Paris in technicolor. Gershwin in full bloom.

Few films capture the exhilaration of art, romance, and postwar optimism quite like An American in Paris.

Winner of six Academy Awards — including Best Picture — this beloved MGM classic stars Gene Kelly as an aspiring American painter navigating love, ambition, and the intoxicating beauty of Paris after World War II. Featuring the unforgettable music of George and Ira Gershwin, the film glides effortlessly between Broadway spectacle, jazz-infused charm, ballet, and old Hollywood glamour.

And then comes the finale.

The film’s legendary seventeen-minute ballet sequence remains one of the most ambitious and visually stunning achievements in cinematic history — a dreamlike fusion of dance, painting, orchestral music, and color inspired by the great French Impressionists. More than seventy years later, it still feels transporting.

Presented as part of Emberlight’s Art on Film series, An American in Paris offers audiences the rare opportunity to experience one of Hollywood’s greatest movie musicals on the big screen — where every sweeping melody, dazzling costume, and Parisian street corner can fully come alive.

It’s also the perfect introduction for younger audiences discovering classic movie musicals for the very first time. With Emberlight’s free student ticket program for ages 20 and under, families can experience the joy, elegance, and cinematic magic of this timeless film together.

Elegant, joyful, and impossibly stylish, this is cinema at its most magical.

How America built its greatest opera house.

Fifty years ago on September 16, 1966, the Metropolitan Opera opened the doors to its new home at Lincoln Center. Met General Manager Rudolf Bing presided over the most anticipated date on the New York cultural calendar with the Met’s world premiere of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra. The great Leontyne Price commanded the stage and the city’s luminaries and powerbrokers mingled beneath multi-story murals painted for the new house by Marc Chagall. John D. Rockefeller III welcomed an illustrious audience that included First Lady Bird Johnson and her guests Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, leading statesmen, Vanderbilts, Whitneys and Astors. As the headline of the New York Times read the next morning, “New Metropolitan Opera House Opens in a Crescendo of Splendor.”

As early as 1908, the Metropolitan Opera began planning for a new home that would provide the company with a cutting-edge modern theater to compliment the golden era of singers appearing on its stage. The momentous opening of the Met at Lincoln Center nearly half a century later owed its success to a perfect storm of cultural and political forces. Robert Moses, the most powerful figure shaping the landscape of 20th century New York City, wanted the slums of the Upper West Side cleared as part of Title 1 urban renewal. Rockefeller envisioned the first modern American cultural campus and had the money to fund it. All that was needed was a lead institution to anchor the development and secure its success. Star architect Wallace K. Harrison, who cut his teeth on Rockefeller Center and oversaw the design of the UN, was tapped for the project. The Metropolitan Opera would finally have a new home.

This film takes a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of an opera house against the backdrop of the politicians, philanthropists, artists and institutions that collectively shaped the cultural life of New York City, including the people who were displaced from their homes to make room for the new center. Their intersection would lead to the transformation of a neighborhood and the building of one of the crown jewels of the city’s cultural institutions.

The film draws on the rich archival resources of the city of New York, Lincoln Center, news organizations and private libraries for footage of the planning and construction of the new Met. The film also looks to cultural programming of the day such as the Bell Telephone Hour network special “Countdown to Curtain” which documented the planning and production of the Met’s historic opening night.

Key interviews for the film include renowned singers who participated in the inaugural season at the Met, including legendary soprano Price, as well as key Met staff members, cultural leaders, and historians, writers and critics from the arts, politics and architecture.

Superheroes are born in times of crisis.

Emberlight Festival proudly launches a new collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera with a special HD encore presentation of Mason Bates and Gene Scheer’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay — one of the Met’s most ambitious, visually spectacular, and widely celebrated new operas in recent years.

Based on Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, the opera follows two young Jewish cousins — refugee artist Joe Kavalier and Brooklyn writer Sam Clay — as they create an anti-fascist comic-book superhero on the eve of World War II. As Nazi occupation tightens across Europe, their fictional hero becomes both an act of artistic resistance and a desperate attempt to awaken America to the growing catastrophe overseas.

Blending soaring lyricism, cinematic orchestration, electronic soundscapes, and comic-book fantasy, composer Mason Bates’ electrifying score moves seamlessly between war-torn Prague, bustling 1940s New York, and the dazzling imagined world of superheroes and escapism. Director Bartlett Sher’s production transforms the Metropolitan Opera stage into a living graphic novel through massive projections, towering sets, and breathtaking visual effects created by 59 Studio.

Conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the production stars baritone Andrzej Filończyk as Joe Kavalier and tenor Miles Mykkanen as Sam Clay.

COMPLIMENTARY PRESHOW COCKTAIL HOUR

Before the HD broadcast, audiences are invited to a special happy hour and behind-the-scenes conversation hosted by Miles Mykkanen, who appears in the production as Sam Clay. Beginning at 6:00 pm, Miles will share stories from inside the creation of the opera, discuss the challenges and excitement of bringing a world-premiere work to the Met stage, and answer audience questions before the broadcast begins at 7:00 pm.

Opening Night of the Emberlight International Film Festival

EIFF26 opens with an evening of imagination, humor, and visual storytelling as Laughs & Animations kicks off the festival in signature Emberlight style. This crowd-pleasing program celebrates the artistry of animation in all its forms — from playful and inventive shorts to bold works pushing the boundaries of the medium.

Official film selections will be announced in July 2026. Until then, audiences can reserve their seats for Opening Night and join us as the Emberlight International Film Festival begins five unforgettable nights of global cinema, creativity, and community at The Ember Club.

Pianist, conductor, and music director Adam Rothenberg brings a deeply personal and genre-crossing evening to Emberlight in a recital where music, poetry, and storytelling meet.

In Poets & Arborists, Rothenberg shapes an immersive program inspired by poetry, nature, memory, and reflection. Solo piano works and original compositions unfold alongside spoken texts heard throughout the performance, weaving recorded poetry into the musical landscape while Rothenberg himself guides the audience through the evening from the stage. Moving fluidly between performance and conversation, the recital embraces the intimacy of a cabaret alongside the depth of the concert hall.



Known for his work across Broadway, opera, and the international concert stage, Rothenberg brings a uniquely modern voice to the recital tradition — one that blurs boundaries between genres and invites audiences into a shared artistic experience. Thoughtful, intimate, and quietly adventurous, Poets & Arborists offers an evening of music-making that feels immediate, personal, and alive.

International Voices on the Big Screen



The Emberlight International Film Festival continues with a featured presentation showcasing standout international filmmaking and powerful cinematic storytelling. Each year, EIFF brings acclaimed independent films and emerging voices from around the world to The Ember Club, offering audiences the rare opportunity to experience festival-quality cinema in an intimate Northwoods setting.

Official film selections will be announced in July 2026. Secure your seats now and be part of an evening devoted to bold storytelling, unforgettable performances, and the shared experience of cinema at its finest.

Discover Something Unexpected

Our second weekend of screenings continues with a featured presentation showcasing standout international filmmaking and powerful cinematic storytelling. Each year, EIFF brings acclaimed independent films and emerging voices from around the world to The Ember Club, offering audiences the rare opportunity to experience festival-quality cinema in an intimate Northwoods setting.

Official film selections will be announced in July 2026. Secure your seats now and be part of an evening devoted to bold storytelling, unforgettable performances, and the shared experience of cinema at its finest.

Featuring Live Music by The Broadway Strings

One of EIFF’s most dynamic evenings, the August 20 screening blends international cinema with live performance as members of The Broadway Strings join the festival for an evening where music and film share the spotlight. Throughout the night, the quartet interweaves live music between selected films, creating a cinematic experience that unfolds both onscreen and onstage.

Official film selections will be announced in July 2026. Until then, audiences can reserve their seats for a uniquely festive night at The Ember Club — where bold filmmaking, live artistry, and Emberlight’s signature atmosphere come together for an experience found nowhere else in the region.

Closing Night of the Emberlight International Film Festival & The Emby Awards

EIFF26 concludes with an evening celebrating the filmmakers, stories, and creative voices that have shaped this year’s festival. The night features a final screening of outstanding international cinema alongside the presentation of The Embys, honoring exceptional achievement across this year’s official selections.

Both a celebration and a final cinematic experience, Closing Night brings audiences together at The Ember Club for one last evening of discovery, recognition, and shared storytelling as the festival comes to a close.

Official film selections and award nominees will be announced in July 2026. Join us as we celebrate another unforgettable year of global cinema in true Emberlight fashion.

One Night Only — A Triumphant Homecoming at the Historic Ironwood Theatre

The 2026 Emberlight Festival culminates with a landmark evening as internationally acclaimed tenor Miles Mykkanen returns to headline a spectacular final night at the Historic Ironwood Theatre — marking both his long-awaited Emberlight return and the festival’s homecoming to one of the Northwoods’ most iconic stages.

Joined by pianist and music director Adam Rothenberg and the celebrated musicians of The Broadway Strings, Something Wonderful is a sweeping celebration of song across genres, generations, and traditions. The program moves seamlessly across centuries of music — from the emotional sweep of grand opera to the intimacy of art song, from the golden age of Broadway to the timeless elegance of the American Songbook and beyond. Lush lyricism, virtuosic showpieces, beloved standards, and theatrical showstoppers unfold alongside moments of unexpected stillness and reflection, revealing the extraordinary breadth of musical storytelling that has become Mykkanen’s artistic signature.

Following performances on many of the world’s leading stages — including opening the Metropolitan Opera’s 25/26 season — Mykkanen returns home at a defining moment in his international career. Blending dramatic intensity, comedic charm, and soaring vocal power, Something Wonderful transforms the concert experience into something both grand and deeply personal: an artist sharing the music that shaped him with the community that started the journey.

More than a finale, this evening marks a new chapter for Emberlight as the festival returns to the Historic Ironwood Theatre and continues expanding its artistic vision — creating space for ambitious large-scale performances and unforgettable shared experiences in the heart of the Northwoods.