Museum grants visitors a night of entertainment

SEBRING - He may have been a bishop and she his queen, but they and other household members and those in their community became pawns in the hands of a messenger sent from the King to place their problems in check.

So too is the fate of those who put themselves in the hands of the Sebring Historical Society for an evening of entertainment centered on their holiday showing of the classic "The Bishop's Wife" through Wednesday at the Strand Theatre Museum on 15th Street.

"Sometimes angels must rush in where fools fear to tread," the angel Dudley (Cary Grant) says in the 1947 Samuel Goldwyn romantic comedy also starring David Niven as Henry, the bishop, and Loretta Young as Julia, his wife.

There is nothing foolish about the fearless manner in which the Historical Society members rush in to provide a full menu of entertainment for guests at their annual holiday fund-raiser. No detail is overlooked as the theatre-turned-museum is decorated for the film screening.

In addition to the traditional movie popcorn, candy and soft drinks for munching during the big-screen showing, guests are greeted with a sign-in table complete with replicas of the goblets and feather tree seen in the film.

Around the perimeter, museum displays have been rearranged and enhanced to reflect scenes from the film: Trees and a park bench complete with snowballs from a snowball battle scene, a replica of a child's bed adorned with an angel on one post, a much-admired lady's hat atop an armoire, streetlamps decorated for the holidays including two which were among the first in Sebring, the skating pond and bridge where some of the more delightful scenes took place, a stained-glass cathedral-style "window" and perhaps the piece de resistance, a life-size cutout of Cary Grant himself, complete with winter scarf as worn in the film.

New showcases, purchased with last year's revenue, display Christmas dinnerware designed by the Schreckengost family, noted pottery designers and artists from Sebring, including a new donation by Dan and Vickie Williams of Wellsville.

Other displays provide an overview of the history of Sebring and showcase much of the pottery produced there.

Prior to the showing, guests are treated with an hors d'ouevre buffet, and a cookie table and beverages are available.

Tables, surrounded by new chairs also purchased with last year's profits, are decorated with tree candy dishes and stocking favors, all representing movie lines or scenes. The stockings were crocheted by Gladys Wilhem, Ruth Shenk and Robin Parry.

For the movie, the audience may remain at their tables or adjourn to theatre seating.

Once the reel rolls, the audience learns that the problem for the bishop's wife is that he is married to his job and his dream of building a great cathedral. He no longer is her shining knight and fails to see that home is his castle. That is until Dudley, through a series of interventions begins to reveal to many of the characters just where they have gone off track. Henry begins to worry that Dudley's next move is going to be on his wife and reacts accordingly.

In a final sermon, ghostwritten by Dudley, the bishop encourages the congregation to do their part to fill the empty stocking of the Christ Child with loving kindness, warm hearts and the stretched-out hand of tolerance -all the shining gifts that make peace on earth. After all, the world's problems could be alleviated if people only would behave like human beings, a line in the movie stated earlier.

The problem is, Sylvester the cab driver (played by James Gleason) says, "Too many people don't know where they're going and want to get there too fast."

Those in the know in the Sebring area glide to the museum for a holiday treat that's far from the workaday world that can overburden with perceived responsibilities as the bishop and those around him learned. It is a chance for entertainment and to give back to the community, in benefiting the historical society and the Salvation Army whose red kettle is available for those moved to donate.

Younger viewers may be more familiar with the 1996 film remake, "The Preacher's Wife," but the Sebring museum is known for offering the classics.

After all, as Professor Wutheridge (played by Monty Woolley) says, "It's a good time of year for looking backward."

tstaley@mojonews.com