Silent Movie Day Mini-Festival

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Classic Silent Films with Live Organ Accompaniment! 

Celebrate National Silent Movie Day at the United Palace with a special mini-festival of silent films, accompanied by live music on an electronic organ. Your ticket purchase supports the restoration of our historic Wonder Morton Organ, with a special demonstration planned as part of the event.

 

Event Details

 

Featured Films

- Laurel and Hardy’ "The Battle of the Century” (19 min.)  

- Charlie Chaplin’s "The Adventurer” (24 min.)  

- Buster Keaton’s "Sherlock Jr.” (45 min.)

 

Special Organ Demonstration

In partnership with the New York Theatre Organ Society (NYTOS), we’ll present a rare demonstration of the United Palace’s 1930 Wonder Morton Organ—the first sound it’s made in decades!

 

Date: September 29, 2024  

Time: 6:00 PM – 8:45 PM (includes a 15-minute intermission)  

Location: United Palace, Washington Heights, NY

 

Get Involved – Fun for a Cause!

 

Pie Throwing for Charity  

In honor of "The Battle of the Century," which features what many consider the greatest pie-throwing spectacle ever committed to celluloid, participate in our pie-throwing mayhem on stage! For just $10, you can throw a pie at a friend or enter a raffle to pie a local celebrity. All proceeds go toward restoring the Wonder Organ.

 

Ticket Pricing:

- General Admission: $25  

- 18 and Under: $12  

- Pie Throwing: $10 per throw  

- Raffle Entry to Pie a Celebrity: $20  

 

Come for the Movies, Stay for the Pie!

 

Buy your tickets today and help restore the Wonder Morton Organ to its full glory!

 

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Special Thanks

And a special thank you to our sponsor for this event, Dutch Baby Bakery, located at 187^th St. near Ft. Washington Ave., providing exceptional food and hospitality to our community since 2017!

 

Special Guest

Organ accompaniment will be performed by Ian Fraser. He is the first-place winner of the American Theatre Organ Society’s Young Theatre Organist Competition which was held at the 2023 Chicago Convention. When he was 16, after seeing a silent film accompanied by Bernie Anderson at Chaminade High School in Mineola, NY in 2017, he had the opportunity to sit at the console and play the theatre organ for the first time. Leveraging his ability to play by ear, Ian taught himself in just a few short years to play the theatre organ. He has performed at John Dickinson High School (DE), Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall (NJ), the Loew’s Jersey Theatre (NJ), the Union County Performing Arts Center (NJ), Babson College (MA), and The Grand Theater (PA) among others. Now residing in Plainfield, NJ, Ian is the house organist at the Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee, NJ performing pre-shows before film screenings and accompanying silent films. He is also the house organist at the St. George Theatre in Staten Island, NY performing pre-shows for their “Better on the Big Screen” classic movie series and “Arts-In-Education” series where he plays for audiences of over 1,500 students in grades K-12 exposing the theatre organ to the next generation.