‘Can’t Stop the Serenity’ charity screening will draw ‘Firefly’ fans to Elizabeth
“Firefly” has been off the air for more than 20 years now, but that hasn’t stopped its most die-hard supporters from celebrating that show’s creative accomplishments while also harnessing its cult classic status to raise money for good causes.
In 2006, fans of the seminal space western that ran on Fox for a single season in 2002 launched “Can’t Stop the Serenity,” an initiative in which groups of “Firefly” enthusiasts organized altruistically inclined screenings of the 2005 “Firefly” film adaptation “Serenity” on a worldwide scale.
Seventeen years later, “Can’t Stop the Serenity” events have occurred in 124 cities and raised more than $1.3 million for multiple charities, according to the official CSTS website.
Pittsburgh is the only city in the world that has held a live “Can’t Stop the Serenity” screening every year since 2006, according to CSTS Pittsburgh event coordinator Chris Tobias. This year’s festivities are set for Aug. 19 at the Grand Theatre in Elizabeth and mark the fundraiser’s return to an indoor setting following three years of
COVID-necessitated outdoor screenings. Tickets are $10 via jumpcuttheater.org.
Doors open at 6 p.m., which will give local “Firefly” fans a chance to mingle, play games and win prizes before everyone sits down to watch “Serenity” at 7:30 p.m. Tobias said that 100% of the event’s proceeds will be split evenly between the Boys & Girl Clubs of Western Pennsylvania and the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
“Seeing ‘Serenity’ on the big screen is something really special,” Tobias, 52, of Upper St. Clair, told the Post-Gazette. “There are a lot of people who never saw ‘Serenity’ in a theater. Seeing it in a
theater is a really neat experience.”
“Firefly” follows the spacecraft Serenity’s crew as they traverse the galaxy and get tangled up in various misadventures. The series’ main figures include Capt. Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), pilot Hoban “Wash” Washburne (Alan Tudyk), second-incommand Zoe Washburne (Gina Torres), mercenary Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin), “companion” Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin), mechanic Kaylee Frye (Jewel Staite) and psychic wunderkind River Tam (Summer Glau).
Tobias’ first exposure to “Firefly” was going to see “Serenity” with his brother during the film’s original theatrical run. He exited that cineplex “as a fan of science fiction” and with a newfound respect for “how complex and layered the stories were” in “Serenity.” Syfy’s decision to begin regularly airing “Firefly” reruns in the early 2010s got Tobias rehooked on the “Firefly”verse and made him realize, “I have to find people who love this as much as I do.”
In Pennsylvania, that would be the PA Browncoats, who plan “Firefly”-related social gatherings throughout the Keystone State. The Pittsburgh PA Browncoats chapter that has been putting on CSTS Pittsburgh screenings everywhere from the Hollywood Theater in Dormont to the Parkway Theater & Film Lounge in Stowe since 2006 is known as the Rivers & Bridges Brigade. These days, Tobias works as a high
school teacher while also captaining the Rivers & Bridges Brigade.
A recent stream of on-set abuse allegations levied against “Firefly” creator Joss Whedon by some of his closest collaborators over his decades-spanning career hasn’t spoiled the enthusiasm that Tobias and fellow Rivers & Bridges Brigade crew member Brian Diederich share for his creations. Tobias acknowledged that it’s “very disappointing to know that someone you admired so much was behaving like that” but believes “the work still stands for what it is.”
“I still love everything
that I loved before about the show and movie,” added Diederich, 35, of Fayette City. “That’s not saying that, [if there was a reboot] should Joss be involved in it? Probably not. ... But that doesn’t mean that anything that’s been created has any less value.”
Diederich also discovered “Firefly” after it initially aired and mostly checked it out due to his preexisting admiration for the work of Staite stemming from her time on the Syfy series “Stargate Atlantis.” He was drawn in by the show’s writing and appreciated that though its core characters were mostly outlaws and
criminals, “there’s still this feeling of a moral code and family.”
Planning for CSTS Pittsburgh hit a snag in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Diederich enlisted Brookline gaming center Looking for Group and coding bootcamp Academy Pittsburgh for both their technical expertise and equipment, which allowed the event to continue the last three years. He recalled folks traveling all the way from New York and Florida to attend their outdoor “Can’t Stop the Serenity” screenings.
A lot of the extracurricular activities surrounding CSTS Pittsburgh had to be sacrificed during those COVID-19
years. This year, Elizabeth’s Grand Theatre will host everything from the screening to drawings where attendees can win a bevy of “Firefly ”themed prizes to carnival-style games like “Zoe’s Shooting Gallery” that allow players to earn points by shooting nerf bullets at targets adorned with “Firefly” villains.
“It’s a great event to come out and see a bunch of people being passionate about something,” Diederich said. “If you’ve never seen [‘Serenity’] before, the movie stands on its own. You’re going to see a great movie in a great theater ... and experience that culture and that
fandom.”
Tobias would love to see a ton of “Firefly” devotees and novices alike at CSTS Pittsburgh so they can all experience “a really good movie that’s probably less than the price of a ticket to ‘Barbie’ or ‘Oppenheimer.’” He’s just honored to still be captaining this ship that brings so many people together and benefits so many local charities.
“For me,” Tobias said, “it’s akin to Christmas every year.”