‘IT WAS MY SECOND HOME’
As Rainbow Cinemas closes, Darla Read chats with GM Val Randall about her 25 years at the movie house
After almost 25 years, the curtain has fallen on Rainbow Cinemas. The theatre shuttered its doors on Monday — a closure originally planned for the spring, but one that was sped up by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Saskatoon Starphoenix’s Darla Read spoke to Val Randall, the theatre’s general manager, who has been with Rainbow Cinemas since it opened in 1995:
Q Take us back to when you began as a popcorn lady for Rainbow Cinemas. What was it like?
A I had just moved into the city not long before, and I was on welfare and I was looking for a job. I walked through what was then Wildwood Mall, and there was this office there that said they were hiring. They asked: ‘How’d you like to be a concession manager?’ And I said: ‘OK.’ That’s what I spent the next seven years doing. My first day on the job was the first day they opened Centre Cinemas, and they were still gluing the carpet down on the back stairs while we were letting in customers in the front.
Q Why do you think Rainbow Cinemas spoke to people?
A We did our best to make it an inclusive theatre where everybody was welcome. We had involvement in the community. We were always at the AIDS Walk, MS Walk, donating to charities like Crocus Co-op. We put on poster auctions every year so we could raise money to give away. We have two people on staff who have Asperger’s, and they had a hard time getting a job (elsewhere). We have a lady in the box office who has to have a job sitting — she had polio when she was very young. These people bloom and grow. Theatre, movies, is something that hurts no one. People get to escape from their lives for a couple hours. Q What’s your favourite movie that you yourself watched there?
A I think the first one that gave me the biggest impact was Babe because it went on forever and ever. We had it for weeks and weeks and weeks. You could take your grandparents to it, you could take your kids to it, you could take anybody to it. Also, My Big Fat Greek Wedding — same thing. Everybody liked them, they were joyous.
Q Are you disappointed that there won’t be a second-run theatre now?
A It was one of those things that we got to give a service to people while we were still running a business, because without a second-run theatre in the city, it’s very hard for families with lots of children or seniors to find some entertainment that is economical. I will miss my regulars.
Q How many posters did you buy during Rainbow Cinemas’ poster sales over the years?
A Far too many, if you ask my child. I have quite a few stacked up.
Q Do you have a favourite?
A No. I like the ones that are artsy that you could put in a frame on a wall. I have two framed: two Godzilla.
Q Tell me about the artwork at Rainbow Cinemas. What was your favourite piece and why?
A Most people who came were struck by the mural painted by Fred Williamson down our main hallway, of all the bridges that were there when we first opened. If you walked down our main hallway, it was like riding on the river, and then you’d see one bridge, and then the next bridge, then the next bridge.
Q What emotions are going through you now that Rainbow
Cinemas is closed?
A Well, in a strange way, it’s akin to when I lost my husband to cancer in November of 2018. You knew it was coming, you knew it was going to happen, and then suddenly it was today. I’m going to miss the place terribly. It was my second home ... It’s been a joy. A joy and a challenge and a privilege and an honour. To work with these people, both our customers and our staff, it’s just an experience I’m so grateful I had. People that have enriched my life. People that I’ve helped. One of those growing experiences that makes you into a better person.