The Pittsfield Community Theatre is set to host a fundraiser comedy show Saturday night organized by Mary Winchenbach, better known as the “Moose Turd Lady,” as a way to keep the theater up and running.
Winchenbach posted a promotional video to Tirdy Works’ Facebook page, in which she said the show would feature her and her funniest friends.
“The Pittsfield Theatre is about to be closed down, so we’re going to be throwing a big variety show,” Winchenbach said. “We’re going to save the theater. Come on down and show your support.”
All proceeds will be donated to the theater to help save the theater, according to Winchenbach.
Jamie Jensen, who manages the theater and who saw her first movie there in 1982, said the event should be a great way to bring in business.
“Myself and the theater staff are delighted that this is taking place,” Jensen said. “Bringing live shows could be the start to bringing this theater back to life.”
Winchenbach said she wanted to host an event for the theater after she performed there last year.
“That theater is a historic place and it has all kinds of character,” Winchenbach said Thursday. “And yes, it has some repairs that need to be made, but it’s nothing that isn’t doable. So I thought, ‘Jeez, why don’t we pack the house and maybe turn that place around?'”
Mary Winchenbach works in her kitchen on 2018, where she makes her moose turd art. Winchenbach will head up a team of comedians Saturday at a show to raise money for the Pittsfield Community Theatre.
Winchenbach of Somerville rose to prominence in September 2018 when a video of her selling trinkets she crafted out of moose poop at the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity went viral on Facebook, being viewed more than 3 million times.
Winchenbach and her wife, Deb Nicholls, run Tirdy Works, a business that creates “fun pun products” out of moose poop they forage from their property.
Tirdy Works was recently picked up as the topic of a new reality television show that will air on TruTv. Saturday’s show will be filmed as part of the series.
The show — called the “That Ain’t Right Comedy Tour” — features Winchenbach as the headliner, with performances by Richard Byrne, the warm-up comedian for “The Dr. Oz Show,” and comedians Melissa Diaz and Brendan Donegan.
Mary Winchenbach holds her “poo poo clock” in October 2018. Winchenbach will head up a team of comedians Saturday at a show to raise money for the Pittsfield Community Theatre.
Emceeing the show is Emma Wilmann, a Maine native who made her televised stand-up debut on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in 2018, and has a recurring role as Beth on the CW’s show “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”
The show will include performances from musical group Big D and The Ticks.
General admission is $10 and VIP seating in rows one to three is $20. Attendees must be 18 or older.
The show is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the theater at 137 Main St. in Pittsfield.
The theater, owned by the town of Pittsfield since 1977, has faced financial uncertainty over the past couple of years. The Town Council shaved off $45,000 from its $145,366 projected budget in January 2019.
The theater committee presented a reduced budget of $96,320 at a council meeting in October. The committee also announced it was planning to pursue a plan to separate the theater from town and have it become a nonprofit organization.
The theater’s future looked grim in December when the Town Council spent two hours at the annual budget meeting debating whether to cut the theater’s operations budget completely and allocate only $12,295 to maintain the building.
Councilors decided to give the theater a lesser amount of funding for one more year to allow the committee time to become a registered nonprofit, known as a 501(c)(3).
The council is providing the $12,295 for building maintenance and $60,811 from taxpayers to cover the gap between revenue and expenses.
Event schedules and movie times can be found on the theater’s website — www.pittsfieldtheatre.wixsite.com/pittsfieldtheatre.
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