Live Organ Music Returning To Oriental Theatre
Historic pipe organ installed, with unveiling planned for Nov. 8.
Wurlitzer organ at Oriental Theatre. Image from Milwaukee Film.
Milwaukee Film‘s $10 million campaign to restore the Oriental Theatre is reaching a key point.
On Nov. 8, the organization will unveil a new Wurlitzer organ. Although “new” isn’t quite accurate. The organ was actually constructed in 1925.
A red carpet fundraiser, “Coming Home Again: A 1925 Wurlitzer Pipe Organ’s Grand Debut”, will mark the occasion. Silent comedy Safety Last, a 1923 film starring Harold Lloyd, will be accompanied by a live score played by acclaimed organist Ron Rhode. Tickets to the event start at $200.
“When considering how best to celebrate and unveil the newly installed Wurlitzer at the Oriental Theatre we wanted to honor the overlapping histories of cinema and the theatre organ,” said organization artistic director Cara Ogburn in a statement. “So Lloyd’s classic, always a crowd-pleaser and celebrating a major anniversary this year, was an easy, natural and perhaps obvious choice. We are thrilled to be working with the Harold Lloyd Estate to present this film in such a reverent way with Ron Rhode’s masterful performance of the Wurlitzer as exactly the right coda to conclude this phase of our historic restoration work at the Oriental Theatre!”
The theater, 2230 N. Farwell Ave., lost its previous organ, a 1931 Kimball, because the nonprofit group that owned it had it removed and transferred to a new owner prior to Milwaukee Film acquiring the lease for the theater in 2018. It was originally from the Warner Grand Theatre was since redeveloped by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra into the Bradley Symphony Center. The Kimball organ was installed in the Oriental in 1991 and for years organists delighted Milwaukee Film members in advance of special screenings. The theater’s original organ was removed in 1959.
The latest organ is being provided by pipe organ restoration specialist Jeff Weiler, president of JL Weiler, Inc. From the thousands that were produced, it is believed to be one of approximately a dozen Wurlitzer organs that remain in an unaltered state. It was originally installed at the Paramount Theater in Atlanta, where it remained until the 1950s. It was originally expected to be available at the Oriental by the end of 2020.
“I can’t tell you how delighted we are that the installation process of our own Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ has reached its final phase, and is ready to be unveiled to the public,” said board chair Susan Mikulay in a statement. “Milwaukee Film has always been a champion of cinematic history and culture, and the addition of this instrument to our majestic Oriental Theatre reflects its historic and significant importance.”
The theater opened in 1927. Since taking over the theater in 2018, Milwaukee Film has replaced the projection equipment and seats in the 1,080-seat main theater and both of the two 220-seat side theaters. Additional bathrooms were installed and the concessions infrastructure was overhauled in earlier phases of the renovation.
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