1965 Easton, Pennsylvania

Emanuel Mains

1951

Easton, Pennsylvania

Interviewed on February 8, 2021

By Andrew Yang

The first movie that I remember watching was The Sound of Music when I was 13 years old. It was at the State Theatre in Easton, Pennsylvania, which is where I was born and raised. I went with my friend John and his mom on a school trip. Since I attended a parochial school, several nuns were our chaperones on the trip too. When we finally arrived, the sun was starting to set, so the bright lights illuminating the theatre really stood out to me. Even today, I still remember how in awe I was of how beautiful the sign was. Nowadays, you rarely see theatre signs as mesmerizing as that one!

After entering the theatre, the first thing that I noticed was the buttery smell of popcorn coming from the concession stands. I ended up buying some M&Ms since they were and still are my favorite candy. I just love how they don’t get your fingers all sticky but still taste so chocolatey. After that, we went into the theatre and were led by ushers to our seats near the front. I remember thinking that the ushers’ uniforms were super stylish. In fact, I loved their uniforms so much that I went home to my mom saying that I wanted to be an usher for Halloween, though I think I ended up dressing up as something else instead. The chairs were very nice, definitely comfortable enough to fall asleep in. But the most impressive thing for sure was how beautiful the room was! The ceiling was painted a majestic gold and filled with cool little intricate designs. A lovely chandelier dangled from above. The room was so spacious and filled with people. The experience kind of reminded me of going to church except the seats at the theatre were significantly more comfortable than church pews. My only complaint was that the room smelled a little musty, but it was still a bearable smell.

Finally, the movie started, and it was absolutely amazing! The Sound of Music mainly takes place in Austria and is about a woman named Maria who becomes the nanny of seven children. Maria is a super fun and joyful person, and the whole family loves her, including the widowed father who is a Navy Captain. Eventually, World War II starts ramping up, and chaos ensues. For me, the best part of the film is without a doubt the music. Even today, I still remember the lyrics to some of the catchy songs in the film, such as “Do-Re-Mi” and “My Favorite Things.” Also, as a young boy, I definitely had a crush on Liesl von Trapp. She was just so dreamy and stunning!

Since I was relatively young, there were some points in the movie when I was not sure what exactly was happening, but the acting was so good that I just did not care. During the scene where the family was hiding from the Nazis in the cemetery, I vividly recall my hands trembling because I was so scared for the family. Even though the film was nearly three hours long, my eyes were glued to the screen the entire time, which is very impressive considering I was a teenager with a short attention span. I’ve watched The Sound of Music multiple times since. In fact, I watched it just a few months ago with my daughter Lindsey. Every time, the movie somehow gets even better!

Wow, that was quite the trip down memory lane for me! I believe that the State Theatre is still in business today, though I’m not sure if they show movies there anymore or if it’s primarily just performances. I might have to visit it soon because you never know when it will close down forever. The experience of going to one of these modern-day movie theaters unfornately cannot compete with going to one from the good old days.