The arts guild, over the years
January 2, 2013
Spahr’s dishes up fresh area seafood
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Laurel and Hardy, Chaplin, and Keaton, famous actors of the silent-film era known solely by their surnames, return to a Thibodaux screen this month during a benefit event.
The Silent Comedy Trifecta on Jan. 11 at St. John’s Episcopal Church features live music accompaniment provided by Wisconsin organist Gene Traas.
“What I try to do is be unintrusive as a musician,” Traas says. “I try to complement the film, and I just help people get sucked in. Nothing pulls people into a film faster than a decent score, in my opinion.”
Traas, an organist and choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wauwatosa, Wisc., has accompanied live films for 35 years. He’s providing the digital movie shorts at the St. John’s event: “Big Business” (Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy); “One A.M.” (Charlie Chaplin); and “One Week” (Buster Keaton).
“This is a standard piece of my repository,” Traas says. “This is the one I use to get people interested.”
The event’s proceeds will be dedicated to the reinstallation and maintenance of the church’s pipe organ, which had sustained water damage and is soon to be refurbished with the help of a Lorio Foundation grant.
Traas now works with Beth Papazoglakis, the former music director at St. John’s who moved to Wisconsin three years ago. While planning a month-long sabbatical to Louisiana, he pitched the idea of the silent-movie benefit to their mutual friend, St. John’s organist LaDonna Alexander, who accepted.
“This is unique, going back in time to the silent films when you had live accompaniment,” Alexander says. “(We) also hope to raise awareness about organs.”
Traas rarely plays such sessions according to notes, lest his role become “stale.” So he uses his wealth of experience to judge the audience composition and provide an organic ebb and flow that runs consistent with the films. He sees the event as a chance for the unfamiliar to be acquainted, and for the acquainted to relive memories.
“One of the things I found is it is an incredible inter-generational opportunity,” Traas says. “Creating memories and unlocking memories, if I’m going to put it into one sentence.”
The event begins at 7 p.m., Jan. 11 at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 718 Jackson St., Thibodaux. Tickets cost $15 ($5 for students). For more information, call (985) 447-2910.
Silent films featuring Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are shown with live organ accompaniment at St. John’s Episcopal Church Jan. 11.
