Submitted by Friends of Opus 327
Friends of Opus 327 will once again host the screening of a motion picture made before Hollywood learned to talk. Taking place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 939 Hinman Ave. The event will feature the 53-minute silent film, The Kid, about Chaplin’s iconic Tramp character caring for an abandoned child. The film will be accompanied by Jay Warren, Chicago’s foremost photoplay organist, playing on St. Luke’s century-old E.M. Skinner Opus 327 pipe organ.
Written, produced, directed by and starring Chaplin, The Kid went on to become the second-highest-grossing film in 1921. As Chaplin’s first full-length film, it cemented him as a revolutionary force in the then-new medium. After its release, the Chicago Herald and Examiner newspaper declared that The Kid “settles once and for all the question as to who is the greatest theatrical artist in the world.” In 2011, The Kid was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Warren is a regularly featured photoplay organist for the Silent Film Society of Chicago, and has accompanied most of the great silent films throughout his 40-year career. He has been featured annually for the society’s highly regarded Silent Summer Film Festival since its inception in 2000. He has performed film accompaniment on the E.M. Skinner pipe organ at the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, the Letourneau pipe organ in the Crimi Auditorium of Aurora University, and the five-manual Wurlitzer located at the Sanfilippo Foundation’s Place de la Musique in Barrington, Illinois.
The Ernest M. Skinner Opus 327 pipe organ at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is one of a very few close-to-original Skinner organs left in the United States, a rare surviving example of Skinner’s artistic and engineering genius. Friends of Opus 327 is a non-profit organization founded in 2013 dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and appreciation of the Opus 327 pipe organ housed at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. The organization raises funds, produces concerts and events and offers educational programs which highlight the cultural importance of this living artistic masterpiece.
“The E.M. Skinner Opus 327 pipe organ is a hidden treasure in Evanston,” says Peggy Newton, executive director of Friends of Opus 327. “With this event, members of the community have a unique opportunity to experience the grandeur of this magnificent instrument in a lighthearted, family-friendly setting.”
This event is a fundraiser for the Opus 327 Centennial Fund. Tickets purchased in advance are $25 for adults; children 18 and under are free. Tickets at the door are $30.
Tickets are available at https://bit.ly/opus327thekid