More seats available for Ford's "Empire" screening!!

Last week I started having the strange feeling they might do this...and now they have!!

St. Jude's Hospital and the Arclight have opened up a second theater for the "Empire Strikes Back" screening on May 19. Tickets are $75 a seat as opposed to the $100 - $175 price tag for the main auditorium. Certainly they saw the demand and acted on it. The only drawback is that I, in the second house, will only see Harrison Ford's Q&A on the big screen via a live video feed from the house right next door. I didn't see the notification on the LA Times blog, Hero Complex, until four days after these new tickets went on sale. Amazingly, seats were still available!!

At first I was extremely excited, then I thought about it a little more closely. Could I really afford the $75 right now? Sure, paychecks were coming in steady at the moment...but for how long, and with the consideration of Comic-Con coming up. However, I've really been yearning to be a part of some type of "Empire Strikes Back" 30th Anniversary event or celebration. I'm not going to the Star Wars Celebration V in Florida because financially it's just too close (less than a month) to the big trip to San Diego. Especially with the economy still on the slow upswing, And because George Lucas commands total control over the release of any of the "Star Wars" films, this screening at the Arclight on May 19 seems to be the focal point of "Empire" adoration.

The screening is not going to be a reserved seating situation, as is the policy at the Arclight. General admission, which means getting there hours in advance to get a great seat. This was another drawback for me on top of the cost and not actually having Ford in the house. As of Tuesday night my decision was to not go. Then Wednesday came, realization began, and the all important extension of work at Happy Hour Creative made me think again.

Bottom line: I HAVE to go!

Like I said, this is going to be THE "Empire" event of the summer! I'll still be able to see Harrison Ford's Q&A on screen, and to actually watch this movie, days before it was released thirty years ago, with a huge group of true "Star Wars" fans...PRICELESS!!

So it's now official; this morning I went to the St. Jude's Hospital website and purchased my ticket for "The Empire Strikes Back" screening with Harrison Ford's Q&A!!! Oh, and BTW, the money for this ticket will go as a donation to the hospital and a good cause. "So I've got that going for me...which is nice."