Nonprofit group Friends of Edmond Town Hall invites everyone to an unforgettable night of auctions, live entertainment, drinks, food, and more for their second annual gala on Saturday, March 29. The event will be held in the Alexandria Room at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street, from 7-10:30 pm.

The theme for this year is “Cosmic,” so attendees are encouraged to “let the skies and stars inspire them” and dress in stylish and sparkling attire.

The gala will have live music performed throughout the evening and a full cash bar offering handcrafted cocktails, fine wines, beer, and specialty drinks.

Award-winning STF Catering will once again cater the event this year, giving hungry attendees a chance to indulge in different gourmet dishes, hors d’oeuvres, and large crudités.

There will also be a 50/50 raffle, as well as a silent and live auction. Attendees can win a wide variety of prizes, such as a trip to Cancun for two, a trip to Tuscany for four, cooking classes, a dinner for eight with home service, a stargazing event for four, and more.

People will be able to bid on the auction items from their phones. The auction items will also be available for viewing and bidding the week before the event, should people choose to do so.

Tickets are currently available for $125 at app.galabid.com/friendsgala/event-tickets. Group discounts are also available.

Much like last year’s gala, the proceeds raised from the event will go towards renovating Edmond Town Hall, specifically to improve the theater’s stage floors. Gala Chair Marcie Albanesi and Edmond Town Hall Executive Director Gary Lindemann said that the floors will be refinished and restained, after which they will purchase Marley floors, vinyl dance flooring used to protect floors during performances.

According to Lindemann, these floors are standard fare for many of the dance organizations that perform at ETH every year. He said that Marley floors are thin yet durable, acting as protection for the wood underneath and providing a non-slip surface for dancers. This, in turn, helps dancers feel steadier in their ballet slippers while they practice and perform.

“And we haven’t had them here, so we’re thrilled to be able to introduce these new floors to all the performers who perform here through local dance companies and those that come from out of town,” Albanesi said.

Lindemann added that they love the wood floor and want to retain it, but that they also want to make sure it stays beautiful. He said that the oak floors seen on Edmond Town Hall’s stage “just aren’t made anymore.

“So to refinish it and give it the proper treatment it needs, we want to make sure it’s protected thereafter with the Marley floor because one tap dance on it just kills it,” Lindemann said.

The good thing about Marley floors, he said, is that they aren’t permanent. He explained that Marley floors can be easily rolled up and taken down as needed.

“Most of the acts don’t need [Marley floors], but when you have a dance company coming in, we can supply it for them and also protect the same floors,” Lindemann said.

Refinishing and re-staining the floor, as well as purchasing the Marley floors, is a huge source of excitement for Albanesi and Lindemann. The idea itself came from Lindemann, according to Albanesi.

From the moment she heard the idea, Albanesi thought it would be perfect as their fundraiser because it would be “something huge that everyone in the community will benefit from,” and not just occasional performers.

“When you think about all the kids who take dance lessons in the area or perform here every year, every one of those families, every one of those kids, will benefit from having a more consistent, even dance floor to perform on year after year,” Albanesi said.

Lindemann said that this continues their ultimate goal from last year’s gala, which funded the renovations for Edmond Town Hall’s dressing rooms: to enhance the experience for the artists coming in to perform.

“When the artists are feeling comfortable and good about where they are, they put on a better show for our audience. It just goes hand in hand,” Lindemann explained.

A Night To Remember

Albanesi said that enhancing artists’ comfort aligns with the goal of the Friends of Edmond Town Hall, which is to enhance the lives of the people who live in Newtown with music and theater.

“Music and theater can bring so much joy to people, and it helps you get out of yourself in a way that very few other things do,” Albanesi said. “So to be able to be part of a fundraising arm of Edmond Town Hall is very exciting for me.”

The event is also exciting for Albanesi because she’s been actively involved with music and theater throughout her life, even minoring in music while in college.

Lindemann is also no stranger to music and theater. Before coming to Edmond Town Hall earlier this January as the building’s new executive director, he was the theater manager at Ridgefield Playhouse for three years and later the operations manager at Sacred Heart University Community Theater (SHUCT).

Similarly to Edmond Town Hall, SHUCT is a 500-seat theater that at one point mostly focused on showing movies. According to Lindemann, it is incredibly difficult for a single-screen movie house to make money, let alone bring people in. He said this eventually led SHUCT to become more of a concert venue in addition to screening movies.

“[SHUCT] started off only doing 10-15 live events. Now they’re up to 90-100, which is sort of the same path we want to go here at Edmond Town Hall,” Lindemann said.

He added that Edmond Town Hall’s beautiful stage and large amount of space make it perfectly geared to bring the community together for outings such as the “Girls Night Out Bridesmaids Event” or the Rocky Horror Picture Show screening featuring a live shadow cast.

Lindemann and Albanesi, along with the other people associated with Edmond Town Hall, are constantly looking into how to take a great event and make it an amazing one. The upcoming gala will be no exception, as Albanesi said that they learned a lot from holding the event last year.

She said that one of the several things they expanded on this year is the bar. While the inaugural gala had a cash bar similar to what ETH serves at concerts, Albanesi said that they will “have more of a full bar” this time around, with plenty of mixed drinks for people to enjoy with their meals.

Albanesi also said that everything will be tied to QR codes, meaning that there will be automatic checkout for the highest bidder at the end of the night. This makes it more convenient compared to last year’s gala, where everything was instead on clipboards.

Volunteers will be at the event, ready to help anyone with technology questions or concerns.

Newtown Stage Co Founder Ryan Loucks will be the emcee this year, while three Newtown High School graduates will provide live entertainment: Jacob Clements, who performed at the gala last year, Jules Kessler, who performed at ETH over the years and is now a freshman at UC Berkeley, and Thomas Hasselberger, who graduated from UC Berkeley and is now a teacher and working musician.

Beyond that, it was a matter of keeping everything that worked about the last event, from the catering and decorations to the lively performances and atmosphere. Even still, Albanesi and Lindemann both said that they only want to keep making the gala “better and better.”

“We just really want to take it up a notch this year,” Albanesi added.

To that end, Lindemann said that they want to make Edmond Town Hall a destination for people in the community and beyond. The gala is one of the biggest ways, Albanesi said, for them to continue expanding and improving on what they already offer.

“We want more people to realize that you can have a great meal down the street here in town and then come to a concert and have a great night out; that their destination is here,” Albanesi said. “This [gala] is just another step towards that.”

For more information on the gala or to support the Friends of Edmond Town Hall, visit friendsofeth.org, email friendsofeth@gmail.com, or call 203-512-9100.

=====

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.