BROADWAY TO REOPEN DOORS

The Broadway Theatre will reopen Friday.

"The theater will offer good, budget entertainment," said John Fisher, manager of the Town Plaza Cinema 5 and the new operation at the 70-year-old Broadway. "Most of the films shown at the Broadway will be fairly recent films, most of them coming back to Cape Girardeau for a second engagement."

The opening feature, which starts Friday, will be "The Addams Family," a Christmas movie hit.

All seats at the Broadway will be $1.

"This is the price for adults and children, seven days a week," said Fisher. "We feel the new operation will be a big hit here."

The Broadway will show features two times on Friday and Saturday evenings and once each evening Sunday through Thursday. Matinees will be shown at 2 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.

The Broadway has been redecorated and thoroughly cleaned, said Fisher. "We have added a new handicapped entrance, seating and restroom facilities."

The Broadway, which seats 514, was constructed in 1921, and featured vaudeville shows and silent movies. Fox Theatres leased the building in 1929 and purchased it 20 years later. It was later acquired by Shirley Theatres Inc., and in 1969 was purchased by the Kerasotes group. The Broadway closed in March 1984.

The building was used by a church group for a while.

Kerasotes Theatres, headquartered in Springfield, Ill., owns the Town Plaza Cinema 5 and the Broadway Theatre. Kerasotes operates 92 theaters in four states, with 271 screens. The firm is owned by John, Denis, Dean and Tony Kerasotes.