Coronavirus in Oklahoma: OKC's Rodeo Cinema and Tulsa's Circle Cinema announce reopening dates

Oklahoma City's Rodeo Cinema and Tulsa's Circle Cinema have announced their dates and plans for reopening this summer. 

As previously reported, the nonprofit movie theaters closed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Located in Stockyards City, Rodeo Cinema will open to the public July 3 with director Kelly Reichardt's ("Wendy and Lucy") acclaimed new drama "First Cow." 

Theater manager Sean Peel tells me that the theater will open July 1-2 for special members-only screenings. In honor of the July 4 holiday, "The Sandlot" will show for members on July 1 and "Born on the Fourth of July" on July 2. 

In addition, Rodeo Cinema will host a July 5 screening of "Independence Day" that will be open to the public with specially priced tickets. 

In Tulsa, Circle Cinema will open to members only June 26 with the Oklahoma-made crime thriller "Run with the Hunted."

As previously reported, Ron Perlman (“Hellboy,” FX's "Sons of Anarchy") and Michael Pitt (HBO's “Boardwalk Empire,” "Funny Games") star in the new independent drama, which filmed in 2018 in Tulsa.

Written and directed by Tulsan John Swab, “Run With the Hunted” is his second film to use the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program, which is administered by Oklahoma Film + Music Office. In 2016, Swab also made his his first feature film - the revenge drama “Let Me Make You a Martyr,” starring rocker Marilyn Manson - in Tulsa. 

The Tulsa theater also will reopen to the public July 3 with "Run with the Hunted" and "First Cow" playing, said Clark Wiens, president of the board of directors for Oklahoma City's Rodeo Cinema and Tulsa's Circle Cinema. 

Wiens tells me the sister cinemas will feature similar measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Among the safety protocols will be sneeze guards at the registers, staff in masks and gloves, social distancing signage, reduced theater capacity and increased time between screenings to allow for more time to clean and sanitize the theaters. 

At Rodeo, the theater's point-of-sale computer systems has been upgraded so that specific seats can be sold to aid with social distancing. 

The OKC theater also has undergone a series of improvements. As previously reported, the improvements include the installation of a 1980s Allen Digital Computer Organ, which will allow the theater to show silent films with live accompaniment.

For more information on Rodeo Cinema, go to www.rodeocinema.org.

For more information on Circle Cinema, go to www.circlecinema.org.

-BAM