I was there this past summer. It's a wonderful restoration effort that Michael has put forth and the people of Traverse City are very happy.

...After numbers showed that the State was the largest grossing theater in the country for "Lars and the Real Girl" when it showed two weekends ago, this past weekend's screening of "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" also ranked high. The film made about four times the average of theaters showing it around the country, coming in third behind New York City and Honolulu.

"The studios are already calling to talk about the films we want to bring in the next few weeks," Moore said. "They only make so many prints, and they want their prints to go to the highest-grossing theaters."

Meanwhile, the Dec. 15 opening of the live Metropolitan Opera Theater series from New York sold out the day tickets went on sale and Jan. 1's "Hansel and Gretel" is nearly sold-out. Those buying are a mix of opera lovers and people who have never seen an opera before, Moore said.

In fact, Moore is hoping that the MET at the State, which runs through April 26, will prove to be a draw for winter and spring tourism.
"We started thinking about promoting it downstate: 'Come to Traverse City for an opera weekend,'" Moore said. "To do this during the non-tourist season has implications far beyond what any of us ever thought of."...

http://www.record-eagle.com/features/local_story_341100021.html