‘Social Distance Dinner Theater’ begins Saturday

Shatter your stay-at-home monotony with gracious dining and an in-home film festival! Because great movies — and the people who love them — won’t let a little virus stop the fun.

Yavapai College Performing Arts Center has announced its new “Social Distance Dinner Theater” — the perfect way to enjoy a movie together when you’re apart. The Saturday night streaming series begins April 4, at 5 p.m., online from wherever you are.

“While we are staying home for the greater good,” YCPAC Managing Director and Film & Media Arts Director Helen Stephenson explains, “‘Social Distance Dinner Theater’ lets us spread our love of movies — and more — without spreading anything else.”

The film series allows the communal pleasure of sharing dinner and a movie without the crowded parking lots, overpriced snack bars or pandemics that can take the luster off an evening out.

Here’s how it works:

Saturday night’s feature film will be one of four comedies currently streaming on Netflix — As Good As It Gets, Julie & Julia, Saving Mr. Banks or Tootsie. Viewers can vote for their favorite on the YCPAC website (www.ycpac.com) or YCPAC’s Facebook page by 9 p.m. Thursday each week, with the winning film announced shortly thereafter on the website and Facebook page.

The website and Facebook page will include a link to a local restaurant that will make a featured entree available for take-out on movie night. This week’s partner restaurant is Goods from the Garden, in Prescott, which will offer a dish for easy pickup before the movie.

The winning film will be announced on the YCPAC website and Facebook page; this week’s movie will be Saving Mr. Banks. On Saturday, viewers can pick up their meal and settle in at home for a 5 p.m. Curtain Talk on Zoom. Stephenson will offer background and behind-the-scenes stories on the night’s movie, then conclude with a countdown to the Netflix livestream.

After simultaneously enjoying the film from the comfort of their homes, viewers can participate in a livestreamed post-show discussion, hosted by Stephenson, on Zoom.

Each week, “Social Distance Dinner Theater” will offer a selection of movies to vote on — from a variety of film genres — as well as a different partner restaurant.

Viewers must buy their own dinner, and have a Netflix or Amazon Prime account to screen the movie. But participation — including voting, pre-show Curtain Talk and the post-show film discussion — is entirely free.

“Social Distance Dinner Theater” is brought to you through the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, and its Season Presenting Partner, Findlay Toyota Prescott. For information, call 928-776.2000 or visit www.ycpac.com.

Information provided by Yavapai College Performing Arts.


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