Who Keeps the Lights On When the Tropic Goes Dark?
Streets for People | Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown | Chris Hamilton | July 18, 2026 | Crossposted at The Citizen
I sit on a little ledge in the heat on a sultry sun-drenched July morning last week in front of the Tropic Cinema on Eaton Street, facing the iconic Seward Johnson sculpture of Marilyn Monroe where thousands of locals and tourists annually snap a selfie. After a couple minutes Greg walks up, shakes my hand and says “Ready?” He’s here to open the theater for his regular once-a-week shift as House Manager and has allowed me to accompany him on his usual rounds. He pulls out a jangle of keys, unlocks the door and we duck into the familiar, darkened lobby of air-conditioned comfort and let out a sigh of relief.
He locks the door behind us and scurries over to a box on the wall to enter the security code and stop the loud beep, beep, beep that started when the door opened. Then he springs into action, flipping switches in the front closet, on the wall and by handling remotes. He’s obviously done this before. On pop the lights overhead and ahead of us in the café concession area. TVs come alive and start previewing coming attractions. He snakes his way through the concessions and turns on machines and more lights, under and over the counters, including backlit menu boards listing beer, wine and refreshments.
I’m hoping he’ll turn on the popcorn machine. Mmm, hot buttered movie theater popcorn. But he heads for the bathroom, turns on the lights. I hear flushes. And then he disappears into the back three theaters, the Carper, Taylor and George. More lights. More chirping and activity. Just another typical day getting ready for customers coming to watch the latest movies. Except there won’t be any.
Tropic Cinema Closes Its Doors
See, the Tropic closed its doors for the summer on Sunday, June 28. Its board of directors framed the closure as a response to “declining attendance and revenue pressures,” in addition to losing longtime executive director Carla Turner after nine years. They said they’d use the summer to regroup, assess and explore new options. The reaction on social media was immediate and vociferous:
“We cannot lose the Tropic. All hands on deck!”
“NO! We need to keep this gem!”
“Let’s all rally for movie nights at the Tropic!”
“Truly devastating news.”
“Man, I hate reading that. It’s a microcosm of what our world is going through, but it’s still a one-of-a-kind place. I really hope it’s just for the summer.”
That’s a small sample, on top of hundreds of “sad face” and “care” emojis.
So what’s Greg Disney-Britton, the Tuesday House Manager for the past two years, doing “opening up” the theater?
He and a core group of his co-workers are taking turns doing this every single day. Yep, every single day, even though they’re closed. They each come in for a couple of hours and do exactly what Greg’s been doing: turn everything on and make sure it’s working and in good condition. Even the projectionist comes in to make sure the film equipment is in good working order. This way each employee has a little something to do and gets a couple hours of pay a week. As Greg explains it, when new life comes they won’t need to rehire an entire staff, and they’ll know the physical plant is shipshape and ready to go. “Most of us never doubted it would reopen,” he told me. “However, we weren’t sure what that will look like.”
Tennessee Williams Theatre to the Rescue?
Greg and his colleagues got a glimpse of a potential future on July 1, just days after the closure, when the Performing Arts Centers of Key West (PACKW) — the nonprofit that operates the Tennessee Williams Theatre and KeysTix at the College of the Florida Keys — announced via Facebook that it had entered into discussions with the Key West Film Society (KWFS), the nonprofit that owns and operates the Tropic, to take over its operations. Per PACKW’s press release, as the Citizen reported on July 3:
If an agreement is reached, PACKW would take on responsibility for the operation of the Tropic Cinema at 416 Eaton Street, while preserving its identity, programming mission and its place as a beloved cultural institution in Key West. The Key West Film Society’s founding mission — to exhibit, promote and celebrate independent, foreign, documentary, classic, and culturally significant films — would be central to any future arrangement.
“The Tropic Cinema is a major part of Key West’s cultural identity,” said Matthew Rawls, Executive Director of Performing Arts Centers of Key West. “We believe that bringing Tropic Cinema within PACKW’s stewardship would allow us to protect and grow its mission for the long term, while giving it the support it needs to thrive. We are committed to preserving everything that makes Tropic Cinema special.”
Let’s be clear: this isn’t a done deal. PACKW is currently in due diligence mode, combing through financial reports, leases, agreements and more. If everything is kosher, both boards still have to come to an agreement.
Hope Springs Eternal
The reaction on Facebook to the announcement was swift and universally positive:
“This is a fantastic partnership.”
“This would be a great collaboration of the theatre community of Key West… very exciting!”
“Great news… would love to see a revitalization of the Tropic Cinema.”
“Fabulous. The Tropic is a Treasure!”
“Thank you, Matthew!!”
Just a sampling, alongside over 400 Likes and Loves and more than 60 shares. The same comment threads that had been full of grief two weeks earlier were now full of exclamation points. When I asked Greg about it, he said:
“There’s been a lot of joy about the potential of Tennessee Williams. Joy by staff, volunteers and members. My husband and I are regular attendees at Tennessee Williams performances and always have an excellent experience there. Yes, it was a relief. It’s a perfect match.”
From Carpet Warehouse to Art-House Cinema
In their own telling, the Key West Film Society was founded in 1999 by a group of disenchanted film buffs who got together to bring documentary, independent and foreign films to Key West. Ben Egnatz, current board chair said: “For years the Film Society showed movies in various locations in town as they raised money to open a ‘bricks and mortar’ cinema.”
They found their home in 2004, renovating a former carpet warehouse at 416 Eaton Street into an intimate two-screen house — the Carper and the Taylor — with 250 seats. Soon after, the Seward Johnson Marilyn was installed out front. By 2006 they’d pushed deeper into the building and opened a third screen, the George; in 2009 they added a fourth, the Peggy Dow. To get a sense of the good times, a 2017 Keys Weekly story noted the Tropic had over 200 volunteers. And then COVID happened, and the theater shut down in March 2020.
COVID and Industry Headwinds Slam the Tropic
It didn’t reopen until September, and then only showing one film, four days a week. In 2022, the Tropic bid farewell to the Peggy Dow to reduce overhead — back down to three screens. A 2024 annual report lists 140 volunteers. And Greg’s fellow House Manager Dawn Messing tells me the current number is 87, with only 25 to 30 of those consistent. Remember, they had 200 five years before. Just before the shutdown, I caught Steven Spielberg’s summer blockbuster Disclosure Day on a Saturday night in The Carper, and there weren’t more than a dozen people in the audience. It makes one wonder: has anything really returned to pre-COVID levels in this industry?
Last week I spoke with quintessential Key West community leader, tireless philanthropist and current PACKW board chair Bryan Green about the Tropic.
“During COVID people invested in at-home systems and screens and got out of the habit of going to the theatre, and so everywhere theaters have struggled to bring people back — not just here,” he said. “And the dearth of quality blockbusters over these years hasn’t helped.”
Then there’s ticket sales. Both Bryan and Greg mentioned something I hadn’t realized: ticket money largely goes to the studios that produce the pictures. Independent theaters don’t have the leverage to negotiate better rates like AMC, Cinemark or Regal.
So 50, 80, even 90% of ticket revenue, according to some industry analysis, goes to the studios. That’s a big headwind — even full houses, when they have them, aren’t lining the Tropic’s pockets.
Here’s another. In first announcing the summer closing, Egnatz told the Citizen: “Summer months have always been challenging here in Key West and unfortunately the cinema often operates at a deficit during that time, which is the opposite for cinemas in other areas of the country.” That’s those dozen people on a summer Saturday.
So COVID getting people out of the theater-going habit, ticket sales largely going to the studios, and even the summer season are all forcing the Tropic to lean on concessions. That’s why popcorn and Cokes go for $5.50, $6.50 and $7.50 — so maybe next time, don’t moan at the price. And if tickets and concessions don’t cover operations, that leaves donations. So buy that membership, too.
What the Tropic Means to Our Community and Downtown
People going out to a movie are likely to grab a bite or a drink before or after the show. Maybe they’ll stroll down Duval and duck into a shop or two. That multiplier effect is why the Tropic Cinema is a meaningful anchor for a walkable, vibrant, more prosperous downtown. Here’s how Greg put it:
“Since we retired to Key West, Eaton Street has been the center of our social life. From the Studios of Key West, Key West Theatre, Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church to the Tropic! Every other week we are at Flaming Buoy and The Saint, because there’s so much within one block!”
Bryan Green posited an interesting theory. “I think of the arts as the new third space — the community buildings or spaces that bring residents together. The Tropic is an anchor for that along Eaton.”
Greg agreed: “I do think of the arts as the new third space. It’s the community-building space that brings residents together for recreation, and the Tropic is an anchor for that along Eaton, and that general vicinity — like the Red Barn, Books and Books, the Studios and the Key West Theatre and the many smaller galleries.”
Greg and Bryan are exactly right, and I’ve been writing about this for years. All the little nonprofit theaters, live-music venues, cabarets and art-houses in a walkable downtown are the golden goose that keeps our economy going. We need to nurture them all.
Why PACKW Operating the Tropic Is the Right Instinct
Bryan Green thinks the world of Rawls, and says Matt “envisions a more vibrant, welcoming space people WANT to come to — to meet and talk before and after a wider variety of film; a renovated foyer; more events across the three auditoria.” He adds: “There’s a terrific amount of goodwill and enthusiasm at the prospect of a younger, energetic and imaginative team being given the opportunity to make this place truly special again.” We’ve witnessed that exact sentiment on social media.
Bryan also shared something that resonated with me, since I work part-time at another little nonprofit, the Red Barn Theatre. When the Tropic announced it was hunting for a new executive director, the Tennessee Williams team recognized the trap: the cinema now had to go find an ED, maybe a bookkeeper, a lawyer, all the scaffolding a nonprofit needs. And that’s doubly hard in Key West, where so many nonprofits run on a razor’s edge — stretched thin, duplicating positions, all chasing the same small pool of talent and donors. PACKW already had those positions, and some capacity to stretch. The missions lined up. And KeysTix already sells tickets for the Tropic and most of the other arts venues in town. So they approached the Film Society’s board — and here we are, in earnest discussions and due diligence to bring the Tropic under PACKW’s wing.
The Flagship Anchor of Our Downtown Doesn’t Go Dark
The Tropic can become an even greater flagship anchor downtown under PACKW and Tennessee Williams’ leadership. That’s a major reason we should all be rooting for this to work out.
Picture it, a couple of months from now. Greg unlocks the Tropic doors, disarms the alarm and starts turning everything on. Except on this occasion, a bunch of volunteers follow him in. That popcorn machine gets turned on — and this time you can hear it and smell it. Mmmm hot buttered movie theater popcorn for real. Soon there are lines for tickets and food. Laughter fills the air, the TVs are playing previews, and people are making plans for drinks afterward. That’s Key West as it should be.
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Chris Hamilton is the founder of Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown, a local advocacy group championing sustainable mobility and vibrant public spaces. Subscribe to the blog and follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Substack for updates. All stories are cross posted at KONK Life News. Originally from Washington, D.C., Chris spent over two decades leading nationally acclaimed initiatives in transit, biking, walking, and smart growth for Arlington County, VA’s DOT. Since moving to Key West in 2015, he has embraced a car-free lifestyle downtown, dedicating his time to non-profits and community projects. Explore all Streets for People column articles here.
Jan and I are were Film majors in college. This property means so much. I encourage you to join us in contributing whatever you can to keep the Tropic.!
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