Published: May 30, 2008 10:16 pm         

Wabash Valley crowd turns out for ‘Sex and the City’ movie premier

TERRE HAUTE — Cheers and applause came as the lights dimmed and the first four notes of the “Sex and the City” theme song started Friday morning.

At least 200 people filled the theater at Kerasotes’ ShowPlace 12 at 12:01 a.m. for the highly anticipated movie’s premier.

Some were dressed in sweat pants and flip flops while others wore dresses and heels to mimic their favorite character: Carrie, Samantha, Miranda or Charlotte. Yet, Coach, Dooney & Burke and other name brand purses were aplenty regardless of the outfit.

Terre Haute residents Cassandra Mascari, Catherine Nichols, Heather McKanna and Nikki Duerlinger were among those dressed up.

“It was good, it was funny, it had some twists and turns,” said Nichols, 19, who was dressed like Carrie, played by Sarah Jessica Parker.

Though they didn’t leave the theater until almost 3 a.m. and still had to go about their Friday’s business as usual, they all agreed the movie was well worth it.

“It’s a good girl movie,” said Mascari, 19, who was dressed as Kristin Davis’ character, Charlotte. “The movie theater was full of estrogen.”

Though the majority of movie goers were female, some men could be spotted throughout the room, whether they were fans or boyfriends of fans.

“We’ve heard more women say ‘we’ve been dragged to the movies by our boyfriends and husbands, so this is our turn,’” said Steve Carpenter, special promotions manager for Kerasotes Theaters.

That was kind of the case for 29-year-old Brad Brown, who attended the movie with his 24-year-old girlfriend, Ashley Akers.

“I don’t know [the show] as well as she does, but she wanted to come so I bought her tickets,” he said. “It seems to be a good show.”

Akers said she had been waiting to see the movie since the series ended about four years ago.

“I am a die-hard ‘Sex and the City’ fan,” she said. “I own all the seasons on DVD.”

While most movies usually don’t open one minute into the day, movies with the most hype do, Carpenter said.

“It’s all on the buzz,” he said. “It’s all about the pre-buzz and how we think the country’s looking at it.”

The last movie Kerasotes opened at 12:01 a.m. was “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which had a good turnout despite the fact that many of the movie goers had to go to school later that day, Carpenter said.

Still, he expected most of the sales to come in from the weekend when people can use the movie as a starting point for their night, he said.

“I think that’s something a lot of ladies are planning, they’re putting their Jimmy Choos on or getting their best bags,” Carpenter said. “Sitting in the movies is just the kick start” for the night.



Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.