Wyoming County Cultural Center at the Dietrich Theater 

(Click on Movie Posters for Showtimes and Synopses.)

Please join us for the Spring 2014 Film Festival! 

At the Dietrich by Hildy Morgan     

                The brochures came in today!  For the spring festival!  They are so gorgeous!  And the more I look at the contents the more I think this may be the best festival ever! There isn’t a movie on the list I don’t want to see.  And from so many different countries! Opening night is the totally charming film from India, The Lunchbox, and the ever so American August, Osage County.  Couple that with the fine wine and beer and food and desserts and you have the best bang for your buck you will ever have.  Really!  Is there any other place you could spend $35.00 and get all that? (That was rhetorical – you really couldn’t.) So make your reservation today.  996-1500 will get you a ticket to something-like-heaven for film buffs and foodies!

      Remember Jeanne Moran’s talk on Sunday at 3:00 in the Fassett.  If you heard her on WVIA’s Art Scene this week (and if you didn’t you can get it on your computer) you know how erudite and interesting she is.  Her talk is about the long and twisty road to writing a novel, but also about the history of the Third Reich and its’ treatment of those with disabilities. You will love listening to her, so come give it a try.  It won’t cost you a dime and you’ll learn so much in a most entertaining program.

      On Friday night, March 14th from 5:00 to 7:00 we will have Rose Wright, fiber artist, and Robert Anderson, writer and author, both of West Wyoming, bring their visual and literary art to the Evans and Sherwood Galleries.  The exhibit shows off their creative fiber artworks and the illustrations from The Cat, The Sun and The Mirror.  At the reception on Friday Robert will read his book and two musicians will add to the fun by playing the Guzheng ( a Chinese Harp) and the Theramin, an instrument usually used in science fiction films – it gives that eerie sound without ever being touched! It will be a very novel gallery opening – different and  interesting.  Try to make it if you possibly can.  It’s a little bit of different in the world of art!

     So we have an adorable kids movie coming in for you this week.  Mr. Peabody and Sherman is part science lesson, part history and all fun for kids and their folks.  It’s charming and there is enough adult humor to be funny for the grown-ups and lots of stuff to make the kidlets laugh.  Perfect family entertainment.

     We are holding Non-Stop, the terrific Liam Neeson movie about the Air Marshall whose job is wildly complicated when he gets a note saying that if he doesn’t cooperate a passenger will be killed every twenty minutes.  And then whoever the killer is demonstrates how serious he is by killing one of the passengers every twenty minutes.  Rolling Stone said it’s a preposterous plot, but it’s a thrill a minute and a good time.  They’re pretty tough on movies, so it must be pretty good.  Come and enjoy.

     Son of God goes into its second week and I haven’t seen it yet but the audience has loved it. It’s a respectful and sensitive portrayal of the life of Jesus that the family can enjoy. 

     We’re holding Lego for one more week and splitting it with Twelve Years A Slave.  We decided to bring it back for one week only to give those of you who haven’t seen it the chance to see, on the big screen, the Best Picture of the Year winner.  It’s probably the most honest film about slavery ever done, it’s hard to watch and it’s sad beyond words.  But it portrays a time when human beings were sold like cattle and those sales were justified with biblical quotations.  It was a dark stain on our history, but the movie is strangely optimistic, sad but hopeful.  Maybe because we know how it all turns out.  But if you haven’t seen it, please do.  If you have seen it, this will give you the opportunity to see it again.  You’ll catch all those little subtleties you missed the first time.

     See you at the Dietrich.

     P.S. – Did I remind you to get your gala tickets now?  Oh.  I did?  Oh well, I’ll just remind you again.  You don’t want to miss the best night of the year, now do you?  (Heh heh.)

Live at the Dietrich by Erica Rogler 

Believe it or not, we are less than a month away from the Dietrich’s Spring 2014 Film Festival.  Starting on Friday, March 28 and running for two weeks through Thursday, April 10, we will be able to experience eighteen of the most highly acclaimed foreign, independent and art films that have been released over the past few months.  Hildy, Ronnie and our film booker Jeffrey Jacobs from New York City did another fabulous job of picking this spring’s films.  They include August: Osage County, The Best Offer, The Broken Circle Breakdown, Girl on a Bicycle, Gloria, The Great Beauty, Great Expectations, In Secret, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Invisible Woman, Kids for Cash, La Camioneta, Liv and Ingmar, The Lunchbox, Nebraska, The Past, Philomena and Tim’s Vermeer.  There are great documentaries such as La Camioneta, which follows the transformation of an American school bus into a bus for public transportation in Guatemala, as well as Kids for Cash, the Robert May film about the juvenile judicial scandal that occurred in Wilkes-Barre.  I am also looking forward to the period piece Great Expectations with Helena Bonham Carter playing Miss Havisham, and The Lunchbox, a charming film that was a hit at the Toronto Film Festival. 

The Lunchbox will be one of our featured films at the Opening Night Gala of the Film Festival on March 28, as well as August: Osage County with a cast that includes Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and Chris Cooper.  In addition to great films, we will be able to enjoy delicious hors d’oeuvres from Epicurean Delight, Twigs Restaurant and Café, Greenley’s BBQ, and Seasons Restaurant at gala.  Nimble Hill wine and beer will be flowing, and Epicurean Delight will wow us with amazing desserts in between films.  So gather up your friends and join us for what is bound to be a great night of entertainment.  Tickets are $35 each and can be reserved by calling 570-996-1500. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Like last fall’s film festival, there will be afternoon and evening shows every day during festival.  Matinee tickets are $8 and evening tickets sell for $9.  For movie summaries and show times, please visit www.dietrichtheater.com or call us to request a festival brochure. 

Another movie event that is quickly approaching is our special showings of Double Indemnity from 1944.  It is this month’s selection for the Dietrich Classic Movie Series and will show on the big screen at the Dietrich on Wednesday, March 12 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.  Enjoy this example of film-noir about an insurance rep who lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigator's suspicions.  This film stars Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson.  Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased at www.dietrichtheater.com or at the door. 

The theater also has a great line up of live events for you to enjoy this weekend.  If you or your children are nature lovers, come out for local naturalist Rick Koval’s talk on Reptiles and Amphibians of Northeastern Pennsylvania on Saturday, March 8 at 11 a.m.  During this PowerPoint presentation, Rick will share with us photos of 44 species of these fascinating creatures that reside in our area from salamanders to snakes to turtles and more.  After the program, audience members will have an opportunity to meet and hold a few reptiles and amphibians.  Admission is free thanks to support from the Overlook Estate Foundation.  Tickets can be reserved in advance by calling 570-996-1500 and they will be available at the door as long as they last. 

Then on Sunday, March 9 at 3:00 p.m., local author and physical therapist Jeanne Moran will share her personal journey of writing a novel from idea to publication.  I think it is always so interesting to learn about authors’ inspirations and  writing methods.  If you have not read her historical fiction novel Risking Exposure, I strongly recommend it.  The story is gripping.  She will have copies of Risking Exposure available for sale at the presentation and all proceeds will support the Dietrich Theater.  Jeanne has been a longtime member of the theaters Writers’ Group, so we are very excited about this upcoming event.  Admission is free.

(Click on Pictures for Event Details)

Women's Forum: Violence Against Women in Northeastern Pennsylvania

Come to the Dietrich Theater on Sunday, March 16 at 3:00 pm for a Women’s Forum on Violence Against Women in Northeast Pennsylvania. 

Why do we have a culture of violence especially against women?

Do laws protect women?  What are the issues law enforcement officers face?

What can you do to help someone you know is abused?

Answering these questions will be panel members: Wyoming County’s District Attorney, Jeff Mitchell; Wyoming County’s Assistant District Attorney, Gerald Idec; Janet MacKay and Patrick Rushton of the Victim’s Resource Center in Wyoming County; and Laurel Hasenzahl, Wyoming County Juvenile Probation Officer.  Moderating the forum will be Marnie Hiester-Idec, Professor of Psychology at Misericordia University.

All are welcome to this free forum on Sunday, March 16 at 3:00 pm.  Reservations are not necessary but can be made by calling the Dietrich Theater at 570-996-1500.

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(Click on Pictures for Event Details)

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