NOTE (Friday, March 8, 2019): The story has been updated to reflect a slight change in the line-up of musicians planning to perform during the March 22 Dark Night Cabaret.

(Monday, March 25, 2019): The ETH Board of Directors has announced that the March 29 finale of Dark Night Cabaret series has been postponed until further notice. 

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Ahead of a stretch where its main theater will go dark for renovations, Edmond Town Hall has a full schedule this weekend. A new cabaret series will be introduced and a special movie event will both be offered Friday night; a free movie screening will be offered on Saturday, and then the next Someday Cinema Series offering will be screened on Sunday.

Planned renovations within the historic building at 45 Main Street include repairing and/or replacing various theater components, including rigging, curtains, and railings. The project will also include the installation of a new ramp to make moving sets and equipment easier, along with a fire curtain. The repairs, Edmond Town Hall Building Operations Manager Sheila Torres told The Newtown Bee in February, are part of efforts to enhance safety.

“They will also improve the theater’s ability to host more live performances, provide new offerings to audiences, and help to grow attendance,” Ms Torres had added. The board of managers expect the theater to be unavailable for four weeks.

DNR Laboratories of Watertown was the winning bidder for much of the work, at $163,894. The railing system was quoted separately, according to Town Purchasing Agent Rick Spreyer. Town Capital Improvement Plan funds will cover both projects.

The theater will be going dark as of March 11. All other building activities, including space and event rentals, will continue as usual.

Dark Night Cabaret Series

The Alexandria Room, on the building’s third floor, will host a Dark Night Cabaret Series. Four consecutive Friday evening performances will be offered, launching March 8 with Thee MSM Band.

Doors will open at 7:30 each week, with performances then running 8:30 to 10:30 pm. Tickets are $10, and a beer and wine bar will be available. Seating will be cabaret-style.

Dark Night Cabaret performances will continue on March 15 with the Irish band Once Removed, who will have Sandy Hook native MorganEve Swain joining them for the evening; Jim Allyn Band — Mr Allyn, Frank Stewart and Nick Werden — on March 22, joined by special guests Dan Tressler on violin and Rixck Brodsky on bass and dobro; and then Connecticut State Troubadour Nekita Waller and Newtown Poet Laureate Lisa Schwartz will conclude the series on March 29.

The series name is a nod to the theater’s past, when it used to go dark one night a week in order to have movie reels swapped out.

Tickets can be purchased at the door, or in advance at edmondtownhall.org.

Fly Fishing Film Tour

Meanwhile, three Trout Unlimited chapters will host a special program on Friday, March 8, in the ETH Theatre.

The public is invited to join members of the Candlewood, Mianus, and Nutmeg chapters of Trout Unlimited for The 2019 Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T).

Doors will open at 6:30 pm, and the event will run until 10 pm. Guests will be treated to dozens of fishing and conservation films, raffles and door prizes, and camaraderie. A cash bar will be available.

Tickets are $25 in advance (mianustu.org) or $30 at the door. Reservations are suggested, as previous F3T events have sold out.

Proceeds support the conservation and education programs of the three co-hosting chapters of Trout Unlimited.

For additional information, contact Mike Fatse at 203-650-1359 or shflyguy@gmail.com.

Free 'Bumblebee' Screening Saturday

The town hall’s current feature film is Bumblebee. Screenings of the sci-fi/action-adventure starring Hailee Steinfeld, Jorge Lendeborg, Jr, and John Cena, rated PG-13 and released in December, continue through March 9.

F3T (above) will be in the main theater on Friday, but screenings of Bumblebee resume on Saturday.

Shows are planned for 1, 4, 7, and 9:15 pm.

Tickets are $3 each; Ingersoll Auto of Danbury will cover the cost of any tickets for the third screening. Owned by Todd Ingersoll of Newtown, the Danbury-based auto dealership has been hosting at least one free movie screening every month for the past six years.

Someday Cinema Series

On Sunday at 1 and 7 pm, The Someday Cinema Series will screen the 1963 World War II film The Great Escape.

Tickets are $3, and the matinee will be captioned for the hearing-impaired.

Based on the book by Paul Brickhill, The Great Escape tells the true story of the most defiant Allied prisoners of war locked up together in a new maximum-security Nazi detention camp designed especially for them.

Their leader, “Big X” (Richard Attenborough), plans for hundreds of them to escape by tunneling their way out, hoping to draw enemy forces away from the front lines. James Garner plays “The Scrounger,” who finds needed materials; James Coburn plays “The Manufacturer,” who makes the tools; and Charles Bronson is the “Tunnel King.” Each prisoner has their job, even USAAF Captain Virgil Hilts, the “Cooler King,” who keeps the guards on their toes with his incessant escape attempts.

Getting out is one thing, but getting away proves even more challenging. McQueen’s motorcycle stunts through Nazi territory and past enemy gunfire are perhaps the most memorable and exciting moments in the film.

Director John Sturges reunites three of his cast members from The Magnificent Seven — McQueen, Bronson, and Coburn — and strengthens the ensemble with such British mainstays as Richard Attenborough and Donald Pleasance, among others.

Many of the film’s cast members were actual POWs during World War II, and because of this, the set was true to life. Wally Floody, the real life “Tunnel King,” served as full-time consultant for the filmmakers for almost a year.

The next film in this series, presented by Newtown Cultural Arts Commission, will be Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, on Sunday, April 7, with screenings at 1, 4, and 7 pm. Visit tiny.cc/2019somedaycinema schedule updates.

In case of inclement weather, updates will be posted on The Newtown Bee’s Facebook and Twitter pages.