Duck Soup Cinema Introduces New Season, New Series' Curator

Overture Center once again reclaims the silent film heritage of the Capitol Theater with its silent film series, Duck Soup Cinema, with the first show—"Nosferatu"—on Saturday, Oct. 14. Nationally known for providing an authentic silent film experience, the film screenings include local vaudeville entertainment with an emcee, door prizes and a classic feature film. A skilled organist plays live organ accompaniment on Overture's original Grand Barton Organ, mirroring the actors' emotions, just as it was done in 1928.

This season's series is curated by James Kreul, who is thrilled to continue the tradition of Duck Soup Cinema to keep silent film history alive in Madison. Kreul has worked in film programming for more than 25 years, serving as the first programming assistant for the UW-Cinematheque 1998 and a programmer for the inaugural Wisconsin Film Festival in 1999. He has a Ph.D. in film history, focusing on distribution and exhibition of experimental films. Kreul has contributed reviews and film related articles to Isthmus since 2000. Since 2018, he has programmed Mills Folly Microcinema, a monthly experimental film series at Arts + Literature Laboratory, and MMoCA Cinema screenings at Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

Jelani Eddington and Clark Wilson are the featured organists, and Joe Thompson returns as emcee.

Tickets ($9 for adults, $3 for ages 12 and under) go on sale Friday, Sept. 8 at 11 a.m. at overture.org. Join the Duck Soup Cinema Club by purchasing a package ($24), which includes tickets to all three Duck Soup Cinema shows, priority seating and email newsletters with fun facts about each title.

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