LUDLOW—As it plans its programming schedule for 2017, Friends of Ludlow Auditorium (FOLA) has decided it will introduce the ability to stream live programming for the benefit of its audiences.
Streaming is essentially the process of presenting live events, such as Broadway musicals, sporting events, and national public interest events, as they actually are occurring. FOLA plans to acquire the various equipment needed to present selected events that are carried over the internet. This will give it the advantage of having many entertainment and public interest venues available to it at a reduced cost.
According to Ralph Pace, FOLA chairman, the first year’s activity will concentrate on Broadway musicals and selected plays and events that will benefit the local education system. Among the Broadway musicals in the 2017 FOLA calendar are “Gypsy,” “Cats,” “Kiss Me Kate” and “Phantom of the Opera”—all with Broadway casts.
In order to enable this feature, FOLA will seek to raise funds for the quality equipment necessary to provide a streaming capability.
Plans are also afoot for a musical revue that will be called “Your Hit Parade of 1927”, a musical presented in the format of an old radio show featuring the songs from 1927 such as “Stardust,” “Some One to Watch Over Me,” “Thou Swell” and “I’m Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover.” The show will be produced in conjunction with the Ludlow Rotary Club, which was founded in 1927 and will mark its 90th anniversary in 2017.
FOLA movie plans also call for a continuation of its month-long programming covering specific motion picture topics. In 2017, the programming will feature a series of classic films from the 1950, beginning with a speaker outlining the character and films unique to that period. Featured movies will include: “On the Waterfront,” “Sunset Boulevard,” and “The Killing.”
The Silent Movie Festival, scheduled for April, will highlight Charley Chaplin’s classic, “The Kid.”
Other films scheduled for 2017 will include “Ice Age 2,” “Bridge of Spies,” “Brooklyn,” “Inside Out,” “The Martian,” “Elsa and Fred,” “Eye in the Sky,” “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” “King of Hearts,” “Spectre,” “City Slickers,” and “Blazing Saddles.”
FOLA will also sponsor the annual Community Christmas Celebration in concert with the local schools. Other events will be announced as they are prepared.
More information about the 2017 calendar will appear in FOLA’s website, fola.us.
The Ludlow Town Hall is located at 37 S. Depot St., Ludlow.
