The Carolina Theatre — Attraction in Durham

Pro: elevator/disability access; the ticket staff upstairs were very friendly and the concessions staff were responsive and on the ball, moving as fast as they could with a huge crowd.

Cons: From the moment we stepped foot in the theater it was obvious the AC hadn't been turned on all day, and it got up to 85 today. Every theater I've ever been in has been freezing, so I wore thick clothes to prepare. I'll admit that was my mistake, I could've layered more effectively.

Secondly, there were absolutely 0 warnings that they planned to have a strobing flashing light display to introduce the movies ANYWHERE on the event page -- and seizures are more likely to occur when it's hot. Supremely irresponsible on Carolina Theater's part.

Sat through the first movie growing more and more nauseous, irritable, and dizzy; stood up for intermission and was damp from my back down to my butt. Went outside hoping for water, only to find the cups next to the water refill station had not been restocked and since outside drinks are not permitted I had not brought my usual 30 ounce water cup; luckily my friend had a spare paper cup in her purse or I would have had to stand in the (long) concessions line to ask for a simple cup.

I went back and tried to watch the 2nd film, but the theater was still just as hot with NO moving air, and somehow the 2nd movie was even louder than the first. Stumbled outside, sat down on cold concrete until I felt better. (About an hour and a half.) Not ashamed to admit I cried. Then I tried to go back inside to go to the bathroom because I'd finally processed the tiny amount of fluid I had left in my body, only to find the doors locked.

An employee walked right past me at the door and ignored me, which is the only reason I'm writing this review at all instead of just brushing it off as a $30 lesson not to...

What a wonderful first experience at this historic theatre! I just moved to Durham with my girlfriend last week and I had been looking forward to seeing Inland Empire on the big screen here at The Carolina Theatre. We had bought the tickets at a very reasonable price a few weeks prior, and I had high hopes, given that Inland Empire is directed by David Lynch, my favorite director, and this would be the first of his films I'd seen in a theater.

Even with those expectations, The Carolina Theatre passed with flying colors. When we walked in, an attendant (well-dressed and professional, might I add) greeted us, scanned our tickets, asked what movie we were there to see and if we'd been there before, and explained carefully where the theater was and directed us to the right one.

The entire building felt unique and perhaps even regal, with its sophisticated floor patterns, walls, and architecture. I certainly didn't expect many people to show up for this rerelease of a relatively obscure movie, even though Lynch is an esteemed director, but I was pleasantly shocked to find that when we entered the cinema ten minutes early, the seats were already more than half filled! We were able to find spots together, and by the time the movie began, I think every one of those (quite comfortable) seats had an eager movie-goer in it, ready to enjoy the film.

The screen was a bit smaller than I was expecting, but I don't think it mattered once the film was rolling, especially with the superb sound quality that splendidly handled the film's remastered score and captured the aural essence of the film in a way I hadn't experienced before when watching it on my TV.

Overall, this was an excellent experience, and I cannot recommend The Carolina Theatre highly enough. Now I'm just left eagerly awaiting our next...

I usually enjoy my experience to Carolina theatre as I love concerts and films and love supporting historical buildings such as this. However, my most recent visit yesterday was very subpar. When I walked in I forgot what the email with the tickets said (I know they don't use ticketmaster but was not sure what company it was) and the ticket taker said he didn't know. Is that not his job? Thankfully another attendant stepped in and told me it should be from efan. Ok no problem found the ticket and scanned. When I got to my seat, the people next to me were huge and were half in my seat too. So basically I had to perch on the edge of my seat to avoid touching them. So I understand it is a historic theater so the seats are on the small side but maybe then they should encourage larger individuals to get handicapped seats if possible. Thankfully there were a lot of empty seats so during the intermission I moved up one row to an empty seat. Whoever was doing the lighting during the show was blinding the audience multiple times and not just me but people sitting next to me had to look down or avert our eyes because the light was blinding us. Ridiculous for what is essentially a classical pop music concert. It took away from our ability to watch the performers play their instruments. I liked the performance itself and the audio was great and I could see the band well from most seats. The concessions were reasonably priced and the popcorn was delicious. The bathrooms were in rough shape. The women's bathroom had some flood from a toilet at the front and there was water all over the left stalls. Even 100 year old buildings need some upkeep. I have been to several concerts here and usually enjoy my experience but I would say the theater experience was average-poor but the show...