Orpheus – unrated

1950 – 95 Minutes

Carry On… Up the Khyber – Rated PG

1970 – 88 Minutes

Gales of laughter as the wind blows up the Khyber and the kilts of the ‘Carry On’ army!

Brides of Dracula  – Rated PG

1960 – 85 Minutes

Directed by:  Terence Fisher

Slacker Uprising - Rate PG

2007 – 102 Minutes

Director: Michael Moore

The Bears of Blue River Festival Committee held its annual Queen Competition on August 15, 2009 at the Strand Theatre.   This is the first time that this competition has been at the Strand.

Below, Master of Ceremonies (and former Shelbyville Mayor) Bob Williams is ready for the evening:

The program started with a video presentation.  This was especially entertaining on the Strand’s 20′ x 30′ screen!

The contestants all preformed on the stage as part of the competition.  There was an encore performance by the 2008 BBRF Queen Bryanna Justice.

The Cabaret area was full of well wishers after the competition.   The Queen Court assembled to greet all the patrons:

The Bears of Blue River Festival Committee has worked hard for several months to provide an outstanding festival.  The Queen, crowned tonight, will represent the Festival in activities throughout the month.   Congratulations to the winner as well as the Festival Committee:

The Strand looks forward to hosting the event again in August 2010!

The Strand technical crew:   Board Members Cody Veerkamp and Gordon Hood after the successful 79th program of the 2009 Season:

On August 15, 2009 650 North was presented in concert at the Strand Theatre in Shelbyville, Indiana.   This enegetic band from southeastern Indiana  played mostly original compositions.

The were joined by special guest Pressed in Black.  The Strand welcomed these veteran Strand performers back for a well played first set. 

This concert was in support of the mission of the Strand.  All proceeds went directly to the Strand Theatre.    Thank you to all the talented performers for helping make the Strand a success.

Pressed In Black:

650 North:

The Comedy Show was funny!  We had a great time hosting the event.  Thank you to all who attended.   This month is getting off to a great start with the excellent magic and comedy live entertainment.  Our films have been excellent too!

Next time you drive by the marquee, notice the gold paint.  This is something that is a bit more difficult than it appears.   When we first stripped and painted that section of the marquee, our good friends and supporters at Shelbyville Paint & Wallpaper gave us their best gold paint.   It did a great job, but the morning sun took its toll in a very short amount of time.  The paint we used wasn’t made for that type of environment.  We learned that there is specially formulated gold paint for exterior signs.   Gordon H. has been repainting with the new paint.  Time will tell if it makes any difference.  Once we install all the light sockets, it will be difficult to paint, so we want to do as much as we can now.

We learn all sorts of new things every week.  We found out that we had a gas problem: not to much as you might suspect, but to little.  That would be CO2 for the fountain drinks.  The whole system uses the CO2 to operate the pumps as well as provide carbonation for the drinks.   The tanks we were using were there when we took over the Strand in October 2006.   Not to worry, Shelby Bottle Gas had just what we need.   Dan L. told us that he anticipates we will use about 2 cylinders per year.   We installed the new cylinder this week.  Thank makes it a lot easier on us.   From time to time we run into a pickle (unlike what Sammy Terry ran into at his show, many of you out there know what we mean).   We are fortunate that many people are willing to set up and help us out.  We have had late night help from Good Time Vendors, The Skyline, Bear’s Den and all sorts of others that lend us things to get us by.   As we resolve our issues and climb the learning curve, the “oh my gosh we’re out!” will become a rare occurrence.

This week we have several things happening at the Strand.

On Friday night, the rock band 650 North will perform on the Strand Stage at 8:00pm.  They will be joined by Pressed in Black.  All proceeds benefit the Strand for this performance. 

On Saturday Night the Bears of Blue River Festival will hold their annual Queen Contest at the Strand.  This is the first time that they have been to the Strand, and we hope to have them back for many years to come.  This event is free.  Come see the contestants vie for the crown!

Our films this weekend are “The Phantom of the Paradise” (1974) at 11:00pm on Saturday night.  On Sunday August 15th at 2:00pm we will show the 1954 classic “Last Time I Saw Paris“.   Now think about that song  “The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay, I heard the laughter of her heart in every street café”

 Now that you have that tune in your head, don’t forget to see the movie with that title on Sunday! 

Speaking of that song, it has played at the Strand once already this year.  It is sung in the film “Till the Clouds Roll By”.   It is a great Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II song.   It premiered in the 1941 film Lady Be Good.    “Till the Clouds Roll By” will make are repeat showing in the future, it is a wonderful film.

The film committee is working hard on our lineup for next month.  We are forging partnerships with other theatres that will allow us to show more popular films, while still remaining affordable.  We will announce the movie line up as soon as they hammer out the details.   Thank you Film Committee.

Thank you for your support.  We are fortunate to live in a community were a concept like the Strand can flourish!

Things don’t always go so smoothly, but we are trying hard.