At the Playhouse

Everlane blouse
Grlfrnd jeans (c/o REVOLVE)
J. Crew heels
Gucci handbag
Zara sunglasses (similar)
& Other Stories necklace (similar)
Urban Outfitters necklace (similar)
Madewell rings
Urban Outfitters earrings (similar)
Location: Pantages Playhouse – Winnipeg, Manitoba

My grandfather was the manager of the Pantages Playhouse in Winnipeg for many years. It wasn’t until I was ten that I saw the inside of the Playhouse – or at least, that’s the first time I remember seeing it. Grandpa retired years before that. If he managed the playhouse in my lifetime, we never visited him at work. I remember being bowled over by the opulent red velvet seats when I walked in. The gilt moulding around the stage took my breath away. I couldn’t believe that Grandpa, who was a comedian in his own estimation and virtually no one else’s –

His big joke went the same way every time. “How are you?” I would ask him.

“Phenomenal,” was his inevitable reply. “Spell it.”

The trick was, my answer was supposed to be, “I – T.” But because I was precocious, I could always spell phenomenal, too. –

and spent much of his retirement at the local shopping mall with his pals, smoking, drinking coffee and pestering the ladies who worked at the flower shop, went to work in such a fancy place every day for so many years.

It’s been years since I’ve been inside the playhouse, now. While it still looks beautiful from the outside, it is clear when you get close to it that the old place has seen better days. The posters that hang outside advertise the old newsreels they showed there in World War II, rather than coming productions. Parts of the awning are cracked and crumbling. My grandpa and I weren’t close, but the playhouse reminds me of him in a way – not just because he ran the place, but because it is like him now, the way I remember him; a little broken down and rough around the edges, but full of character.