Near seamless opening for Saraton

The Daily Examiner

3rd September 2010

Tim Howard



Excited: Arron Larkin, Kira Johnstone and Lauren Thomas, of Grafton, get ready to enjoy one of the first movies shown at the redeveloped Saraton Theatre, Tomorrow When the War Began.



Apparently there were teething problems during the first day of screening at the redeveloped Saraton Theatre in Grafton yesterday.

Not that anyone would have noticed.

Patrons who came to see their first movie in two-and-a-half years at the historic cinema came away amazed and full of praise.

“Worth the wait,” said Danielle Boland just after she saw the first movie to screen.

“It's so much better than it was before.”

“We had to come to the first one,” said Julie Van Dalsen.

The heads of the family consortium that researched and funded the redevelopment, Spiro and Angelo Notaras, were encouraged by the public's response, but said they were not finished yet.

“It's going to get a whole lot better,” said Angelo.

“There's so many things for us to tweak so that we can get even more out of the equipment.”

For Spiro the steady stream of customers through the door during the morning was particularly gratifying after a hectic morning and night before.

“We didn't get the 3D set up until this morning, five minutes before it was going to show,” he said.

Cinema manager Robbie Seymour had been running on adrenalin throughout the days leading up to the opening.

“I've been doing 15 things at once,” he said.

“But the comments we've been getting have been nothing short of amazing and that makes it really gratifying.

“But it's not me. It's really Spiro and Angelo who deserve all the credit for what they've done with the Saraton.”

And did we say there were no hitches. Well there was one.

You could not get a choc top ice cream at the candy bar yesterday.

But according to the head of the candy bar and supervisor Johanne Kubik that's a problem that will be fixed, “real soon”.