Kingston Firehouse Theater

In my last post, I recounted my recent trip to Seattle. The primary reason for the trip was to visit and spend time with longtime friends from L.A., who moved to the area a few years back—indeed, the husband is one of my best friends from college who now owns the Firehouse Theater, a lovely two-screen movie house in Kingston, Washington, a charming lakeside community along the shores of Puget Sound.

My friend took over the theater in 2022 with the goal of showing both first run and repertory movies for the community and a program that reflects his own eclectic tastes. (When I visited, the theater was showing the new Taylor Swift concert film, as well as Jaws. During the upcoming Halloween season, the theater is scheduled to show the Little Shop of Horrors and the Mummy, with Killers of the Flower Moon and The Marvels coming up.) It was a treat to get a behind-the-scenes tour and learn a little about the nuts and bolts of the business. My friend and I saw tons of films together when we were in college—at campus screenings, at the premier first-run movie houses just off campus in Westwood, and at revival houses throughout L.A.—so it's inspiring to see him fulfill this dream of being involved in movies.

The theater definitely reflects my friend's tastes and personality—in fact, the movie posters that decorate the theater are from his personal collection, as are the Batman maquettes on display inside the candy counter.

And if you visit the theater, consider buying some comics! Prior to moving to Washington, my friend worked for many years as an editor and writer at Bongo Comics, publisher of the Simpsons and Futurama comics—he also had a hand in the forthcoming comics based on the Netflix Matt Groening series, Disenchantment. As you can see from the photos, there currently are Simpsons comics for sale at the theater. The theater's website is at kingstonfirehouse.com.

So if you live nearby or are in or near the area, be sure to visit the theater and take in a film!