Wayfarer Theaters — Attraction in Highland Park

If you haven't been to the new Wayfarer Theater in Highland Park, IL, run don't walk! This is a real community movie house, a place which will exhilarate you with their film selections and special events. .....This evening I went with to see Cash for Gold, a film written by Deborah Puette who also had the lead role of Grace, a widow who is struggling to overcome alcoholism and seeking a job to support herself and her small son. Typical of this theater, this film gives one the sense of being there - shivering in the extreme cold of Minnesota's severe winter, connecting to each one of the remarkable cast, mesmerized by what is going to happen next. It is based on events you can identify with and which could really occur; and the story has such heart and soul. A friend, my husband (who did not shut his eyes once!) and I have been to 4 'events' which have Q&A's following the film's showing which might have the actors, directors, producers, writers, etc. present to answer your queries. .....Wayfarer cares about quality and humanity; it is not the commonplace drivel you experience at most major theaters. Some fiction, some non-fiction., all exceptional.The new owners have remodeled this small jewel which is now an inviting and lovely place to spend an afternoon or evening. Two of the theaters have oversized comfy seats and you can buy tickets at reasonable prices and select seats online for all 5 theaters.You will receive a warm welcome by everyone on their staff - a pleasure in all regards. ..... Clay, the manager, enjoys meeting the customers and is actually interested in securing your positive comments and suggestions and, believe it or not, makes changes with the owners to make everything there more enjoyable and inviting. On weekends, children's events and film are frequent. And wait! Don't miss their popcorn which is hot, small kernels, fresh, and crispy. So Delicious! The best around! Their candy offerings, snacks, and books are a wonderful touch. I think I spied a valet by the front door, and there is a whole block of restaurants on Second Street for everything from burgers, to BB, to a new, gorgeous, popular Italian place about 10 steps from the theater. Out one door and in the next! Parking is plentiful on the street, in a small lot near Michaels, underground at the south end of the block on Laurel and the north end in an apartment building. .....You can buy a membership for $25 a month which allows you to see every film at no cost as often as you like and the Q&A events free for the next 6 months. A real bargain and a wonderful holiday or birthday gift. ....Wayfarer is a class act! Wayfarer is to film as Ravinia Festival is to music. A magnificent addition to Highland Park and to the entire North Shore community. Try it,...

I'm giving 3 stars solely because I appreciate the convenience of being able to walk to a theater:

Now my opinion on the negatives:

My wife, 2 children (2 and 4 yrs old) and I recently saw Paddington. When my 2 year old started getting antsy inside, I took him into the public lobby to not disturb others in the theater. I was managing him closely in the lobby and there was 10-15 mins left in the film, so we were waiting for my wife and 4 year old to finish it.

The concession attendant, yelling out in the distance, said "Please sir, there are other guests here, you could be bothering them. There really wasn't anyone else in the lobby besides the 4 employees sitting idly (more to that point next). I explained that we were precisely out there to not bother the other guests in the theater. Besides the content of the message, the tone itself and approach didn't come across as very friendly, with no solutions offered (implying we should just leave the building).

Generally, I've visited the theater probably 8-10 times in the past few years. My general impression has been that the employees are not super friendly, animated or informed. The theater typically has 4-5 employees working the front where 1-2 employees would suffice. As a business owner myself, when you have too much capacity (and little work) it inevitably leads to employee malaise and lower quality service.

I've also noticed that the ticket prices have gone up considerably over the duration of new ownership. That's all good and fine, except that if the theater was "community-oriented", they could perhaps save a little costs on the surplus of unneeded labor and reduce the ticket pricess.

So, in effect, the customers are subsidizing the theater to maintain their unnatural surplus of employees. With higher prices (driven by higher labor costs), it reduces customer visits/demand (so it's a...

I’ve been to this theater once before and had a great time since they had people that worked on the film there to chat and ask questions before. I heard they were doing an event for it ends with us on Instagram and I was very curious about it so I got my fiancé and I a ticket. To my surprise the event was completely free which I’ve never seen before. On Thursday the night of the premiere we get there 30 minutes early at 4 pm and we see there’s a line forming so we join and we barely made the cutoff of 20 people for free VIP access. We waited in a separate line to get into the theater and we were greeted with a free popcorn, canned drinks, candy, and fountain drinks which was a pleasant surprise. Then they guided us to a theater with a few fruit platters and a lot of sushi. We waited for Justin Baldoni there until he arrived and once he got there we got to chat with him and take a few pictures! Then we went to a different theater where they had a row sectioned off for us with a goodie bag that included a copy of the book with the new cover and played the film then a short q&a after the film. After it ended they handed us 2 sunflowers to take home since they had transformed the theater into a flower shop for a few weeks while the film plays. All in all this was an unforgettable experience and I couldn’t be more thankful to Wayfarer for making this happen for free. Thank you so much to Steve, Justin, Verve Romance, and everyone else who made...