The Shasta Historical Society and the Cascade Theatre invite the Redding community to view the premiere of the documentary film Curtain Up, The Life and Rebirth of the Cascade Theatre on Saturday, September 22nd.

Visitors to the Cascade Theatre today know it as a breathtaking setting for a live concert by legendary music acts, a North State Symphony performance, or a showing of A Cascade Christmas. It is difficult to imagine that nearly twenty years ago, the shuttered building was on the verge of demolition; a ghost of a once glorious movie palace. Today, thanks to its magnificent restoration, it is on the National Register of Historic Places and winner of the Art Deco Society’s preservation award.

The documentary takes viewers on a time traveling trip in the booming era of Redding's Golden Age in the 1930s, as the city population was growing at a rapid rate. The film uses rare footage, photographs and interviews to follow the path of the theater’s life, from its initial grand opening in 1935, the transformation into a four-plex in the 1970’s, and the decline that led to shuttering the theater altogether in the late 90’s before the JPR Foundation spearheaded a campaign to purchase the theater and rally the community to raise millions of dollars to restore the Cascade to its original glamour. Through interviews with patrons, former employees and community members deeply involved with the theater, viewers will become intimately familiar with the movie palace’s history and perhaps learn something new as vignettes peel away the layers for the back story of the Cascade’s remarkable journey through time and its impact on the Redding community. 

Written by Jessica Weichman and directed by cinematographer Charley Williams, Curtain Up, The Life and Rebirth of the Cascade Theatre is an hour-long film that comes twenty years after the restoration project was launched and almost fifteen years after the theater's grand opening in 2004.

Doors open at 6pm, and the film begins at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public.