FOLA Releases Schedule for Coming Season
Pictured above is a scene from “The Merry Widow”
At its recent meeting, FOLA (Friends of Ludlow Auditorium) approved an event schedule for the coming 2022 season which will consist of 14 movies, 2 public forums, and a Metropolitan Opera.
Among the movies scheduled for 2022 are a documentary on the Apollo 11 flight to the moon, a three-film series of comedian/actor Robin Williams’ great films, a silent movie of Director Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Lodger” featuring Jeff Rapsis’ musical background, and a Harry Potter film for the Christmas season.
Since 2022 is an election year, FOLA will sponsor two public forums
Click the schedule to enlarge.
dealing with the primary election, which should be interesting given the open U.S. Senate and House seats, plus a general election candidate forum.
As a first for FOLA and the Ludlow area, plans have been made to show a comic opera, “The Merry Widow”, featuring the great soprano, Renee Fleming. As FOLA Chairperson, Ralph Pace, noted: “This is an opera you’ll leave whistling some of its great tunes or simply wonder, why haven’t I seen this before”.
According to Program Director Scott Stearns other events may be added during the season.
All of these events will continue to be free and open to everyone. FOLA will continue to observe the Ludlow Town policies concerning Covid-19. Currently that policy calls for masks required for everyone when attending events in the Heald Auditorium of Ludlow Town Hall.
“O Brother, Where Art Thou”, a comedy-drama, Comes to Ludlow, February 26
FOLA will present “O Brother, Where Art Thou”, at the Heald Auditorium in Ludlow’s Town Hall on Saturday, February 26 at 7 PM.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 crime comedy-drama film written, produced, co-edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, with Chris Thomas King, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning in supporting roles.
The film is set in 1937 rural Mississippi during the Great Depression. Its story is a modern satire loosely based on Homer’s epic Greek poem The Odyssey that incorporates social features of the American South. The title of the film is a reference to the Preston Sturges 1941 film Sullivan’s Travels, in which the protagonist is a director who wants to film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a fictitious book about the Great Depression.
Three convicts, Pete and Delmar led by Ulysses Everett McGill, escape from a chain gang and set out to retrieve a treasure Everett said was buried before the area is flooded to make a lake. The three get a lift from a blind man driving a handcar on a railway. He tells them they will find a fortune, but not the one they seek. The trio make their way to the house of Wash, Pete’s cousin. They sleep in the barn, but Wash reports them to Sheriff Cooley, who, along with his men, torches the barn. Wash’s son helps them escape.
They pick up Tommy Johnson, a young black man, who claims he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the ability to play guitar. In need of money, the four stop at a radio broadcast tower where they record a song as the Soggy Bottom Boys. That night, the trio part ways with Tommy after their car is discovered by the police. Unbeknownst to them, the recording becomes a major hit.
What follows is a tale of how the wandering escapees eventually recover the predicted fortune, survive three “sirens”, a one-eyed bible salesman, and assorted other woes.
The film is open to everyone and is free; donations are appreciated. Water is provided thanks to the folks at the United Church of Ludlow. Following town Covid policy, masks are required for all. For information, 802-228-7239 and https://fola.us.