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The Mighty Wurlitzer
Apr. 15th, 2023 12:07 pmLast night, Sis convinced Mom to go out to the Lucas Theater -- not named for the Star Wars guy -- because their Wurlitzer Organ had been restored and put back in the theater.
This is key for a reason: Wurlitzer 1180 was built for the Lucas back in 1925. With the advent of talkies, it got sold off and ended up in pieces in a barn which then caught fire. Sometime in either the late 1970s or early 1980s, it was found and preserved from being put in a landfill. Sometime later SCAD acquired the theater and restored it. Later still, they were approached about whether they would like to restore the organ, too. They leapt at the chance.
Now, I have some problems with the Lucas restoration. Even though the entire restoration happened after the American with Disabilities Act, SCAD chose historic authenticity over accommodation. There is no wheelchair area, for instance. The only access to the upper floor is by stairs.
On the other hand, the aesthetics are gorgeous.
The organ is important as some old theaters have been restored; some have even acquired Wurlitzers to replace the one that the theater had in the early part of the 20th century. The Lucas was able to get the original Wurlitzer assigned to it, number 1180, fully restored and back to the theater.
The SCAD team put on a fine performance to set the stage before the organ was featured. Once the organ was pulled into place, Ken Double played a selection of songs. There was a 9 minute silent film created by the SCAD film department which Mr. Double accompanied, using some of the sound effects possible on the organ, and then there was another short performance by him including getting the whole audience to sing Moon River (music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by local boy, Johnny Mercer and my first time realizing that the Savannah River is the Moon River of the song. *sigh*).
The whole performance lasted just over an hour, the perfect length for an 89 year old who always wanted to play the Wurlitzer organ at the local theater.
Mr. Double looked a great deal like Mark Russell, the political satirist, who I had only just found out died 2 weeks ago.
Have a YouTube video of one of Mr. Russell's performances in the mid 1980s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HInlDF537Zg
This is key for a reason: Wurlitzer 1180 was built for the Lucas back in 1925. With the advent of talkies, it got sold off and ended up in pieces in a barn which then caught fire. Sometime in either the late 1970s or early 1980s, it was found and preserved from being put in a landfill. Sometime later SCAD acquired the theater and restored it. Later still, they were approached about whether they would like to restore the organ, too. They leapt at the chance.
Now, I have some problems with the Lucas restoration. Even though the entire restoration happened after the American with Disabilities Act, SCAD chose historic authenticity over accommodation. There is no wheelchair area, for instance. The only access to the upper floor is by stairs.
On the other hand, the aesthetics are gorgeous.
The organ is important as some old theaters have been restored; some have even acquired Wurlitzers to replace the one that the theater had in the early part of the 20th century. The Lucas was able to get the original Wurlitzer assigned to it, number 1180, fully restored and back to the theater.
The SCAD team put on a fine performance to set the stage before the organ was featured. Once the organ was pulled into place, Ken Double played a selection of songs. There was a 9 minute silent film created by the SCAD film department which Mr. Double accompanied, using some of the sound effects possible on the organ, and then there was another short performance by him including getting the whole audience to sing Moon River (music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by local boy, Johnny Mercer and my first time realizing that the Savannah River is the Moon River of the song. *sigh*).
The whole performance lasted just over an hour, the perfect length for an 89 year old who always wanted to play the Wurlitzer organ at the local theater.
Mr. Double looked a great deal like Mark Russell, the political satirist, who I had only just found out died 2 weeks ago.
Have a YouTube video of one of Mr. Russell's performances in the mid 1980s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HInlDF537Zg
