Bismarck Tribune

By LAUREN DONOVBy LAUREN DONOVAN

The Bijou Theater in Beach will reopen next month and the new owners, with roots in England and the Chicago area, have dramatic plans for the vintage venue.

Emanuel Culman and his wife, Cheryl Planert, purchased the retro '40s movie hall, still decked in maroon and gold, from Margaret Walz, who lowered the curtain on the family enterprise in June due to lack of business.

Culman, who has extensive experience in drama, music and writing ranging from England to Los Angeles, said he and his wife were looking to get out of Los Angeles.

"I felt like I was beating my head against a brick wall," he said.

The couple traveled extensively and found the world full of wonderful places to live and a decision thus hard to make.

He said he wanted to locate somewhere in the vicinity of the 48th parallel, which runs roughly along Highway 23 in North Dakota and found the country around New Town especially evocative of the hill country around Leeds, England.

"It was like coming home, without the wet," he said.

Culman said the astrologer who told him the 48th parallel was a good zone for him narrowed the best opportunity for success and literary artistry to somewhere between Fort Peck, Mont., and Velva. There, roughly in the middle, is Beach, and their inquiries into the community were based on the chance purchase of a newspaper with a story of the Bijou Theater being for sale.

He said Planert, out of Midwestern experience, said he should experience a North Dakota winter first and only then, if he was still interested, would she join him.

Culman said the purchase was finalized less than two weeks ago, and he's still amazed and daunted by the reality that he owns a theater.

He has grand dreams.

He plans to start up the basic movie hall and use it not only for newly released films, but also for specialty movies to appeal to senior citizens in the afternoons and to children on Saturday mornings. He hopes to bring in films that help folks and children see both the commonalities and differences they have with people from around the world.

The show hall also has a fair amount of stage space in front of the screen, and Culman said he hopes to add events like drama, working with Dickinson State University students, readings by book authors and performances by musicians and entertainers.

"I love the idea of the potential," he said.

He said the theater is large, with seating for 285, and will be expensive to heat. Using it for other community events makes more sense than letting it sit "idle all day," he said.

Culman has been working on relationships with the university, the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation and others to find innovative ways to use the theater.

"I'm not an economic genius, but I need to be more creative than to be a popcorn vendor," Culman said.

Along with the theater, he also has purchased a home in Beach. Planert, a psychotherapist, will be looking at her practice options.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@;westriv.com.)