Tonight! Live scoring for 'Dracula' (1931) at the Jane Pickens Theatre, Newport, R.I.

Bela Lugosi plays the title role in 'Dracula' (1931).

 

Live scoring—it's not just for silents anymore!

And that's what I'll be doing tonight in Newport, R.I., where the early talkie version of 'Dracula' (1931) starring Bela Lugosi will fly onto the screen at 7:30 p.m.

More info about the show and venue are in the press release below.

In the past few years, I've done a few live scores for early talkies: 'Dracula' and also 'Frankenstein' (1931) starring Boris Karloff. 

It's possible to do this because in the first few years of synchronized soundtracks, some studios didn't bother with recorded music.

Partly it  was function of economics: no music = no cost. 

 

I think it was also due to uncertainty on the part of some filmmakers and studios of how sound should be used: for dialogue, yes, of course. But background music?

Unless you could SEE the musicians on screen, where was it supposed to be coming from?

 

It was one of those things that took awhile to sort out—similar to the foreign language issue.

 

Now that films talked, what about different languages? 

 

For a time, studios made several versions of films, with the players repeating all dialogue in different tongues, with a pronunciation coach on set when needed and sometimes significant differences in supporting players, story, and so on.

 

Thus we have a German language version of Buster Keaton's early MGM talkie 'Free and Easy' (1930), with the formerly silent comic spouting dialogue in Deutsch.

Which brings us to the Spanish language version of 'Dracula,' filmed concurrently on the same sets with the English version but with a different director as well as a different actor, Carlos Villarius, in the title role!

Well, tonight in Newport, the language will be heavily accented English, with music from me. Details below!

*    *    *

 

An original release poster for Bela Lugosi as 'Dracula' (1931).

MONDAY, OCT. 21, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Halloween special: Lugosi's 'Dracula' on big screen with new live score

Horror classic to be shown at the Jane Pickens Theatre on Tuesday, Oct. 29 for one screening only

NEWPORT, R.I. — Do you dare prepare for Halloween by braving 'Dracula' on the big screen?

That's the question at the Jane Pickens Theatre, 49 Touro St. in Newport, where the classic 1931 version of 'Dracula' will run for one showing only on Tuesday, Oct. 29.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Admission is $17 per person. Tickets available online at https://janepickens.com or at the door.

The screening will feature live music by Jeff Rapsis, the Jane Pickens Theatre's silent film accompanist.

Although 'Dracula' is a talking picture, it was released with virtually no musical score, a common practice during the transition period from silent to sound pictures.

Rapsis will perform original music live during the screening using a digital keyboard to recreate the texture of a full orchestra.

Directed by Tod Browning, 'Dracula' was a sensational box office success and has mesmerized movie audiences ever since with its eerie visuals and Lugosi's iconic performance.

The story opens in far-off Transylvania, where mysterious Count Dracula hypnotizes a British soldier, Renfield (Dwight Frye), into becoming his mindless slave.

Welcome to Transylvania!

Dracula then travels to England and takes up residence in an old castle. Soon the Count begins to wreak havoc, sucking the blood of young women and turning them into vampires.

When he sets his sights on Mina (Helen Chandler), the daughter of a prominent doctor, vampire-hunter Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) is enlisted to put a stop to Dracula's never-ending bloodlust.

The Halloween screening of 'Dracula' will include live music by Jeff Rapsis, a composer and performer who specializes in creating accompaniment for silent films.  

'Dracula' was released when Hollywood and movie theatres were still undergoing the transition from the silent era to pictures with synchronized sound and dialogue.

During the silent era, studios did not produce official scores for most films. Instead, accompaniment was left up to local musicians, and could vary greatly from one moviehouse to another.

When studios converted to talking pictures, the tradition of recording a musical score was not well established. In the case of 'Dracula,' Universal omitted music in part to save production costs.

As a result, after the opening credits, the 1931 'Dracula' contains no music except for a brief scene in an opera house.

In recent decades, composers have experimented with creating original music for the movie—most notably Philip Glass, who composed a score in 1998 for the Kronos string quartet.

Another spooky spectacular from director Tod Browning.

Rapsis sees 'Dracula' as closely linked to the silent-era tradition of films shown with live music.

"Tod Browning was a prolific director of silent films, including many thrillers that anticipate 'Dracula,' " Rapsis said. "So even though 'Dracula' is a talking picture, Browning's filmmaking style is strongly rooted in the silent era, when it was assumed that local musicians would be important collaborators in a picture's effect on an audience."

Unlike the Glass score, which plays almost continuously during the movie, Rapsis will use music only in certain places where he feels it will either enhance the mood, heighten tension, or signify a change in the emotional line of the story.

"Although 'Dracula' is not a silent film, there are definitely places where the silence speaks volumes and remains very effective," Rapsis said. "I hope to leave those intact, but enrich other parts of the film in the way that only music can."

Rapsis works largely by improvising as a film plays in the theater, in the tradition of theatre organists of the 1920s.

"There's something very special about the in-the-moment energy of a live improvised performance," Rapsis said. "It's never the same, and at its best it really can help a film connect with an audience and make the whole experience come together."

The original 'Dracula' (1931) starring Bela Lugosi will be shown with live music for one screening only on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Jane Pickens Theatre Film and Event Center, 49 Touro St., Newport, R.I. Admission is $17 per person. Tickets available online at https://janepickens.com or at the door. For more information, call the box office at (401) 846-5474.