Murdock Theatre

I almost considered not writing this post at all and then felt like it was necessary to inform the public in Wichita about my experiences with the Murdock Theatre — so you would not make the same mistake I did about possible doing business with them for your future Event or Wedding.
To showcase our recent completed feature project — GONE — we contacted the Murdock about a potential screening. They expressed great interest in working with us to use their facility and felt like they could provide a great space for the event.
Originally, we discussed a screening at the end of June, but after 3 weeks of persistent phone calls to contain officials of the theatre — we were unable to get in contact with anyone who could help us secure a date.
A phone call came in on the afternoon of June 21^st from Annie Eby who apologized for what she said was the ‘manager’ being out of the office for a week on vacation. I was somewhat confused why it took them 3 weeks to call me then, but decided to try to lock down a date. Ms. Eby said she was a bit overwhelmed with tours, phone calls, and dates and was unable to give me a definitive date to book the screening. There was also a lot of confusion about the rates for renting the facility. Laura and I were taking a weekend trip to Dallas and were leaving at 5pm so I informed her I would swing by her office to handle all the arrangements and get the details in person.
When I went in, she was sporadic, very unorganized and could not find offical rental contracts, calendars, or screening information. She continually apologized for no one at the theatre calling us back since we missed the chance to show the film in June and wanted to make sure they did not miss screening the film in July.
She informed me that the price for the facility would be $ 575 for our event for Friday, July 27^th from 6−10pm and they would handle all marketing and ticket sales for $.50 per ticket. We could have the facility with the parlor to host a meet and greet and social event with the cast and crew and in order to support a local film making group — they would waive the bartender fee if we agreed to allow them to sell alcohol at the event. I agreed. It was already almost a full month since we wanted to host the event to begin with and I was tired of waiting for a specific date to book our event and happily wrote a check for the full amount to secure our date.
A week later I received a phone call from Ms. Eby informing me that there was a conflict with the date that we had booked. The next day was going to be a wedding and the bridal party wished to rent the parlor for their rehearsal and we would not be able to have anyone from our party enter the facility until 7pm. I told her that as long as we could move the whole event back an hour (instead of 6−10pm) we would now hold the event from 7−11pm.
She said that would be fine.
Two days later I received another call from Ms. Eby saying that the date wouldn’t work at all and we would need to move our event from a Friday to a Thursday. I informed her that we were not willing to do that and that we would be happy to move our event to another venue to keep the July 27^th date.
She informed us that would not be necessary and they would move the events around to be able to accomodate both events.
On June 26^th, 2012 we were informed via Facebook that the Murdock Theatre was up for sale and the owners were seeking new ownership to take over the facility.
On July 3^rd, 2012 — the Murdock Theatre deposited a check for the Full $ 575.00 memoed for ‘Murdock Rental — 7/​27, 6−10pm.
We did not have any communication with anyone from the Murdock again until the week following the 4^th of July. I attempted to call the space at the beginning of the week to inquire about the marketing packets we were promised. No one called us back.
On July 9^th, we FINALLY received a contract for the facility and were very surprised that our initial terms were not reflected in it in several instances. In the contract — we needed to come back in and place a $ 200 security deposit and pay $ 75 bartender fee for the event — moreover they now wanted $ 1.00 per ticket sold (instead of the agreed $.50). I wrote back requesting the contract to be revised and resent to me to reflect the terms of our original agreement.
Ms. Eby informed me that now that it was appearing that the event was going to have more than 100 people attending it that we needed to pay the higher rate for the facility and the ticket price. I informed her that there was never a discussion about the number of patrons attending (since we had ALWAYS assumed there was going to be over 100 people coming). I told her that this was unacceptable to us and if it didn’t work for them, we would happily request a refund and seek another venue.

Even though most of the Warren Theatres are pimped out with Digital THX I still prefer watching independent, foreign, art house, and documentary films over mainstream movies. It’s not like most cinemas since this venue doubles as a performance art theater, so you have to visit the website to find out when and what time films and events are. But similar movie theaters, they do serve concessions. I haven’t really checked out the menu, but I know there’s popcorn (and your typical selection of popcorn powder seasonings).
The theater itself features a top balcony, but I think that’s usually closed off to VIP. The seating area is typical of a performance art theater. Keep in mind it’s a historic building so the furnishings are as well, but don’t get me wrong, the chairs are still comfortable! The theater features a digital projector so expect some delays as they transition between trailers, youtube videos, and/​or the DVD. (It depends on the event you’re attending what you experience.) As for sound quality, I’ve found that it depends on where you sit. During my first experience I sat in the back under the balcony and the sound wasn’t as clear (probably due to the location and direction of the speakers). I’ve sat in the middle of the theater and the sound was much better.
Overall, I think it’s refreshing to have finally found an alternative movie house. Murdock Theatre somewhat makes up for Wichita’s lack of a venue showcasing independent and film festival films on a regular basis. I love that the historic integrity of the building remains intact and that it is dedicated to providing diverse cultural experiences in Wichita. They host a lot of different events like ballet, opera, live theatre, and of course films, so check it out for yourself!