This fall, Community Circle Theatre has partnered with Wealthy Theatre to present Movies on the Lawn. For two back-to-back weekends, Grand Rapids community members have the opportunity to celebrate Halloween on the lawn at Circle Theatre with their favorite spooky movie and a costume contest. 

The Rocky Horror Picture Show was shown this past weekend, Oct. 1-3, and Hocus Pocus will be showing next weekend from Oct. 8-10.

For both events, doors open at 7 p.m. and the films begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 and all proceeds from the event will go to both Wealthy Theatre and Circle Theatre. 

Audience members also have the opportunity to participate in a costume contest that begins at 7:45 pm. Winners will receive a Halloween Trophy and some gift cards.

All guests will be required to wear a mask when not seated. Upon checking in, staff will escort guests to a designated spot on the lawn. Spots on the lawn are set up to be 12 feet apart, giving patrons a chance to spread out while also being socially distant.  

This is Wealthy Theatre’s third year in taking part in screenings of “Hocus Pocus” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

“Normally we show both of these movies at Wealthy Theatre in October, along with a carefully curated series of spooky films,” said Wealthy Theatre Director Sarah Nawrocki. “But unfortunately, we had to cancel those plans this year, until Circle Theatre reached out. We are thrilled to partner with Circle Theatre to provide a safer outdoor screening experience for our community, and are looking forward to getting everyone in the Halloween spirit with these quintessential cult classics.”

Circle Theater’s Marketing and Outreach Specialist Ashlee McGreevy is excited to start off autumn with some classic films and a return to normalcy.

“We knew that we wanted to do something fun for the community to help kickoff the fall season,” said McGreevy.

McGreevy explained that with Wealthy Theatre not being able to use their space to show the movies that they normally would, they were a natural fit for the partnership. 

“We contacted Wealthy Theatre and offered our lawn in exchange for a partnership on this event,” McGreevy said. “They were excited, we were excited, and together we wanted to bring back an event that people enjoy each year in a safe and comfortable setting.”

McGreevy said that they are expecting to see about 500-600 guests over the course of all six nights. 

The Cheryl Grant Real Estate Team is sponsoring the showing of Hocus Pocus. They also donated tickets to Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities to help more kids get the opportunity to come out and engage with the community.

Their mascot, Chirp, will be attending the show Oct. 8 and 9 to meet and hang out with kids.

Hocus Pocus and The Rocky Horror Picture Show were chosen to be shown because “they are obviously the best Halloween movies,” McGreevy joked. “We selected these movies because they have an element of performance, are interactive for audiences, are community favorites, and are just fun shows to get everyone in the Halloween spirit.”

With COVID-19 changing the community’s usual Halloween celebrations, both theatres wanted to give community members another safe and fun way to celebrate. 

 “This Halloween will probably look different for a lot of families and we wanted a fun and safe place for people to go to still make memories even if they can’t go trick-or-treating or have their normal parties,” said McGreevy.