Sherman, the northernmost town in Fairfield County, has two centennials to mark this December. The Sherman Players are finishing their 100th year of performances in the Sherman Playhouse with a holiday production, An American Christmas Carol, from December 3 to 20. Two days after it opens, the Sherman Library celebrates its own 100 years with its annual Winter Gala on Saturday, December 5.

A church that became a theater

The Playhouse building is older than either centennial. According to the Sherman Players' history, it was built in 1837 as a church from timber cut in the adjoining forest, and over the decades it served Union, Methodist, Episcopal and Congregational congregations. By 1872 its membership had fallen to 13. The unsafe steeple was later removed, and the town took over the building, which served for a time as a distribution point for books before the library existed. In 1902 the program for Sherman's own centennial was held on its steps.

The theater came from one family. Alice and Walter Evans, who summered in Sherman before moving there permanently, wanted a place for their daughter Marianne, a drama and dance student, to perform. After a stretch of plays in a boathouse on Mauweehoo Lake, Walter Evans paid for materials and the family, with friends and neighbors, turned the empty building on the knoll into a theater. Alice Evans staged its first Christmas pageant on a cold night with two wood stoves for heat. The Players count their 100 years from 1926, when A Marriage of Convenience was staged there, and The Sherman Players were incorporated in 1949.

The centennial season's last show

A century later, the Players run five main stage productions a year along with staged readings, a near-monthly series of new-work readings called Cold Lemonade, short-play workshops and the occasional karaoke night. An American Christmas Carol closes the centennial season. The cast has been announced and tickets are on sale through the Players' website.

Tickets are general admission. Main stage plays are $26 ($13 for students with a school ID) and musicals are $30 ($15 for students), with no added handling fees. The Thursday before each main stage opening is a half-price preview, first come, first served. Groups of 10 or more get 10 percent off. The box office is at 860-354-3622 or sphboxoffice@gmail.com, and calls are returned within two to three days since the Players are a volunteer organization.

Season 101 is already set

The Players announced their 2027 season at their centennial gala in October. It opens with Molière's The Miser, followed by Skyscraper by David Auburn, the author of Proof; Twelve Installations, a new work by Gray Horan, a graduate of the Cold Lemonade program; Night of the Living Dead! The Musical!, timed for October; and Miracle on 34th Street: A Live Musical Radio Play for the holidays. Season tickets go on sale January 1, 2027, and the Players currently list a season subscription at $126 for a year of main stage shows.

The library's centennial gala

The Sherman Library's Winter Gala and fundraiser, titled Crystal Luxe, runs from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, December 5, at the library at 1 Sherman Center. The evening includes cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, live music and a silent auction, which the library has filled for the centennial with travel, estate and vintage goods, New York City outings and local experiences, among them a Candlewood Lake sunset cruise and a scenic flight. A selection of auction items can be previewed online before the night.

Early bird tickets are $150 through Saturday, November 14, and $175 after that. Tickets are limited and sales end November 30. They are sold at the library and online at shermanlibrary.org/gala2026, and the library's executive director, Ashleigh Blake, can be reached at 860-354-2455.

Getting there

The Sherman Playhouse is at 5 Route 39 North in Sherman, and the Sherman Library is at 1 Sherman Center. The library is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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