Doing music for 'Phantom of the Opera' (1925) tonight at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Mass. will be a bit of a homecoming for me, as it's the first silent film I tried accompanying in front of an audience.
Tonight's screening, by the way, starts at 7 p.m. at the Coolidge, a marvelous neighborhood theater at 290 Harvard St. in Brookline, Mass., close to the Green Line, with its trolleys clanging up and down Beacon Street.
Lots more details about the screening in the press release below.
My first 'Phantom' came about in the summer of 2006, when I noticed the schedule of a large theater in Manchester, N.H. was dark on Halloween Day that year.
I suggested something like a screening of the classic Lon Chaney version of 'Phantom,' with me possibly putting together a score for some kind of live music. To my surprise, the theater readily agreed!
Plenty of time to knock together some kind of score, right? But then July because August, which then turned into September. And then the next thing you know it's October, and then it's the week of the show, and I hadn't prepared a single cue.
So with the show a few days away, I realized I'd have no choice to wing it on my digital synthesizer, which I'd used to create the score for 'Dangerous Crosswinds' (2005), an independent feature-length drama made here in my home state of New Hampshire.
Hauling my synthesizer into the theater, I didn't know what to expect. But it only took about 10 minutes for me to realize: "Hey, this is great!"
For me, it was a revelation. I could sit down at a keyboard and come up with music that reflected what was happening on screen. Not just that, but music that could anticipate, enhance, and comment on the action—almost as if it was part of the movie itself.
Which, of course, it was, if only for that moment. Although there were tentative moments and some things didn't work out as expected, it all came out quite polished and left me wanting to do more.
Which takes us to tonight. Join me for the original silent screen adaptation of 'The Phantom of the Opera' (1925) with Lon Chaney in the title role. More info in the press release below.
* * *
MONDAY, OCT. 9, 2023 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com
'Phantom of the Opera' with live music at Coolidge Corner Theatre on Monday, Oct. 16
Just in time for Halloween: Pioneer classic silent horror flick starring Lon Chaney shown on the big screen with live music
BROOKLINE, Mass.—Get into the Halloween spirit with a timeless silent horror film!
'The
Phantom of the Opera' (1925), the silent big screen adaptation of the
classic thriller, will be shown with live music on Monday, Oct. 16 at 7
p.m. at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline, Mass.
The
screening will feature live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New
Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent
films.
Tickets $23 per person general admission; students $20.
The
show will allow audience members to experience the silent 'Phantom' the
way it was intended to be seen: on the big screen, with live music, and
with an audience.
'The Phantom of the Opera,' starring
legendary actor Lon Chaney in the title role, remains a landmark work of
the cinematic horror genre. To modern viewers, the passage of time has
made this unusual film seem even more strange and otherworldly.
It's
an atmosphere that silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis will enhance by
improvising live music on the spot for the screening.
"The
original 'Phantom' is a film that seems to get creepier as more time
passes," said Rapsis, who frequently accompanies films throughout the
nation. "It's a great way to celebrate Halloween, and also the power of
silent film to transport audiences to strange and unusual places."
'The
Phantom of the Opera,' adapted from a 19th century novel by French
author Gaston Leroux, featured Chaney as the deformed Phantom who haunts
the opera house. The Phantom, seen only in the shadows, causes murder
and mayhem in an attempt to force the opera's management to make the
woman he loves into a star.
The film is most famous for Lon
Chaney's intentionally horrific, self-applied make-up, which was kept a
studio secret until the film's premiere.
Chaney transformed his
face by painting his eye sockets black, creating a cadaverous skull-like
visage. He also pulled the tip of his nose up and pinned it in place
with wire, enlarged his nostrils with black paint, and put a set of
jagged false teeth into his mouth to complete the ghastly deformed look
of the Phantom.
Chaney's disfigured face is kept covered in the
film until the now-famous unmasking scene, which prompted gasps of
terror from the film's original audiences.
"No one had ever seen
anything like this before," Rapsis said. "Chaney, with his portrayal of
'The Phantom,' really pushed the boundaries of what movies could do."
Chaney,
known as the "Man of a Thousand Faces" due to his versatility with
make-up, also played Quasimodo in the silent 'Hunchback of Notre Dame'
(1923) and circus performer 'Alonzo the Armless' in Tod Browning's 'The
Unknown' (1927).
The large cast of 'Phantom of the Opera'
includes Mary Philbin as Christine Daaé, as the Phantom's love interest;
character actor Snitz Edwards; and many other stars of the silent
period.
'The Phantom of the Opera' proved so popular in its
original release and again in a 1930 reissue that it led Universal
Studios to launch a series of horror films, many of which are also
regarded as true classics of the genre, including 'Dracula' (1931),
'Frankenstein' (1931), and 'The Mummy' (1932).
The silent film
version of 'Phantom' also paved the way for numerous other adaptations
of the story, up to and including the wildly successful Andrew Lloyd
Webber musical from 1986 that continues to run on Broadway and in
productions around the world.
‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (1925)
will be shown on Monday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Coolidge Corner
Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline, Mass. Tickets $23; students $20.
For more information, call the box office at (617) 734-2501 or visit www.coolidge.org.
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