Experiencing Kaysville Theater

The tempting aroma of buttery popcorn, slowly dimming lights, bubbling anticipation, and the satisfaction of shouting in a usually quiet theater are all sensations experienced

by Kaysville Theatre movie-goers.

While the other sensations are expected in a theater, shouting uniquely occurs at Kaysville during an advertisement reminding audience members to pick up their trash. At the end of the preview a boy has a chewed up piece of gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe. As he pries up his foot, the used gum stretched out between his foot and the floor, the audience appropriately yells out, “EW!”

“It started with just a few people yelling each night, and rapidly it caught on to larger audiences. It’s a tradition that I don’t see us giving up any time soon. It’s part of many things that make us who we are, and make us Kaysville’s theater,” said the theater’s manager Chad Call.

The tradition has come to be anticipated by Kaysville Theatre’s customers. The majority of those customers may not, perhaps, realize that running the preview is theater protocol.

“The clean-up trailer is a policy ad that we have run my entire life.  We used to have two different ones that we would alternate between.  This one and another that was not as popular.  The one we use today has been playing on our screens for over 20 years,” said Call.

Last February, however, the tradition was put in jeopardy as the theater was updating to digital projection.

“We went to great lengths to get the manufacturers to convert it [the preview] over to digital. It came at a pretty high cost to us, but how would the Kaysville Theatre continue without it? It simply couldn’t,” Call remembered.

While the preview continues as a valued tradition, its effectiveness to prompt cleaner theaters remains a question. Kaysville Theatre employee Savannah Barclay gives an inside opinion on the matter. “It’s really annoying because everybody says “Ew!” and they make fun of the preview, but yet we go in and clean up their trash,” said Barclay.

Despite her minor annoyance, Barclay said that overall Kaysville Theatre is a fun place to work with a friendly environment. That friendly environment is something the theater finds pride in.

“The theater has a long standing tradition of providing a valued family experience, and in turn we hope that our customers find a friendly, safe, and clean environment to bring their family and friends,” said Call.

All the long-standing traditions of the Kaysville Theatre will continue to be enjoyed by local residents. So, first timers be ready when the gum stretches.