Staff members with Julie’s Dance Studio have cleaned and renovated the front entrance of the theatre.
J.D. Pooley | Sentinel-Tribune
It’s lights, camera, action for the former cinemas at the Woodland Mall.
Julie Setzer, who operates Julie’s Dance Studio at the mall, is taking over the space, renovating it for performances and movie showings.
The Star-Style Theatre — named in honor of JDS’s annual spring show — will open in a few weeks.
“We are turning the theaters — what used to be the cinemas — basically into a performing arts center,” Setzer said. “We can have live entertainment in one of the cinemas.”
Another cinema will be open for films down the road, she said.
Each of the five theaters will be named after a dance or performer. The main studio will be called Broadway, Setzer said. The film theater will be called Hollywood.
“Right now, we’re focused on a thorough deep clean, from top to bottom, and bringing back the sparkle and the shine,” she said. “Structurally, the building is very sound.
“There’s no leaky roofs, which is important to mention because I’ve had people stop me in the mall and say, ‘the roof leaks.’ No, the roof doesn’t leak and the roof never did leak.”
The space will eventually be open to other groups, Setzer said.
“It will be for us initially,” she said. “But we want to expand it to the community. We want to have theater groups come in and utilize it, and vocal groups, instrumental groups. We want to give back to the community. We want to get the community involved.”
Setzer opened her first dance studio in 1985 in Deshler. She and her father built the studio in an abandoned building.
She later moved the business to downtown Bowling Green, then to the Woodland Mall, where the studio has been for the last 20 years.
“I love the mall. I love the space that is available,” Setzer said. “We have a beautiful dance studio —it’s 10,000 square feet — you don’t find that very often.”
The goal is to open the main theater in the former mall cinemas by June 1 for the JDS Starstyle show.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to have our own theater,” Setzer said. “I think it’s super cool. When the girls come in and see it, they’re going to be so excited, because this is theirs. This is their theater.”
The cinema closed in July 2020, after 31 years operating at the mall.
The theater, which had five screens, was known for its $5 movies, including first-run shows.
