Orpheum Holds Advance Screening Of Holiday Film With Local Ties

On Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. The Chatham Orpheum Theater will host an advance screening of “Merry Good Enough,” a holiday comedy/drama filmed entirely in Massachusetts, with a local connection. The film will be released nationally on Dec. 19.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with cast and crew members, including writer/co-director Caroline Keene and stars Raye Levine Spielberg (Lucy), Comfort Clinton (Cynthia), Sawyer Spielberg (Sam) and Daniel Desmaris (Tim). Come in early to enjoy a pre-show reception in the Orpheum lobby.

Lucy has a complicated relationship with her dysfunctional family, but when her mother disappears on Christmas Eve, she must bring her family back together whether she knows it or not.

Keene, who hails from Marion, wrote and co-directed the film, which also stars Joel Murray of “Mad Men.” She described “Merry Good Enough” as a warm-hearted holiday dark comedy about a dysfunctional Massachusetts family, in the vein of “Home For the Holidays.” The film was shot entirely in New England last December.

“When I wrote it, I imagined the film being set in Massachusetts. So I feel lucky that we were able to shoot the film in Massachusetts,” Keene said. “We filmed all over Lynn, Peabody,, the North Shore and in Wayland. The home of the parents of one of our crew members became the central base of the film, which was wonderful, because as a real house, it doesn’t feel like a set.”

Comfort Clinton, who portrays Cynthia in the film, has been a regular visitor to Chatham for the past 25 years, when she first began visiting the Chatham Bars Inn as a child with her family during the summers. Clinton’s parents have lived in Orleans since 2006. She feels a special connection with the town of Chatham, making regular trips for visits to the lighthouse, Emack & Bolio’s, and the Chatham Orpheum.

“The Orpheum means so much to Comfort,” Keene said. “It feels special to have this advance screening, and to share with a Cape audience and a cape audience.”

Tickets are now available for the advance screening of “Merry Good Enough” at the Chatham Orpheum Theater at chathamorpheum.org/upcoming-events.