The Roxy opens in Miramar

It was a long time in the making, but the new Roxy Theatre (NZ spelling) in Miramar is now complete. It looks fabulous! All done in true 1930's Art Deco. Our good friend Warren Beaton did most of the designs for the theatre. It has two cinemas. Built to accommodate 3D - State of the art technology! A cafe and a full bar. If you want to find out more bout the theatre's history and the renovation check on the website.

http://www.roxycinema.co.nz

Wednesday March 30th, 2011 there was a special opening party held at the theatre. It was a Black tie affair - ideally dressed in 1930's attire, and invite only. While Eric and I are certainly not connected at that level, we had lots of friends that were there. Warren and Kim Beaton, Greg Broadmore who painted the amazing ceiling mural. Craig Campbell, who did some of the beautiful sculptures, and many other Weta crew.

Instead of going directly home after work, I hopped off the bus early to grab a few photos and see what I could see. I wished I had known that the party would include some beautiful old cars and that the public would be permitted to stand around outside as the guests arrived. I had assumed that it would have been kept private, blocked off and all inside - oh well.

So at least I had my nice little point and shoot camera with me. I got a few nice shots of the theatre with the old cars parked out in front, and few quick snaps of some familiar faces. Jamie Selkirk and Tania Rodgers (Richard Tayler's wife -her back towards us) are the two that drove this amazing project. That is them in front of the theatre. I got a lousy shot of Ian McKellen -he did not give the crowd much attention. The highlight, unfortunately not caught digitally, was the arrival of Peter Jackson. He does not usually attend these sort of things. He was one of the last to arrive, if not the last. He arrived sitting in the back seat of his own black Mercedes (dark windows) and they pulled up directly in front of the theatre entrance. He opened the door, got out and walked at a quick pace directly into the theatre giving none of the crowd any opportunity to grab a photo. It was truly a shame too. Because Peter had gone to the trouble of dressing himself up a the Rocketeer, complete with the original helmet which he apparently owns. Very cool!

We hope that movie theatre does well. It will be great if the little town area is rejuvenated. About three doors down there is also a new Mexican food restaurant opening up in a few weeks. La Boca Loca. Owned by a couple from California and the chef is from Puerto Vallarta. Our fingers are crossed that this will be good Mexican food -at least good enough to give us the much needed fix that we miss. We will let you know....

Cheers to all,

Stacy & Eric