Even with football back on a lot of our favorite places in Ann Arbor are hurting. Hoping to soften the blow a bit, we're partnering this fall with Underground Printing to do a t-shirt a week for the places we love. All proceeds go to the restaurant/bar/whatever. Limited time offer: We'll keep the order open for a week (because ordering bulk means more for the institution).

Previously: Good Time Charley's, Brown Jug, Blind Pig. This week: The State and Michigan Theaters!

Quick: You need a photo that says "Ann Arbor." What do you aim at? Michigan Stadium's kind of its own thing. Burton Tower maybe, but it's hard to get the whole thing in one shot, and doesn't capture the small towniness nor the artsiness. Unless…

The first image that comes up in an "Ann Arbor" image search. [Davel5957/Getty]

It's no accident that this Big House capacity-sized town has a couple of arthouse theater marquees slap dab in the middle of it. When the Shutdown Fullcast was looking for dates to do a live show here we said "just avoid the Art Fair" and they were like "Are you sure? We've got art fairs too," and then we showed them, and then they chose a date a month later. There is zero controversy over the geographical center of Ann Arbor culture.

There wasn't a day when I lived in Ann Arbor that the historic Michigan Theater, and the Art Deco State Theatre* weren't open with some movie or live event. I arrived in 1998, which was right after the big renovations. That's also when the current Michigan Theater marquee went up; needless to say it was better received than the halo.

But that's kind of true for most small towns. The Michigan difference is when you step inside.

The Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, MI pic.twitter.com/6TlpQQjUcs

— Arlo Guthrie (@folkslinger) November 3, 2018

If you were in there you could also hear their 1927 Barton Pipe Organ (one of the few still in existence) that was installed to be played along with silent films the same year Yost opened Michigan Stadium.

But you can't go in right now. As of today they have now been closed for 194 days, and there's no anticipated date of reopening.

Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

They're scratching by right now with various virtual offerings (complete list here). Those include Virtual Movie Palace screenings, with new films debuting on Friday nights at michtheater.org/screenings, tonight's being RBG. Among them are Represent, a film that will restore some of your faith in American democracy, and a Movies 101 series that I, an unabashed Lindsay Ellis fan, am now obsessed with. There's also concessions and merchandise available for curbside pickup every Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday; and Movie Trivia night via Zoom two Thursdays a month. The last one was last night so if you walk by today you'll see the winner's idea of a funny thing to put on the marquee. I won't ruin it. On days that wasn't won by a trivia nerd you can rent the marquee too.

You can support them with a membership (which gets you a lot of the films and discounts on the rest), by using them for the next few movie nights, or by wearing The Ann Arbor Shot on a t-shirt.

* [Do French professors at Michigan still point out it's spelled "Theatre" and should therefore be referred to as the "Staht tay-AHT-ruh" or was this just my History of French Cinema instructor? Now that you've seen it are you too afflicted?]