Paragon Ragtime Orchestra brings the sounds of yesteryear to State Theatre
The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra will be accompanying the classic silent film "Safety Last" at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Uniontown.
The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra will be at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Uniontown Friday.
Rick Benjamin conducting the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra.
A broken jaw is never anyone无毛视频檚 idea of a good time, but it turned out to be a serendipitous event for Rick Benjamin.
It happened in the mid-1980s, when Benjamin was a student at Juilliard. He had been immersed in classical music, studying piano and playing tuba, but the wired jaw meant that he had to put the wind instruments down for a while. He无毛视频檇 long been fascinated with turn-of-the-20th-century music, and while researching a school project he found out that thousands of orchestra scores from those days were languishing in a New Jersey warehouse and earmarked for a landfill.
All told, there were 22,000 different pieces and 900 scores for silent films. And, from that, the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra was born.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 been quite wild,无毛视频� Benjamin explained on the phone from Lewisburg, where he now lives, where the orchestra is based and where all those scores are now housed. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檝e been my own boss for a long time. I无毛视频檝e been able to pay all the bills by being a concert performer and recording artist, and not many people can say that.无毛视频�
In the 35 years since the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra bowed at Alice Tully Hall at New York无毛视频檚 Lincoln Center, it has logged appearances at the Smithsonian Institution, the American Dance Festival, New York无毛视频檚 92nd Street Y and scores of other venues. It has also released several albums, including sets that focus on works by legendary composers like Scott Joplin, Irving Berlin and George M. Cohan. On Friday, the orchestra will be playing at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Uniontown as part of a four-date tour of historic theaters in Pennsylvania that also includes stops in Canton, Philipsburg and Lewisburg.
At the State Theatre, the ensemble will be accompanying two silent films: 无毛视频淎 Weak-End Driver,无毛视频� a short slapstick comedy from 1922; and 无毛视频淪afety Last,无毛视频� the classic Harold Lloyd knee-slapper that is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The presentation will be 无毛视频渓ike you would have heard it in the heyday of these venues,无毛视频� Benjamin explained.
无毛视频淭he program is presented as it would have been in that theater in the 1920s,无毛视频� he added. 无毛视频淭he structure really is what you would have experienced in a movie palace like that.无毛视频�
Live music accompanied silent films a century ago, whether it came from whole orchestras in high-end, metropolitan theaters, or with a single piano player in more humble settings. And it was not an easy task then and is still not today. There are 46 musical cues in 无毛视频淪afety Last,无毛视频� 无毛视频渟o it无毛视频檚 really complex,无毛视频� Benjamin said.
无毛视频淪ynchronization is key and it无毛视频檚 not easily obtained,无毛视频� he explained. 无毛视频淵ou have to really know what you are doing.无毛视频�
The 57-year-old Benjamin grew up in New Jersey and was immersed in ragtime and old-time music while his Generation X classmates were soaking up Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls and everything else that poured out of MTV. His interest in the music was first piqued when he came across an old Victrola in his grandmother无毛视频檚 garage.
无毛视频淚 didn无毛视频檛 really get into the popular culture or sports or anything else,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淐ultural things involving the early 20th century were always interesting to me for some reason.无毛视频�
Tickets and information are available at statetheatre.info, or by calling 724-439-1360.