Amphitheater will roar with fun on movie night

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

dastolfo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

They’re calling it Drive-In Movie Night, and it should have that same sense of family-flavored summer fun from the not-so-distant past.

But please leave your car in the parking lot.

On Friday, the city’s summer movie series will move to the new Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre for one night, where it will screen the 1993 blockbuster “Jurassic Park.” Admission is free.

In the one month that it has been open, the amp has gotten a workout by hosting a handful of major concerts.

Friday’s Drive-In Movie Night should be more relaxing, even though the dinosaurs that run amok in “Jurassic Park” will look – and sound – as large as life.

“There will be a 28- by 30-foot screen on the stage and the movie sound will be through the amphitheater’s sound system, so be prepared to be wowed Friday night,” said Aspasia Lyras-Bernacki, director of the film series.

The free outdoor summer movie series, now in its fourth year, usually takes place on Monday nights on the lawn just west of Covelli Centre.

Friday’s event at the new amp will be special.

The fun will begin with music by the Night Owls band, and because “Jurassic Park” is a real popcorn-muncher of a flick, there will also be free popcorn. Gates open at 7:30 p.m. with the movie starting around 9 p.m.

Bernacki has been putting on the movie series for four years, and said this year’s lineup is the best ever.

“Every year I talk to the movie-goers, take a lot of notes, and see what’s trending to make up my list for the next season,” she said.

Attendance is usually between 250 and 300 people, but that number should go up for Friday’s screening of “Jurassic Park.”

Bernacki said she hopes to do one movie each year at the amphitheater.

So far this summer, the films “Back to the Future” (1985), “Creed 2” (2018), “Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse” (2018), “Star Trek” (2009) and “Spirited Away” (2001) have already been screened at the site near Covelli.

After this Friday’s event at the amp, the series will move back to the Covelli site for “The Sandlot” (1993) on July 22; “Beauty and the Beast” (1991), July 29; “Wizard of Oz” (1939), Aug. 5; and “School of Rock” (2003), Aug. 12.

All movies start at 9 p.m. In case of rain, the movie will be screened the following night.

“Jurassic Park,” starring Sam Neil, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, was directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the novel by Michael Crichton. It takes place on a fictional island park full of dinosaurs that have been cloned by scientists.

Things go terribly wrong when the dinosaurs get loose and prove to be not so friendly.

Friday’s event is part of the Home Savings Community Series at the amphitheater, a series of free or low-cost events underwritten by the savings bank.