a "cast member" for "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

Milano purchased the theater in the summer of 2003. A real estate developer who was raised in Chino, Calif., Milano said he never expected to own a theater when he was growing up.

"I never thought I would be doing anything in a theater except going to see movies," Milano said.

The 33-year-old moved to Las Vegas in 2003 and in July 2003 purchased the shopping center at 3330 E. Tropicana Ave. where Tropicana Cinemas is housed.

When Milano purchased the shopping center, the theater was owned and operated by Cinema Latino, a Spanish-language theater chain that operates movie houses in Denver; Fort Worth, Texas; and Phoenix. Cinema Latino vacated the premises after just two weeks of Milano buying the property because, "Las Vegas didn't have as much of a film culture as other cities," said Anne Tengler, president of Cinema Latino.

Cinema Latino had operated the theater for about one year, from July 2002 to July 2003. Before Cinema Latino operated the theater, it was owned and run by Paradise Cinemas.

Milano didn't know what he was going to do with the theater when Cinema Latino left. He considered turning it into a "99-cent store," but in the end settled on running the theater.

"I love movies -- it's a fun business," Milano said.

Tropicana Cinemas is also the only second-run movie theater in the Las Vegas Valley, with tickets costing $1 before 6 p.m. and $1.50 after 6 p.m. Almost all the films shown at Tropicana Cinemas have completed major release in most cities and are no longer being shown in first-run theaters.

Showing second-run movies has advantages, Milano said. Where first-run movie theaters such as the Cineplex Odeon chain pays about 85 percent of the ticket price to the film studios that release the film, Milano said he pays on average about 35 percent of the ticket price back to the studios.

Milano said that even though the price of tickets is low, his theater is doing well financially because "the profits are at the concession stand."

Although making a profit is clearly a goal for the theater, Milano is also trying to get involved with some charities or even blood drives, where he would give away movie tickets and popcorn in exchange for someone donating blood.

"Since I own the entire center, we could maybe work with some radio station for a toy drive," he said. "Being a real estate developer, there aren't always a lot of ways to give back to the community."

Milano, who worked construction jobs for years before he started buying property, said he wants to take full advantage of owning the theater.

"I don't want this to just be a theater. I want it to be a place for the community -- we want it to be alive," he said.

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