live for one night onlyFriday, october 5, 2018 - 7:30 pmgeneral admission - $20 Tickets are available now through EventBrite and will also be available for purchase at the Town Clerk's Office, 35 Central St. or StonehamBank, 80 Montvale Ave., Stoneham after Sept. 1.
LIVE -- Acclaimed theater organist CLARK WILSON will play a live organ music and sound effects for the 1925 Silent Movie Classic PHANTOM OF THE OPERA starring Lon Chaney. Join us for an amazing night at the movies with this showing of Gaston Leroux’s tale of mayhem at the Paris Opera House - considered one of the greatest horror movies of all time. [Not suitable for children under 12] |
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about the artist |
about the "mighty wurlitzer" |
Clark Wilson is among the most prominent and recognized scorers of silent photoplays in America today. He is a master in creating musical accompaniments as they were performed picture palaces during the heyday of the silent film. Mr. Wilson, also a much-sought-after reed voicer and tonal finisher, worked to bring Stoneham's Wurlitzer organ to its original specifications and magnificent sound.
Clark Wilson has been Resident Organist at a number of theatres, recorded seven albums, and authored a number of articles on organs. A featured artist for thousands of performances across the country, he has also taught at Indiana University and the University of Oklahoma. |
The 90-year-old Wurlitzer theatre organ in Stoneham Town Hall has almost 1,000 pipes plus numerous percussions, including drums, cymbals, xylophone, castanets, car horn and a doorbell.
Of the over 10,000 theatre pipe organs ever built, less than 500 still exist. The Mighty Wurlitzer is considered by organists to be one of the best sounding in the country. It was built out of two other organs for the WNAC Radio in Boston in 1930. When they sold it in 1941, local business owner Ralph Patch purchased it for the Town of Stoneham's new Town Hall. It is on the National Register of Historic Instruments, and has recently undergone a major restoration. |
The silent movie eraWhen the film industry started, all films were silent. Action was interspersed with dialogue slides, while an organist, pianist or occasionally a small orchestra, accompanied the presentation. Some used sheet music provided by the film’s creators while others improvised their own music. Silent films were created and shown in the mid-1890s and through the late 1920s. As talkies and audio enhanced movies became more prominent in the 1930s, studios cleared their film files of silent movie reels to make way for the new standard, leaving only a handful of examples.
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about the movie“Phantom” was one of few “silents” which survived the purge. Directed by Robert Julian, Phantom of the Opera (1925) is considered to be one of the greatest horror films of all time. Starring the incomparable Lon Chaney as the phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, a ghastly figure who wreaks mayhem and murder in the pursuit of love. It was adapted from Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel of the same name and also featured Mary Philbin and Norman Kerry.
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Locationparkingmap.jpgStoneham Town Hall Auditorium
35 Central Street Stoneham, MA Performance in the Stoneham Town Hall Auditorium. General Admission. Doors open at 6:45 pm. [Note: Handicap Accessible entrance from Emerson Street Parking lot and Town Hall Side Door, not Central St.]. In addition to the parking lots around Town Hall, you may also park for this performance at St. Patrick's Church (parking lot entrance from Pleasant St). See Map |
presented by the stoneham historical commission
With the Stoneham Community Development Corporation (CDC)
Thanks to Generous Support from: StonehamBank, MELD and the Stoneham Organ Society
Thanks to Generous Support from: StonehamBank, MELD and the Stoneham Organ Society
about the renovationThe Mighty Wurlitzer has just undergone a decade-long restoration, largely funded by ATOS (American Theatre Organ Society, EMCATOS (Eastern Mass Chapter), and the Stoneham Organ Society. The renovation was a labor of love for brothers John Phipps and Don Phipps and Stoneham Town Organist Bruce Netten.
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ATOS/EMCATOSFound in 1955, While the organization originally focused on the preservation of pipe organs, it has expanded to include performances and information on electronic instruments. The Eastern Mass Chapter was the first local chapter of what was then called ATOE - and their "home" organ was Stoneham's Mighty Wurlitzer.
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Contact Us
- We reserve the right to ask disruptive audience members to leave.
- No flash photography or recording devices are allowed.
- Please turn off or slience all electronic devices prior to entering the auditorium.
- No alcoholic beverages allowed on the property. Smoke-free environment.