Silent Films of the World War I Era @ Midway Village Museum

“Professor Sprocket’s Traveling Nickelodeon Band” presents Silent films of the WWI era.

Midway Village Museum will host the Rockford Wind Ensemble and its conductor Mark Rose for a program of 1910s and 1920s silent films accompanied by live music.

In the early years of cinema, films were produced without a soundtrack. Local theaters provided their own musicians to score the showing of each film.

Rockford’s Orpheum Theater used a pianist, while a few years later the Coronado Theater had an in-house orchestra. Rarely was the musical score provided by the distributor of the film. Local musicians brought their own ideas of how to express the emotions of the action through their musical accompaniment.

Most modern movie goers have never experienced silent movies in this format.

For this program, Mark Rose will arrange 1920s music to match the action of the two films to be shown- “The Bellboy” by Fatty Arbuckle and “The Haunted House” by Buster Keaton. Fifteen local musicians will take part in the ensemble under Rose’s direction.

The event will run about 90 minutes. The films are family-friendly and will be shown in the Museum Center Lakeview Rooms.

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Rockford Area Arts Council which receives support from the City of Rockford, the Illinois Arts Council Agency and its members.

To reserve tickets, please visit midwayvillage.com and click the Book Online Now button.

Questions? Call 815-397-9112.

Rates

Adult (13+) $10
Child (5-12) $6
Museum Member FREE
Adult Registered Re-enactor $6
Child Registered Re-enactor $4

Members please call for reservations or check in when you arrive for the event.