New England’s newest performing arts center, The Park Theatre in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, is producing a live online panel discussion program before this year’s Oscar® awards program (April 25, ABC Network). The ticketed panel discussion program, Oscar® Talk!, will be presented live on Thursday, April 22, at 7pm with on-demand repeats available later.

The program will be hosted by Academy Award® winner Ernest Thompson (Best-Adapted Screenplay, On Golden Pond). Scheduled panelists include Estelle Parsons (Oscar® for Best Supporting actress, Bonnie & Clyde), Russell Williams II (Oscar® for Achievement in Sound, Glory, and Dances with Wolves), Keene State College Film Studies professor emeritus & filmmaker Larry Benaquist and Peg Aloi, film & TV critic and member of the Boston Society of Film Critics.

The panel will discuss this year’s Oscar® nominees (and films that did not make the cut), the Oscar® telecast, f Oscar® history, film industry issues, Covid-19’s effect on the industry, and more. In addition to discussion and interviews, movie clips will be shown. The audience will also be able to ask questions of the panelists.

Individual tickets for the April 22 LIVE event are $10, and group tickets are $15. They can be purchased by going to theparktheatre.org, by calling (603) 532-8888, or by visiting the theatre box office at 19 Main Street, Jaffrey, NH. The live event will be taped and available on-demand online two days after the original telecast.

“We are delighted to have Ernest Thompson host this special fundraising live event for us. Ernest has been a long-time supporter of The Park Theatre. Being an Oscar® winner himself and a writer/director/actor, he is uniquely qualified to lead this panel discussion. We have a stellar panel of Oscar®winners/nominees and film experts. It should be a highly entertaining and informative event,” said Steve Jackson, CEO and Managing Director of The Park Theatre.

The event can be watched on a smartphone, tablet, or cast to your large screen TV via Apple Airplay or Chromecast.

About The Park Theatre

The Park Theatre first opened in Jaffrey in 1922 and was the center of community life as a movie and vaudeville house for 54 years until it closed in 1976. Purchased by The Park Theatre in 2006, it is being rebuilt as a state-of-the-art film and performing arts center, featuring two auditoriums seating 450, presenting movies, live theatre, including children’s productions, concerts, and lectures as well as offering a place for business and community gatherings for the Monadnock Region and its 100,000 residents, school districts and dynamic artistic community. The new theatre complex began construction in January 2019 and completed in 2020.