More music at Infinity, live performances and film in North Canaan

By Joseph Kelly

To run a small theater in a rural area, it helps to be optimistic—as in gung-ho, grit-your-teeth, “if we build it they will come” optimistic.

Just ask Lenore Mallett, an owner of North Canaan’s Colonial Theater. Or Tyler Grill, the CEO and co-founder of GoodWorks Entertainment, which owns Norfolk’s Infinity Hall.

Both are hoping that 2025 will be the year they crack the code for surviving and thriving in the post-pandemic entertainment landscape. At the Colonial, that means perfecting the right mix of live entertainment, sponsored films and author talks. At Infinity, it’s about getting more music on stage (this year there will be double the number of shows, said Grill), reopening the restaurant, and also fitting in with GoodWorks’ new role as a producer of summer music festivals.

The Right Mix at the Colonial
From the day it opened in 1923, the Colonial Theater was the beating heart of North Canaan’s Railroad Street, operating until the late 1990s, primarily as a movie palace. So, two years ago, when Mallet and her husband, Marc, joined with another couple, Stacey and David Fiorillo, to bring the theater back to life, movies seemed like the right direction. Wrong!

“When we first got started, everyone told us how much they looked forward to watching movies again,” said Mallett. “But when we started showing movies, almost no one came. We couldn’t cover the cost of the film, the projection and opening the building.”

Instead, the Colonial is becoming home to a mix of live entertainment and films, typically with a local tie-in. Ronnie Reed, a comedian with local roots, has played two sold-out shows. Last month the theater hosted what was billed as a Tariff Relief Appreciation Party. Organized by Ramar Productions, a Salisbury event management company, it was a family-friendly dance night serving nothing stronger than Harney teas.

Movies are still a big part of the entertainment menu at the Colonial but now tend toward the off-beat—Warren Miller movies about skiing and snowboarding have been a big hit—or have a tie-in (often ironic) to a local business suggested by Jim Palfinis of the Boondocks Film Society. The nearby retailer, Covered Bridge Electric Bike, sponsored a showing of the bicycling movie Breaking Away. And United Ag & Turf, North Canaan’s local John Deere dealership, underwrote the screening of David Lynch’s 1999 film, The Straight Story, in which the protagonist (played by the late Richard Farnsworth. who was nominated for an Academy Award) drives a John Deere 110 Lawn Tractor 240 miles from Iowa to Wisconsin to visit his ailing and estranged brother. 

The Colonial stage is also becoming a coveted venue for local authors. Saturday, May 10 will feature investment banker Scott Bok (one-time owner of Salisbury’s White Hart Inn) discussing his book “Surviving Wall Street: A Tale of Triumph, Tragedy, and Timing”  with Politico editor Peter Canellos.

Shows to Double at Infinity
In Norfolk, a sparse performance schedule and no restaurant in Infinity Hall have been a drag on the village center. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. When Grill and his GoodWorks co-founder, Dan Rosenfeld, bought the two Infinity Halls in Norfolk and Hartford in April 2019, they were looking to build on their 13-year track record of booking musical acts for the Fairfield Theater Company. Then Covid hit and, with business at a standstill, GoodWorks began to rethink its business plan. “We realized that having a company with so much fixed overhead was not a great idea,” said Grill.

After Covid, GoodWorks began to shift its attention to outdoor music festivals and over the last four years has taken over the Rhythm and Roots festival in Rhode Island, the free Hartford Live concerts that take place in the summer on the Old State House Lawn and the annual Capitol Groove festival in Hartford’s Bushnell Park. The latter is a five- year joint venture with the city in which a portion of the ticket sales fund Hartford’s Office of Arts Culture and Entertainment. This summer GoodWorks will also manage the Back Cove Music and Arts Festival in Portland, Maine.

While GoodWorks’ role as a festival promoter has blossomed, Grill said the company remains committed to its role as the owner of brick-and-mortar concert halls. “Both the Hartford and Norfolk venues are just as important as everything else we do,” said Grill. “Having these venues allows us to keep talking to agents about booking their talent all year long.”

Grill noted that the 2025 lineup for performances at Infinity Hall in Norfolk is double what it was last year—some sixty shows, with a few as yet-unannounced acts that Grill said will come as a surprise to fans. 

And GoodWorks wants to bring the restaurant back. Grill said the company is actively looking for an operator who could take over the restaurant and keep it running even on nights when there is no show.  ‘We want to find someone who is ready to take it on long term,” said Grill.