Tag Archives: Wurlitzer Organ

2020 Mighty Wurlitzer Organ concerts to be held virtually

Entertainment, ,

By Kate Kocienski
Grand Rapids Public Museum

The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) announced today that the 2020 Mighty Wurlitzer Organ Concert series will be offered virtually, and will kick off on Friday, Oct. 16, with a spooky Halloween themed concert by Dennis Scott to the 1922 silent film, Nosferatu. 

Dennis Scott (Supplied/Grand Rapids Public Museum)

Virtual organ concerts will be brought into the homes of ticket holders, with a fantastic screen presentation highlighting Dennis Scott playing the 1928 Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Organ, with various views including an up-close view of playing the keys, along with the film to coincide with the music. 

Dennis Scott is an internationally known silent film organist, who began accompanying silent films in the 1970s when he began playing theatre pipe organs in pizza parlors in the midwest and on the west coast. His style has been compared to his legendary mentor, the late John Muri, who recorded numerous silent film scores for Blackhawk Films. Suzanne Lloyd, granddaughter of the comic genius Harold Lloyd, dubbed Dennis the “Master of Magic Notes.”

Scott’s expertise in playing alongside silent films will add drama and excitement into F. W. Murnau’s eerie, gothic landmark vampire film, Nosferatu. Beginning in the Carpathian Mountains, real estate agent Hutter arrived to close a sale with the reclusive Herr Orlok. Despite the feverish warnings of the local peasants, Hutter journeys to Orlok’s sinister castle, and soon discovers that Orlok is no ordinary mortal.

The Halloween themed Mighty Wurlitzer Organ Concert will be live streamed from the GRPM’s Meijer Theater and will be available to watch via a Zoom link. Tickets are $5 per member, $10 for the public. Special group rates available. Only one ticket link needed per household or group.  Tickets are available by visiting www.grpm.org/Organ or by calling 616-929-1700.

Additional Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Organ Concerts – Virtual!

The second concert of the series will feature Brett Valliant, playing classic hits including Ding Dong Ding, Dream Lover, Bye Bye and more on Friday, November 20 at 7 p.m. 

The third and final artist in the 2020 series will be Lance Luce performing a collection of seasonal favorites in a holiday classics concert on Friday, December 18 at 7 p.m. 

Special Halloween-themed organ concerts at the GRPM Oct. 19 & 20

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, Upcoming Events, , , ,

By Jeremy Witt, West Michigan Tourist Association

 

The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) is hosting Halloween-themed Mighty Wurlitzer Organ Concerts with the silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligarion Friday, Oct. 19 and Saturday, Oct. 20.

 

Internationally known silent film organist, Dennis Scott, will be playing the GRPM’s 1928 Mighty Wurlitzer Organ accompanied to the silent film, for a thrilling, family friendly event.

 

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920 German thriller silent film. The plot twists when a group of friends visit the carnival and watch showman Dr. Caligari who uses hypnotism to control to his victims. When Dr. Caligari brings hypnotized Cesare out of a sarcophagus, Cesare predicts Alan will be dead by morning. When this predication comes true, Francis and Jane are left to find out answers. Considered one of the first chilling silent films, it has been praised by modern film critics and historians alike.

 

Dennis Scott first began accompanying silent films in the 1970s, when he started playing theatre pipe organs installed in pizza parlors in the Midwest and on the West Coast where he would accompany a couple of “two-reel” comedies every evening. His style has been compared to that of his legendary mentor, the late John Muri, who recorded numerous silent film scores for Blackhawk Films.

 

Suzanne Lloyd, granddaughter of the comic genius Harold Lloyd, dubbed Dennis the “Master of Magic Notes.” Scott is the house organist at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre, playing weekend intermissions, the annual Sing-Along Sound of Music, the annual Music Box Christmas Sing-Along, as well as several themed film festivals and special events.

 

Shows are being held at 7pm on Friday, Oct. 19 and at 2pm on Saturday, Oct. 20 in the Meijer Theater at the GRPM.

 

Tickets for individual concerts are $8 for Museum member adults, $4 for Museum member children, $10 for non-member adults and $5 for non-member children. Tickets are available by visiting the website here or by calling 616.929.1700.

 

The second concert of the series will feature Brett Valliant playing classic “pizza parlor” organ music including Maple Leaf Rag, In the Mood, Phantom of the Opera andRock Around the Clock on Friday, Nov. 16 at 7pm and Saturday, Nov. 17 at 2pm.

 

The third and final concert of the series will feature Lance Luce performing holiday songs, which includes favorites such as White Christmas, Silver Bells, and Let it Snow, on Friday, Dec. 21 at 7pm and Saturday, Dec. 22 at 2pm.

 

The Mighty Wurlitzer Organ

The Wurlitzer Company of North Tonawanda, New York, manufactured and shipped Opus #1836, a “3 manual special”, to the Stanley Theater of Jersey City, New Jersey, on Feb. 9, 1928. The Mighty Wurlitzer Organ spent two decades entertaining customers at the Roaring 20’s Pizza Parlor on 28th Street in Grand Rapids, before it was moved to its current location at the Grand Rapids Public Museum.