Overture's Duck Soup Cinema Features TEN NIGHTS IN A BAR ROOM

Overture's Duck Soup Cinema silent film series, nationally known for providing an authentic silent film experience in the historic Capitol Theater, wraps up its 2022/23 season with “Ten Nights in a Bar Room” on Saturday, June 3. Shows begin at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and include vaudeville entertainment with an emcee, door prizes and classic feature film with live organ accompaniment by a skilled organist who mirrors the actors' emotions, just as it was done in 1928. Tickets ($9 for adults, $3 for ages 12 and under) are available at overture.org.

Jelani Eddington will accompany the film on the Grand Barton Organ. Joe Thompson will return to emcee the series, complete with vaudeville acts, including a performance by The House Inc. (see description below) and prizes.

 

In “Ten Nights in a Bar Room,” a 1926 melodrama, a man is swindled out of his mill business and turns to drink. After losing his daughter who is hit in the head by a glass during a bar brawl, he is reborn and runs for mayor a couple years later. Based on the popular temperance poem by Timothy Shay Arthur, this rarely-seen version was performed by an African-American cast and features an especially compelling performance by Charles Gilpin. It is the only surviving film produced by the Colored Players Film Corporation of Philadelphia and was mastered from 35mm film elements preserved by the George Eastman House. Starring Charles Gilpin and Myra Burwell.

An example of a “race film” made for and by Black audiences of the time, these performances will feature special events for ticket holders, including a pre-show virtual workshop with Dr. James Spinks (Department of Afro American Research, Arts and Culture's Archive) exploring Early Afro-American Cinema. Additionally, Dr. Allyson Nadia Field (University of Chicago) will join the performances as a special guest and lead post-performance talkbacks.

The Grant Barton Organ is one of only a few historic theater organs still in its original home and one of three unaltered Barton Organs still in existence. It has been delighting audience members in Capitol Theater since 1928.

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