Admission is free. The State Theater is located at 19 S. Fountain Ave. in Springfield.
Dietlein, who has been a professional working actress since the 1980s, brought “Saint Nick of Bethlehem” to the State a year ago when it was new, one of around 30 theaters in the country showing it. The response was so positive she was moved to get with State management to revisit the magic this year.
“People really, really loved it. This year we’ve gotten a new distributor and can show it more places, so we’re really excited to be bringing it back to Springfield especially,” she said.
The film was inspired by a man named Nick from Bethlehem, Pa. who lost his son, but finds his way back through the holiday spirit, Santa and reuniting with a former love interest, appropriately named Mary, played by Dietlein. Daniel Roebuck, who Dietlein has worked with and been friends with for many years, stars as Nick and co-directed and co-produced.
Seeing audiences enjoy the film has been part of the joy for Dietlein. She met a single mom who was sobbing during the film, shared her feelings with Dietlein, who helped the woman’s daughter in where to start with her ambitions of working in the film industry.
“People have been very moved by it,” she said. “It’s an amazing feeling if you can share the spotlight. It has a message we need in the world today about love, loss and learning.”
Dietlein got a similar response from a previous film with Roebuck, “Getting Grace,” she brought to Springfield in 2018. That depicted a spunky young lady with terminal cancer whose spirit lifted others despite her circumstances and some audience members were thankful for showing the reality they could connect with.
She looks forward to seeing many of her North classmates and friends and those who weren’t able to make the “Saint Nick of Bethlehem” debut last year.
“Saint Nick of Bethlehem” is rated PG and appropriate for most audiences.
“The Fitzgerald Family Christmas” was released in 2012, is rated PG-13 and for a more mature audience.
That film, directed by and starring Ed Burns, is about a family of seven siblings reuniting with the father who walked out on them 20 years prior and is now ill. Dietlein, who plays one of the siblings, said it’s about family dynamics yet still a lovely movie and a chance to see another side of her acting talent.
One of Dietlein’s wishes for the new year is the chance to show more of her work, hopefully here. “The Hail Mary” is another film Roebuck wrote, directed and stars in and will be released in the winter of 2026 and has Dietlein playing a nun.
Another project shot this past summer, “Medora: Empress of the Badlands,” is scheduled for a spring release. This western drama is about the founding of a Dakota territory town in 1883 and Dietlein will play real-life figure Margaret Roberts.
“It should be a yearly thing,” Dietlein said. “It’s nice to have the support of the State Theater, too. It’s a great venue.”
The State Theater will have free Monday movie nights with a holiday animated classic and live action movie classic at 7 p.m. the following dates: Dec. 8, “Frosty the Snowman” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”; Dec. 15, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Elf”; and Dec. 22, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “Home Alone.” For more information, go to springfieldstatetheater.com.
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