Just a couple of shows left in 2023 as the year draws to a close.
Today (Sunday, Dec. 10) it's Mary Pickford and Buddy Rogers in 'My Best Girl' (1927), which I'll accompany at 4 p.m. at the Natick Center for the Arts, 14 Summer St., Natick, Mass.
More about the film and the screening are in the press release pasted in below.
After that, the only show left is Harold Lloyd's comedy 'Why Worry?' (1923), which I'm accompanying on Wednesday, Dec. 13 at the Coolidge Theatre in Brookline, Mass.
And that's it.
I'll be back at it in 2024, but at a reduced pace.
For 15 years, I've pushed myself to be a better accompanist in the only way I know how—by doing it a lot.
By a lot, I mean an average of 120 shows per year, or about two or three each week. That's more than 1,000 shows in the past decade, even factoring in the pandemic, which slowed things down for a time.
It's been a rewarding experience. Through all this time spent in darkened theaters, playing music that's largely improvised on the spot, I think I've developed a musical vocabulary that otherwise wouldn't have emerged, I think. That's important to me.
Plus, it's just been fun.
But it's also been a lot of work. Most of these screenings have come about by my own efforts—of reaching out, convincing venue managers to take a chance on something different, and then working hard to help build an audience.
That takes time and effort. And then there's travel time. Some venues I work regularly are a three-hour drive one way. Add that in, and you've got a minimum 10-hour commitment for certain gigs.
So it adds up. Not that I've minded. Keeping a busy schedule is part of my identity—if anyone remarks on my crowded calendar, I usually say something like I'm "the Jake LaMotta of silent film accompaniment—I just keep on coming."
Well, in the coming year, I plan focus more exclusively on my work as executive director of the Aviation Museum of N.H., a non-profit organization that I've had the privilege of leading for the past five years.
The museum has come a long way in the past five years. We now boast a robust youth education effort that includes a high school student plane-building program, a successful aviation summer camp, and more.
But there's a long way to go, and I've just agreed to a five-year commitment to continue the work.
I'll still do film music—in fact, one of my upcoming gigs is at the Aviation Museum, where I'll accompany 'The Flying Ace' (1926) in February for Black History Month.
But I'd also like to take my hard-won musical vocabulary and see what I can do with it in terms of music that gets written down.
So some of my musical energies will go into composing, rather than improvising. I'm creating a piece for a concert of works by New Hampshire composers at the Manchester (N.H.) Community Music School, and I hope other works will follow.
I expect there will be some crossover work related to my film accompaniment efforts.
For example, for the silent version of 'Peter Pan' (1924), which I've accompanied probably two dozen times, I've developed a suite of material that I think would lend itself to some kind of orchestral suite in the manner of the tone poems of Richard Strauss, say.
We'll see. But in real terms, it means that going forward I'll have to be more selective in my performing gigs as I take time to start writing stuff down.
Okay, here's more info about 'My Best Girl,' which I'll accompany this afternoon down in Natick, Mass. Hope to see you there!
* * *
MONDAY, NOV. 20, 2023 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com
Mary Pickford's 'My Best Girl' with live music at Natick Center for Arts on Sunday, Dec. 10
Sparkling romantic comedy showcases talents of movie industry pioneer known as 'America's Sweetheart'
NATICK,
Mass.— She was known as 'America's Sweetheart,' but often played
assertive take-charge characters that made her a role model to women and
movie-goers around the world.
She was Mary Pickford, who ruled the entertainment industry as the Queen of Hollywood during the silent era.
See
for yourself with a screening of 'My Best Girl' (1927), one of
Pickford's landmark feature films, on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. at TCAN
Center for the Arts, 14 Summer St., Natick, Mass.
The screening,
the latest in the Center for the Art's silent film series, will feature
live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who
specializes in creating music for silent films.
Admission is $10 per person for members; $12 for non-members. Tickets are available online at www.natickarts.org or at the door.
The
show is the latest in TCAN's silent film series, which gives audiences
the opportunity to experience early cinema as it was intended: on the
big screen, with live music, and with an audience.
The result is a sparkling “rich man, poor girl” romantic comedy from 1927 starring Pickford alongside leading man Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, who would later become Pickford's real-life husband.
An industry pioneer who became Hollywood’s first movie star, Pickford enjoyed a cult-like popularity throughout the silent era that made her a national icon and an international celebrity.
Pickford also possessed a business savvy that gave her nearly total control of her creative output, with her own production company and a partnership in a major film distribution company, all before she was 30 years old.
Dubbed "America's Sweetheart" early in her screen career, the nickname was misleading, as Pickford's popularity was rooted in her portrayal of assertive women often forced to battle for justice in a male-dominated world.
After starring in hundreds of short dramas from 1910 to 1915, Pickford's popularity led to starring roles in feature films starting in the mid-1910s.
In 1919, she joined industry icons D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in creating the United Artists studio. In 1920, she married Fairbanks, with the pair reigning as Hollywood's royal couple for the remainder of the silent era.
In the 1920s, Pickford reduced her output to one picture per year. 'My Best Girl' was her last silent feature before the industry switched to talking pictures.
Pickford made several successful talking pictures, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film 'Coquette' in 1929.
Pickford, however, chose to retire in 1933. She lived in semi-seclusion until her death in 1979.
Accompanist Jeff Rapsis will improvise an original musical score for 'My Best Girl' live as the movie is shown, as was done during the silent film era.
"When the score gets made up on the spot, it creates a special energy that's an important part of the silent film experience," said Rapsis, who uses a digital synthesizer to recreate the texture of a full orchestra for the accompaniment.
With TCAN's screening of 'My Best Girl,' audiences will get a chance to experience silent film as it was meant to be seen—in a high quality print, on a large screen, with live music, and with an audience.
"All those elements are important parts of the silent film experience," Rapsis said. "Recreate those conditions, and the classics of early Hollywood leap back to life in ways that can still move audiences today."
‘My Best Girl’ (1927) starring Mary Pickford and Charles 'Buddy' Rogers will be shown with live music on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. at TCAN Center for the Arts, 14 Summer St., Natick, Mass.
Admission is $10 per person for members; $12 for non-members. Tickets are available online at www.natickarts.org or at the door.
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