The hirsute gay men, commonly known as bears, were thespecial guests of Dave Hayes, the organizer of San Francisco Movie Bears. Thesocial group gathers a few times a month to see newly released movies andoccasionally partners with Harry Lit of CastroBear Presents for advancescreenings and live performances, as well.
With a few exceptions, the screenings don't usually garner alarge crowd, but the January 3 event was special.
Our largest screeningbefore was for Superman 3D on the IMAXlast June, said Hayes. However, due to a technical glitch theMetreon was not able to accommodate all of the 176 bears that had purchasedtickets.
Thanks to the considerable amount of business Hayes and hisbears have brought to the Metreon over the last couple of years, the generalmanager insisted on making it right and offered an entire theater to Hayes fora movie of his choice, he said.
I decided to wait for Dreamgirls because I knew it would be a popular choice. I hadno idea just how popular it would be, he said.
Typically, attendees to SFMovie Bears events do payadmission; Hayes noted that last week's event was a unique case.
Word of the event spread quickly in the tight-knit SanFrancisco bear community and within a matter of weeks hundreds of bears loggedon to the Web site to sign up for the free screening. Hayes said that almostone-third of the men had never attended a SF Movie Bears event before.
It looks like the Lone Star in here, said oneattendee, as he assessed the crowd at the event, referring to the popular Southof Market bar that caters to bears.
Hayes agreedand was very happy with the turnout.
I do this simply to bring the community together andI'm thrilled to see everyone so happy, he said.
During the movie, the raucous applause that broke out afteralmost every song attested that the crowd was indeed, very happy.
For more information, including upcoming movie nights, visit .
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