Pickwick Theatre General Manager Kathryn Tobias steps out of the box office on the theater's final night of movies under longtime operators Dino Vlahakis and Dave Loomos, Jan. 12, 2023. Tobias, who is running the theater through April 1, says she hears a lot of people tell her that someone has bought the Pickwick, but the theater is not for sale.
It’s been a strange last few months for Tobias. After Chicago Tribune/Pioneer Press broke the news in December that Vlahakis and Loomos would close the theater, ticket sales leapt and interest from potential heirs to the theater poured in.Initially, Vlahakis thought he could have a new lease ready to go by Jan. 12, the day he and Loomos planned to officially retire.
She has heard people speculate, completely erroneously, that everyone from local real estate family the Fallicos to Classic Cinemas CEO Chris Johnson to Des Plaines Theater owner Ron Onesti to Park Ridge natives Hillary Rodham Clinton and Harrison Ford are taking over the theater.
She’s working on the theater’s social media strategy, including its Twitter account, which is up to 143 followers from 34, and its presence on TikTok, although the latter is mostly facilitated by a crew of younger staffers whom Tobias jokingly referred to as the social media interns.Outside the Pickwick Theatre in Uptown Park Ridge before its final screening under its longtime operators, Jan. 12, 2023.