Silent movie screening of the original phantom of the opera at Irvine auditorium on the 29th of October 2019 at 7PM. The movie will be accompanied by an organist, Peter Krasinski, and he will be improvising as he watches the movie. This event is not to be missed, and it is super cool and free! There will be refreshments/ snacks, free entry, and a fantastic performance. So, please come through, and bring your friends/ family along! See you there :)  
 

Phantom of the Opera Information

Halloween Silent Film Spectacular: Screening of The Phantom of the Opera (1925) accompanied by Peter Krasinski on the magnificent Curtis Organ.  Tuesday, October 29th at 7:00pm, Irvine Auditorium at the University of Pennsylvania.  

The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney, Sr. in the title role of the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt tomake the woman he "loves" a star. The film remains most famous for Chaney's ghastly, self-devised make-up, which was kept a studio secret until the film's premiere. The film was released on November 25, 1925.

The picture also features Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland, John St. Polis, and Snitz Edwards. The last surviving cast member was Carla Laemmle (1909–2014), niece of producer Carl Laemmle, who played the role of "prima ballerina" in the film when she was about 15.

Organist Peter Krasinski is a conductor, organist, and music educator whose imaginative performances elevate and inform diverse audiences. He is quickly becoming recognized as the world’s most exciting, accomplished and elegant accompanist of silent film. Well respected in both the secular and sacred genres of his field, he has taught the enchantment of music to both public and private institutions in the greater Boston area for over twenty years. The press has hailed his Bach playing as "sublimely spiritual", and his improvisations have been critically acclaimed as "stunning", "seamless", and “brilliant”.

The Curtis Organ, Austin Organs, Opus 1416, was built for the 1926 United States Sesquicentennial Celebration in Philadelphia.    Afterward, Opus 1416 was purchased by publisher Cyrus Curtis, donated to the University of Pennsylvania, and installed in the newly-built Irvine Auditorium in 1928-29.    It has since been known as the Cyrus H. K. Curtis Organ.

The Curtis Organ is one of the largest pipe organs in the world: 4 Manuals, 162 Ranks, and 10,731 pipes (the largest being 36 feet tall!), with Universal & Unit Electro-pneumatic action.   The Curtis Organ has been an important part of the academic and musical life of the University of Pennsylvania.  The pipes, actions, and windchests were restored in 2002 by Austin Organs, Inc., of Hartford, Connecticut, the original builders of the Curtis Organ.  Additionally, a new console, also by Austin Organs, Inc., was donated by Penn alumnus William Brown (WhG, ’55).