Dedham Showcase Cinemas To Reopen By End Of August

DEDHAM, MA — Grab the popcorn, Dedham's Showcase Cinema movie theater has an official reopening date. The chain plans to reopen theaters on Aug. 28 — the Dedham theater at Legacy Place is one of nine movie theaters set to reopen in Massachusetts.

The company has already opened Showcase Cinemas Warwick (Quaker Lane) and Showcase Cinemas Providence Place in Rhode Island, along with Showcase Cinema de Lux Springdale in Ohio. Due to operating restrictions under Part 1 of Phase 3 of the MA Reopening Plan, the company will postpone the re-openings of Showcase Cinemas locations in Worcester North and Seekonk.

The movie-theater experience will be slightly different from what patrons are used to — under the state reopening plan, movie theaters cannot provide food and beverage services and auditorium capacity is limited to 25 people.

The theater is taking precautions to make sure patrons and employees stay safe, which include installation of air-purifying systems in theaters, automatic seating social distancing, increased/enhanced auditorium cleaning between shows and in high-touch surface areas and mask requirements.

The theater will also increase the time between showings to clean auditoriums.

A newer feature that was born out of the pandemic is private screenings. Showcase Cinemas will also be offering private screenings for family and friends. For $300, customers can book a "freshly sanitized auditorium" for up to 10 guests, choose from a catalog of the 'Bring Backs' films to screen and receive a regular-size popcorn and drink for each guest.

“During the last few months we have worked with our industry partners to re-envision our Showcase customer experience to make health and safety our main focus,” said Mark Malinowski, Vice President of Global Marketing. “We are calling our program Be Showcase Safe and are strongly encouraging our customers to work together with our employees and follow these new health and safety protocols as we are working toward the same goal – a safe and fun movie-going experience!”