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Famous Players Orchestra
presents:

“The Golden Age of Silent Comedy”
Saturday, June 10th, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.

Join us Saturday, June 10th, 2017 as we present “The Golden Age of Silent Comedy”, a screening of four classic comedies from the silent era.

To start the evening off, Mr. Stan Taffel and Mr. Scott Lasky will take you through the process of how the orchestra is used to make the films on the screen come alive musically.

For the first time ever there will be sound effects to go with the films. Mr. Gary Gibson is the sound effects man.

Included on the program will be:

Why Pick on Me? (1918) starring Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels and Snub Pollard
Pay Day (1922) starring Charles Chaplin
A Pair of Tights (1929) starring Marion Byron, Anita Garvin and Edgar Kennedy
The Show (1922) starring Larry Semon and Oliver Hardy

The films will be accompanied by a period musical score performed live by The Famous Players Orchestra under the direction of Scott Lasky. Mr.  Lasky has created original scores using period music. He has spent many, many days researching and compiling/creating period scores for each of the four films to be screened.

Your Master of Ceremonies will be film historian Mr. Stan Taffel.

Joe Rinaudo will project 35mm film on an original hand-cranked Power’s 1909 Cameragragh Model 6 Motion Picture Machine, assisted by Mr. Gary Gibson. 

Mr. Shane Glander will be providing the screen. Mr. Gary Lacher will be on hand to video document the evening.

Showtime is 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:45pm. Program will include a 30 minute intermission and raffle with prizes. Concessions will be available.

Admission is $15 (suggested donation). Tickets may be purchased at the door beginning approximately one hour before showtime, or in advance online here:

The venue is: Christ Lutheran Church, 2400 West Burbank Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505. It is located on the southeast corner of Burbank Blvd and Buena Vista St, directly behind the Dunn Edwards paint store, and right in the heart of beautiful downtown Burbank.

Thank you to everyone for attending our past shows and for your continued support! It is so greatly appreciated!

ABOUT FAMOUS PLAYERS ORCHESTRA

In the final decades of the silent film era (1910 -1929), a new and original art form was burgeoning. During this period, a vast and beautiful repertoire of film music was being created by gifted composers who saw a great future in the new medium. Movie theaters of the day commonly utilized orchestras to provide film accompaniment for their premium showings. These theaters typically housed massive libraries of this music, (known at the time as “photoplay” music) for use as film accompaniment. However, the advent of “talkies” in 1929, preceded by the Movietone and Vitaphone systems, would eventually bring the demise of live film accompaniment. Thus, as movie theaters converted over to sound, these music libraries became obsolete almost overnight and most of the music was discarded in the process. And since photoplay music was rarely recorded, and the composers mostly unknown, this important chapter in cinema history was swept away into obscurity and has remained practically forgotten.

Famous Players Orchestra is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose charitable mission is dedicated to reviving and preserving this charming and long forgotten music through live performances and new recording projects. For its repertoire, Famous Players Orchestra draws upon the original orchestrations used by silent era movie theater orchestras in its live presentations and recordings. The ensemble is comprised of professional musicians based in the Los Angeles area.

Your support is appreciated! Your generous contributions help us to continue our work in reviving and preserving this musical treasure from cinema’s past. Donations are easily accepted using paypal. Thank you!

Visit the FAMOUS PLAYERS ORCHESTRA Website