Fostering the Souderton community, Broad Theater hosts dinner events each month in hopes to grow the community and spread recognition for the local theater established in 2019.
Broad Theater manager Steve Wicher oversees the theater every Thursday night when trivia night and open mic night take place.
“The second Thursday [of the month] we host open mic night and on the third we host trivia night.”
Wicher is always impressed with the “talented artists and musicians” that show up to perform each month.
“We’re open to everyone,” Wicher said.
Open mic night begins at 7 p.m. every second Thursday; performers pick their time slot ahead of time on the Broad Theater’s website and may choose to perform anything from songs to stand-up.
“Some gentlemen bring their guitars and drum sets for open mic. We often have a comedian come in, too,” Wicher said.
For senior Hunter Haight, performing around the community is a fulfilling and entertaining experience.
“Rather than just performing at school, it’s also fun to give back to the community,” Haight said.
According to Haight, coming out to dinner events not only supports local businesses, but also the young people “who have dreams they’d like to pursue in the future.”
“[It’s] a nice outlet for them to express themselves,” Haight said.
For those who prefer non-theatrical pastimes, trivia nights are a possible alternative. For the Broad Theater, trivia night is hosted at 6:30 p.m. every third Thursday.
“Local businesses have the opportunity to donate grand prizes and jackpots at trivia night,” Wicher said. “In the past we’ve given out gift cards to Jesse’s, Northbound and, of course ,Broad Street Pizzeria.”
Broad Theater also provides grand prizes.
According to general manager Tina Weaver, winning those prizes is not a walk in the park.
“You got to work for that grand prize. It’s not going to be handed to you,” Weaver said.
Questions range from easy to hard, and are often relevant to the movies being played in the theaters that month.
“Usually pop culture, movies, TV, books, things of that nature,” Weaver said.
For Weaver, the “receptive” response from the community has been “very encouraging.”
“They see this not just as a movie theater. They see this beautiful lobby, delicious restaurant next door and they want to support us,” Weaver said.
The theater isn’t alone in hosting trivia; from The Harleysville Hotel to Timeout in Skippack, Thursday nights are chock full with events happening around town.