Member Spotlight: Joel Plagenz
This week, we want to turn attention to The Music Hall’s other membership program, The Music Hall Film Society! Created to connect and grow our community of film lovers through exclusive year-round programming, the Film Society offers curated screenings and filmmaker conversations to Telluride by the Sea and the New Hampshire Film Festival, offering its members a front-row seat to the best in independent film.
As part of our Member Spotlight series, we are spotlighting Joel Plagenz, a Music Hall Film Society Member!
What is your favorite thing about The Music Hall?
Nothing could beat the history and romance of a stage where Buffalo Bill and Mark Twain performed and where a small group of civic-minded
townspeople saved the theatre from the wrecking ball in the 1980s for all of us to enjoy today. I think of those selfless Friends of the Music Hall each time I take my seat.
What makes cinema special at The Music Hall?
I love to know absolutely nothing about a film I’m going to see, except what time it starts – not what’s in the trailer, not even what’s in a short blurb. With Mark Pruett as cinema curator at The Music Hall, I can take the risk of knowing nothing and never be disappointed. It’s like having a personal shopper.
What’s the best or most memorable show you’ve attended?
When Brandi Carlile discovered during her sound check that she could be heard even in the upper reaches of the balcony without a microphone, she
treated us to a song sung just that way from the edge of the stage that night. It was the most memorable show I’ve attended here or anywhere. Later, Brandi returned to The Music Hall to launch her Pin Drop tour of theaters with enviable acoustics for unamplified voices. Tony Bennett made the same discovery here one day and sang “Fly Me to the Moon” unmiked, with only his acoustic guitarist alongside him on stage.
Why would you encourage someone else to become a member?
Members are the first to know who’s coming to The Music Hall and get the best choice of seats. In ways large and small, they continue the tradition of community support that has enabled The Music Hall to thrive to this day.
Why is The Music Hall’s mission important to you?
To serve, delight and inspire its community is a rare combination in a nonprofit’s mission. It’s always exciting to see a full house, whether for another sold-out show or when people bring bags of food to fill the nearly 900 seats for the annual community food drive. Perhaps historian J. Dennis Robinson discovered the connection when his research for his book on The Music Hall unearthed these words of the opening night speaker in 1878: “A community is known by the character and place of its Amusements.”
Not a member yet? Interested in learning more? Find out more information at themusichall.org/membership