Things to Do in Iowa City: Movie Theaters & Community Theatres
The perception is that Iowa City is a rural area and maybe has less to offer than other college towns. As someone who relocated to the Iowa City area 10 years ago I have plenty to compare this to and I can tell you it ain’t so! In fact, just to prove my point I thought I’d start a series. My plan is to break down all the good things I can think of in this surprising little town into categories. Today I’m going to start with theaters…
Hopefully this will turn out to be a good resource for you if you’re thinking of relocating to the Iowa City area. As great as the Internet is as a research tool, the information is pretty scattered. My plan is to pull some of it together into one handy little place. It will be a work in progress and I will add links as I come up them, so check back often…
Movie Theaters in the Iowa City Area
Coral Ridge Mall Movie Theatre is, as the name suggests, located at the Mall in Coralville. It’s a pretty big theater with 10 screens and stadium seating. Tel: 319-625-1010
Sycamore Cinema is located on the east side of Iowa City at Sycamore Mall. It has 12 state-of-the-art auditoriums and in addition to movies often shows unique events that include simulcast live concerts, sporting events and the New York Metropolitan Opera, (MET). Tel: 319-351-8383
Bijou Theater is a non-profit student run theater at the Iowa Memorial Union that focuses on independent, art house, foreign and classic movies. They have 1 screen and tickets are available at the box office only on the day of showing. Tel: 319-335-3041.
New Strand Theatre is in West Liberty – a rural area and a surprising one at that. It’s a 15 minute commute east of Iowa City. New Strand is not just a movie theater, it’s also home to wonderful puppet shows from the Eulenspiegel Puppet Theater. (I love puppet shows, they bring back lovely memories with my sons in Germany). 319-627-2014
Theaters & Auditoriums in the Iowa City Area
The Englert Theatre is a Community Arts Theatre in downtown Iowa City. It was built in 1912 by William Englert and his wife Emma who wanted to rival the finest stages and movie houses in the Midwest. The local newspaper at the time wrote that “Iowa had nothing finer.” It is still an impressive building. Well-preserved and adds to the atmosphere of the historic part of downtown Iowa City. In the spirit of Vaudeville, The Englert embraces all the Arts and hosts performances from all over the world. Case in point, The Peking Acrobats will be performing there in February.
319-688-2653
Riverside Theatre is located on Gilbert St and is Iowa City’s resident professional theatre. It was founded in 1981 and strives to offer an artistic home for theatre professionals while entertaining audiences with intimate, engaging productions from the classics to world premieres. 319-338-7672
Hancher Auditorium was damaged in the floods of 2008, so does not have a physical address at present. That doesn’t stop them organizing events though and these take place at a variety of locations, depending on the needs of the performers and ranges from West High School Auditorium to The Englert and The Mill in Iowa City. (Check out the website and you’ll see they have 11 different locations). Tel: 319-335-1160
Iowa City Community Theatre was established in 1956 and dedicated to promoting the dramatic arts in and around Iowa City. They perform at a variety of locations, including Johnson County Fairgrounds and The Englert.
