Column: Another ode to Varsity Theatre

I can say without a doubt that the Varsity Theatre is my favorite thing on Franklin Street. That seems like litotes. 

The Varsity is in my top five things about Chapel Hill (well, not counting human beings). It’s a tradition of mine is to dedicate at least one column a year to that warm little theater with its luminescent crown in the middle of Franklin. Every time I step foot in the theater, I know it will only be a few minutes before I melt into my seat with (delicious and so, so buttery) popcorn in hand and forget about the world outside. 

The Varsity remains one of the best things about Chapel Hill because it represents a community of film lovers and patrons of the arts. Every year the Varsity does something new to surprise me. 

In this month alone, I attended two amazing events that the Varsity hosted: Pauper Players’ production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and the Ackland/Chapel Hill Film Society hosted the Polish film “The Lure” on Monday night to celebrate the spooky season. 

Just these two events show the effort the Varsity makes every month to interest so many factions of the community. 

It is so vital to continue to frequent the Varsity. Whether you want to go downtown for an afternoon movie a la Tegan and Sara or attend one of the events the theater hosts, be it stand-up performance or a theater production, you will lose yourself in the magic of the red velvet walls and the wafting smell of popcorn in all corners of the theater. 

Take a study break and see a movie you missed in theaters over the last few months. Go to one of the Ackland’s Film Forums at the Varsity— there are two left for this semester (November 7th or 28th); it’s free with your OneCard. 

If you’re a senior, put it on your last-year bucket list to see a movie there before you graduate. I know it sounds like I’m preaching, but I can’t think of one thing I will miss more than the warm light of the Varsity on a cold night on a walk home when the world feels empty.

Of course, there are so many beautiful things about Chapel Hill, but I think every person has one place in Chapel Hill that makes me feel them feel like the Varsity makes me feel. 

Wherever I go next after graduation, I hope a little gem like the Varsity is there. I wrote it once before, “When I entered the Varsity for the first time, I knew I found a home away from home.” 

My greatest hope is for more future Tar Heels to find their homes-away-from-homes at the Varsity when they feel lonely and cold one night their first year fall. 

I hope the Varsity’s marquis keeps shining year after year.