MIDDLEBURY — “It seems like we opened just yesterday,” says Town Hall Theater executive director Douglas Anderson. “It’s come as a shock to all of us that we’ve been at this for 5 years. I guess time passes when you’re having fun.”
Once it opened in the summer of 2008, Town Hall Theater quickly changed Middlebury’s cultural and social landscape. Not only has it provided a state-of-the-art home for the performing arts, but it has also become a center for a variety of community events, such as fundraisers for area nonprofits, weddings, conferences, meetings, book readings, classes and even the Middlebury Union High School junior prom. It’s a performing arts center but also a vibrant community center — something its creators envisioned all along.
“A town needs a big room,” says Anderson. “We try to put no limits on what can happen in this building.”? Big-name performers like Ed Asner and Judy Collins have played THT — as well as school children and local performers big and small.
To celebrate the 5-year landmark, THT is bringing back performers who brought down the house in productions since the building opened. On the bill are Kim Anderson (“Funny Girl”); the cast of “Annie”; Judith Dry (“Gypsy”); dancer/choreographer Patty Smith; bluegrass wonders The Connor Sisters; pianist Diana Fanning; the Hadippa Dancers; Nikki Juvan (“The Music Man”); Leigh Guptill (“Smokey Joe’s Café,” “Middlebury Does Soul”); the Maiden Vermont chorus; Chuck Miller and the house band; and many more. 
To meet the demand for tickets, the gala performance will be presented twice, at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 22.
Between the performances, part of Merchants Row will be roped off to create space for a street party, complete with food, music and a birthday cake. Those attending the 5 p.m. performance will exit the show directly into the street party. Those attending the 8 p.m. performance will come early (around 6:30 p.m.) to the street party and then move into the theater for the performance.
“The street party gives us all a chance to whoop it up a bit,” says Anderson. And there’s a lot to cheer. Seven Days recently wrote that “Addison County’s shire town is becoming one of Vermont’s premiere cultural destinations.” Town Hall Theater is a real grassroots success story, and the model for many other communities who are trying to restore and revive their historic theaters.
Tickets are $35, and include the show and food at the street dance.
Tickets are available at www.townhalltheater.org, (802) 382-9222, at the THT Box Office (noon-5 p.m., Monday-Saturday) or at the door, if available.