Ben discusses how busy Halloween is for silent film accompanists (another Phantom of the Opera screening!)
Ben and Kerr discuss Silent Movie Day, September 29 and Ben tells of his encounters with theater ghosts, or maybe even a poltergeist!
Music excerpt: Her Sister from Paris with Constance Talmadge for the Silent Clowns Film Series (Discussion of the SCFS moving to the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space). Ben discusses how Constance Talmadge’s work is unfairly neglected.
Ben discusses the differences in playing with church-style pipe organs to accompany films:
Narrower range of sound generally
Different locations and names for stops and settings
Long reverb environments which make fast passages difficult
Pipes are closer to the audience than in a theater organ
Getting used to the individual personality of the instrument
Music excerpt: Phantom of the Opera at The Angel Nyack, Nyack, NY
Ben talks about playing the unmasking scene “My Way” – that is, a moment without music at the moment of the unmasking – Listen to the audience response
Ben describes a similar moment in the German film Variety
