Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Rob Wagner, CEO of the Fast TV Network, interviews Odeon Theatre manager Christie Dominguez-Lopez, left, and Tucumcari MainStreet executive director Connie Loveland on camera Sept. 17 for an upcoming episode later this month. The Odeon is planning an Oct. 17 screening of the Route 66 documentary "Almost Ghosts" that also will serve as a fundraiser to restore its neon lighting and façade. (Ron Warnick / Quay County Sun)
A fundraiser to restore the Odeon Theatre's neon lighting has an upcoming Route 66 documentary screening and a streaming channel promoting the city.
"Almost Ghosts," a full-length documentary from Spain about "three men who fought to maintain their essence when the highways and interstate roads began to displace the old Mother Road," will screen at the Odeon at 7 p.m. Oct. 17.
Doors open that night at 6 p.m. for "Dinner at the Odeon," where pizza-by-the-slice will be sold in addition to the theater serving usual offerings from its concession stand. A car show around the theater is planned that evening, as well. More events around the screening also are being planned.
"Almost Ghosts" has been screened at historic theaters in other towns along Route 66 this fall.
Playing a role in the screening is Fast TV Network, an automotive-related streaming site launched 18 months ago at fasttvnetwork.com. CEO Rob Wagner said it boasts 30 million subscribers and a Roku channel that will launch next month.
He said the channel's "Legends of Route 66" Tucumcari episode, which went live earlier this month, has been streamed 1.2 million times.
Wagner was in town last week to shoot more video to promote the Oct. 17 "Almost Ghosts" screening. He said he anticipates the video will go live online before the end of the month. Fast TV will attend the "Almost Ghosts" screening to produce another episode.
Wagner credited Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet, for the idea behind the "Almost Ghosts" gala. She and Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce executive director Carmen Runyon were interviewed for the earlier Tucumcari episode.
"She started it," Wagner said of Loveland for the upcoming Odeon Theatre episode, laughing. "It's been a pleasure doing this, and everyone I've met in this town has been just phenomenal."
Loveland expects a decent crowd at the screening in part because New Mexico MainStreet will hold its fall quarterly meeting in Tucumcari on Oct. 16-18.
"We'll sort of have a captive audience," she said.
Though the Odeon technically isn't on Route 66, Loveland said historic theater preservation remains an essential part of Tucumcari MainStreet's mission.
Christie Dominguez-Lopez, manager of the theater, said the Odeon's neon went dark about two years ago. Shortly after ownership changes several years ago, the theater seating and sound system were upgraded and the projection system was converted to digital.. She told Wagner the theater was just starting to "break even" financially after all the improvements.
