ZBlogS

The Uptown from its main level (Courtesy of Cineplex Odeon)

Today, when marquees light up with "Gladiator," filmgoers here will have the choice of eight more stadium-seating venues that have been built during the past two years. Plus, two other multiplexes added auditoriums and retrofitted existing houses to include the feature. By mid-summer, one more will join the list. And by the end of 2001, two to three more facilities with unobstructed views, earth-shaking sound and big screens could be operating in the region.

However, while offering such amenities as coffee cafes, retractable armrests, more rest rooms and credit-card purchases, the new state-of-the-art facilities also introduced the $8 ticket. Only one of the new facilities has a non-matinee adult ticket below $8. The priciest evening ticket in the region was $7.75 in 1997, with most ranging from $6.50 to $7.50. The General Cinema at Mazza Gallerie charges $9.75 in five theaters and $12.50 in its two luxury Cinema Clubs, where you can buy sandwiches and drinks from a full-service bar. Here is a guide to the 11 multiplexes that offer stadium seating. (For the record, the Smithsonian's two IMAX theaters have stadium seating as do the Kennedy Center auditorium and the balcony at the Cineplex Odeon Uptown).

THE DISTRICT
General Cinema at Mazza Gallerie – 5300 Wisconsin Ave. NW (Metro: Friendship Heights); 202/537-9553. Tickets by phone: 202/537-9553 (75-cent charge per ticket; all major credit cards). The General Cinema theater is on the third floor of Mazza Gallerie and is adjacent to the R Room restaurant. Its Cinema Club has leather seats, a full-service bar, sandwiches and desserts. Many of the seats in all theaters have retractable armrests. All seven theaters have THX certification for top-of-the-line sound quality. Only nine other houses in six separate theaters in the region meet THX requirements. No other stadium-seating multiplex has a THX theater.

MARYLAND
Regal Rockville Town Center – Maryland Avenue and East Montgomery Avenue at the Rockville Town Center (Exit 5 off I-270) (Metro: Rockville); 301/340-9390. Advance tickets can be purchased at the box office with all major credit cards. This venue's unique feature is that the theaters are underground. From the ground-level box office, patrons must take an escalator or elevator down to the concession stand, cafe and game room. Certain seats throughout the theaters have retractable armrests.

Hoyts Bowie Crossing Cinemas – 15200 Major Lansdale Blvd., Bowie (near the intersections of Routes 197 and 50); 301/262-7433. Tickets by phone: 301/262-7433 ($1 charge per ticket; Visa and MasterCard). This facility, which brought stadium seating to Prince George's County, is similar to the other new Hoyts facilities. It has two large auditoriums, a game room and coffee cafe. It also serves Uno personal pizzas.

United Artists Snowden Square – 9161 Commerce Center Dr., Snowden Square Shopping Center, Columbia; 410/782-0670. Tickets by phone: 410/444-3456 #781 ($1.25 charge per ticket; all major credit cards). This theater in Howard County is the one that started the trend in this region. Although it doesn't feature a coffee cafe, the concession stand has diverse offerings such as freshly baked cookies, hot dogs and pizza.

Kentlands Stadium 8 – 629 Center Point Way at Market Square, Great Seneca Highway and Kentlands Boulevard, Gaithersburg; 301/519-6868. Advance tickets can be purchased at the box office with Visa and MasterCard. This venue is the only stadium-seating theater in the region that is owned by an independent and not a large chain. Its eight screens make it the second-smallest after the Mazza Gallerie facility. But it's No. 1 in affordability, with tickets ranging from $4.50 to $7.50.

Hoyts West Nursery Cinemas – 1591 West Nursery Rd., Linthicum. (West Nursery Road exit off Baltimore-Washington Parkway, I-295); 410/850-8999. Tickets by phone: 410/850-8999 ($1 service charge; Visa and MasterCard). This theater in northern Anne Arundel County was the first of the four Hoyts venues in the region with all stadium seating and all digital sound. And it has all the stand features: large screens, coffee cafe, ATM ticketing machines, plentiful free parking. The theater is off the main road, but a large Hoyts globe sign marks the spot about 100 feet above the ground.

Cineplex Odeon Rio 14 – 9811 Washington Blvd., the Washingtonian Center, Gaithersburg; 301/948-0906. Tickets by phone: 202/333-3456 #780 ($1.25 charge per ticket; all major credit cards). The Rio 14 is making the transition to a stadium-seating facility by retrofitting and new construction. Six of its theaters have had the feature added. Six new auditoriums are being built in the space that formerly housed a large indoor arcade and should be open in about six months. After the transformation, the venue will have 18 screens.

VIRGINIA
Hoyts Potomac Yard – 3575 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Alexandria; 703/739-4040. Tickets by phone: 703/739-4040 ($1 charge per ticket; Visa and MasterCard). All new Hoyts facilities include a Quikava cafe, which features coffee, tea, Smoothies, ice cream, and yogurt as well as baked goods. Hoyts theaters also have ATMs in the lobby from which patrons can buy tickets with a credit card or pick up advance tickets that were ordered by phone.

Regal Ballston Commons 12 – Glebe Road at Ballston Commons Mall, Arlington (Metro: Ballston); 703/527-9466. Advance tickets can be purchased at the box office with all major credit cards. On the first level are the box office, a large concession stand and the Cafe Del Mora, which sells cookies, muffins, pastries, ice cream, espresso, cappuccino, hot chocolate, coffee, tea and Italian soda. The concession stand also offers hot dogs and big pickles. The second and third levels both house six theaters, a concession stand and a game room. All seats have retractable armrests.

Hoyts Cinemas in Manassas – 11380 Bulloch Dr., Manassas (Exit 47B off I-66); 703/257-9850. Tickets by phone: 703/257-9850 ($1 charge per ticket; Visa and MasterCard). Like the other new Hoyts facilities, this theater, which is in a shopping center, has a Quikava cafe, ATM ticket machines and two large auditoriums. Its second level has a large game room, and the food choices include hot dogs and personal Pizzaria Uno pizzas.

Regal Countryside Cinema – 45980 Regal Plaza, Harry Byrd Highway (Route 7), Sterling; 703/404-8600. Tickets by Phone: 877/337-3425 ($1 charge per ticket; all major credit cards). This theater introduced the stadium-seating multiplex to this region in 1996, when four of its then 14 auditoriums had stadium seating in about half of the house. It also featured scattered love seats and a cafe with various coffees, espresso, cappuccino and baked goods. Today, the 14 original theaters have 50 percent stadium seating. Six new theaters, which opened this past summer, have all stadium seating and digital sound. The lobby also features a separate game room.

IN THE FUTURE
Crown Theatres will open an 11-screen stadium-seating venue adjacent to the Annapolis Mall in late June or early July. The four theaters inside the mall will be closed. Landmark Theatre Corp's eight-screen Biograph in the Lincoln Square office building, 555 11th St. NW, is on the schedule for the first quarter in 2001. Loews Cineplex Entertainment will have a 12-screen, 3,000-seat theater as part of the Ritz-Carlton project in Georgetown that will open in late 2001 or early 2002. Loews Cineplex also will build a free-standing 20-screen multiplex at the Springfield Mall in 2001. The 12 screens inside the mall run by General Cinema will close.

THX THEATERS
If you want to experience the best possible sound when seeing a film, the region has 14 auditoriums in six theaters that have THX certification. Filmmaker George Lucas developed the quality-control criteria.

The District: General Cinemas at Mazza Gallerie (seven screens), Cineplex Odeon Wisconsin Avenue Cinemas (two screens), AMC Union Station (one screen).

Virginia: United Artists Fairfax Town Center (two screens), GCC Springfield Mall (one screen), AMC Courthouse Plaza, Arlington (one screen).

Maryland: Loews Centerpark 8, Calverton (two screens).

CLOSINGS
While new stadium-seating venues are popping up across the region, a number of older theaters have gone dark. The second-run Crown Aspen Hill closed April 30; the landlord and theater chain could not agree on a new lease. And in Laurel, Hoyts closed both of its first-run theaters, which totaled 18 screens.

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