FILM SHOWING: "ROUND MIDNIGHT" (R)

Suggested Donation $5.00

Inside the Blue Note nightclub one night in 1959 Paris, an aged, ailing jazzman coaxes an eloquent wail from his tenor sax. Outside, a young Parisian too broke to buy a glass of wine strains to hear those notes. Soon they will form a friendship that sparks a final burst of genius in the fading musician. Round Midnight, set to Herbie Hancock’s Academy-Award winning Best Original Score, is an elegant ode to bebop – the technically demanding jazz that blossomed during the post war era.

“In 'Round Midnight, real-life jazz legend Dexter Gordon brilliantly portrays the fictional tenor sax player Dale Turner, a musician slowly losing the battle with alcoholism, estranged from his family, and hanging on by a thread in the 1950's New York jazz world.” – IMDb

“Gordon plays the central role with an eerie magnetism. He is a musician, not an actor, and yet no actor could have given this performance, with its dignity, wisdom and pain. He speaks slowly, carefully considering, really making his words mean something, so even commonplace sentences ("Francois, this is a lovely town you have here") are really meant. He calls everyone "Lady" in the movie, and doesn't explain it, and doesn't need to.

The music was recorded live. The director, Bertrand Tavernier, has said that in earlier jazz films, the audience could sense that the actors were not really playing; that you could see in their eyes that they were not listening to the other musicians onstage with them. In "Round Midnight," the music happens as we hear it, played by Gordon, Herbie Hancock on piano and others such as Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Ron Carter and Billy Higgins, with Lonette McKee on vocals.” – Roger Ebert

This classic film is a part of The Packing House Film Series hosted by the Eastern Connecticut Center for History, Art, and Performance (EC-CHAP). Cabaret and group seating. Doors 7:00pm / Show 7:30pm. Soft drinks and snacks available. "BYOB&F" - Bring Your Own Beverage & Food (Wine & Beer Only - I.D. Required).

 Call 518-791-9474 for information and table reservations.