It's time to say good-bye, not with sadness, but with joy.
A "Farewell Tribute to Sutherland Theatre" concert is being planned for January 22 as a way to celebrate the theatre that has been such a large part of the community for the past 40 years.
The theatre, which is attached to the present Humboldt Collegiate Institute building, will be demolished sometime in the coming year, once the facility is renovated to house the new Humboldt Public School.
Discussions have been held around building a new theatre in the community, but so far, there are no definite plans in place. That means, when Sutherland Theatre goes down, the community will be without a facility of its kind, at least for a while.
Arts Humboldt (AH), the new body for the arts in the community, decided that before the theatre goes, it should be honoured one last time, so they gained permission to hold a farewell concert.
Permission was only granted by Horizon School Division last week, which has left AH in a bit of a time crunch to find performers and arrange other parts of the evening. But so far, people seem to want to get the chance to be in Sutherland Theatre once again.
"We've had such a good response. People are so excited about it," said Glenda Lees, chair of AH. "So far, I don't think we'll have any trouble filling up an evening... People really want to say goodbye to Sutherland Theatre."
The concert is meant to be a celebration of the life of the theatre, not a funeral.
"It's to celebrate what went on in Sutherland Theatre," she noted.
Part of that will include a powerpoint presentation on the history of the theatre, as well as performances by talented locals.
So far, a wide variety of performers have signed on to take the stage for the concert - there will be singers, dancers, instrumentalists, hopefully a group number or two, and even possibly some literary readings. The performers range in age from teens and recent grads to "older adults," Lees said.
It's been mostly individuals who have signed up so far, just because of the time factor, and the fact that it's easier for one person to pull something together than a large group, Lees said.
"I believe every one of the performers has performed at some time in Sutherland Theatre," she added. "We'd like to see some musical numbers from the past times (at the theatre)."
They have asked them to perform something they have already done in Sutherland Theatre before, as well, Lees noted, though there may be some exceptions to that.
In addition to saying farewell, and providing the people of Humboldt with some homegrown entertainment, the evening is meant to raise funds for AH.
"In order to speak for the arts in the community, we need to have some money in our bank account," Lees said.
Anyone wishing to perform at the concert can contact Lees at HCI.
AH is also looking for photos taken of Sutherland Theatre.
