Give Money to the Old Music Hall...and Become an Organ Donor

Last week I went about my usual business doing my usual routine. Come Friday afternoon, the usual laundry had piled up into the usual pile. So, I gathered my supplies and headed over to the friendly neighborhood laundry matte. I stepped through the usual steps and paid the usual amount to get the machines running. I then walked over to the community benches and picked up a community magazine. This particular magazine highlights events in the beach communities (3 others besides my town of Hermosa Beach) and is some pretty awful reading if you're new to the area or if you happen to be under the age of 45. Regardless, I pressed on through the nonsensical headlines as I had nothing else to occupy my time. Then, as I was flipping the pages, I happened upon an advertisement that would forever change my life. It was an advertisement for The Old Music Hall in neighboring El Segundo and it was glorious.
This old theater, as the magazine informed me, had regular screenings of classic films from the silent era with live organ accompaniment. Now, I like to watch movies. I particularly like watching old movies just so I can sound more cultured and intelligent at dinner parties (which reminds me, I need to go to some dinner parties), and I especially wanted to watch an old movie that had live music accompaniment. So, my Saturday night was planned.
Come 8:00pm on Saturday I was walking to the ATM around the corner from the theater. Turns out this theater wants to remain as historically accurate as possible by limiting the admission currency to cash. When I returned I purchased a ticket and a historically accurate Snickers bar (which tasted more like the 1970's but I didn't want to say anything). I then took my seat towards the back of the 200 seat theater. Up front, on the slightly elevated stage, I saw the beast, The Mighty Wurlitzer.
Up until show time, I thought I new enough about organs. I thought, yes they are big, yes some can be bigger, yes they have a lot of knobs, and yes some can have more, but I guess I didn't have a grasp of the versatility of a theater organ.
So, they old man that took my money in the beginning of the evening strutted up the aisle and sat down on the console. He turned to the audience, rattled off a bunch of titles of things, and then began playing. As he started, the curtains opened and unveiled a magnificent sight. Only now could I understand what a big deal The Mighty Wurlitzer actually was. Sure, the normal pipe organ sounds emanated from the normal pipes, but did you know that this thing has a xylophone? Did you know it plays wooden blocks? What about a series of drums? And how about all those things that I saw moving and couldn't distinguish what they were(neither by sight nor by sound)? Did you know about all of this? Car horn? Yep, it had one. Lightning and thunder effects? You bet! This thing was incredible. Why did I not know this about organs?
So, the old man finished the overture as the movie screen came down. A few slides showed what was to be expected at The Old Music Hall in the upcoming weeks. I was also informed that the theater is a non-profit organization which is in need of financial assistance (totally tax deductible). Then something extraordinary happened. We had a sing-a-long. There were about 5 songs that were played with accompanied vintage slides displaying the words so everyone could sing. I figured that everyone would be ho-hum about the singing thing, but to my surprise everyone was really singing. The audience was really into it. The only song I recognized was "You're a Grand Old Flag," but the others were easy to pick up. It's also pretty easy to sing when you're the youngest in the room by about 25 years.
After the sing-a-long we were shown a Laurel and Hardy comedy short entitled "Another Fine Mess," which was a talkie so the old man got to take a break. Then we took a break with an intermission.
The movie that followed was Buster Keaton's "7 Chances," which was remade in the 90's as "The Bachelor" starring Chris O'Donnell. I've never seen "The Bachelor," but I'll tell you that it has a lot to live up to. "7 Chances" was awesome. Dare I say it was hilarious? I think I dare.
As you can probably tell I was really excited about this experience. I already plan on taking anybody who visits to The Old Music Hall. So, if you visit and I say, "I've got a great idea for an activity on Saturday night," be prepared to battle The Mighty Wurlitzer.

Til Next Time

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P.S. The Old Music Hall will be closed March 21, 22, and 23 in observance of Easter. FYI