Come enjoy a Sunday afternoon with silent film classics accompanied live by professional pianist Adam Swanson! If you have never seen silent movies with live music, this is the show for you… Adam’s performance in June will include three classic comedy shorts. From household name Charlie Chaplin to Laurel and Hardy, these are some of the greatest classic two-reelers of the silent era. Watch on the big screen as an entire town full of cops chases Buster Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy swallow laughing gas! All films will be accompanied with original period music LIVE on the DAC’s beautiful 9-foot grand piano. These events will be family friendly, so bring your kids and enjoy this fun and unique opportunity.
The Rink (Mutual Film, 1916)
Starring Charlie Chaplin
After causing restaurant chaos at work, a bumbling waiter tears up the local roller rink with his skating. Charlie’s love interest is actress Enda Purviance, but he must avoid the wrath of her father, played by hilarious actor James T. Kelley. The Rink is a great example of a very early ragtime-era comedy short.
Cops (Joseph M. Schenck, 1922)
Starring Buster Keaton
A series of mishaps leads to a young man being chased by a big city’s entire police force. Comedy king Buster Keaton made many short films early in his career, but Cops is considered one of the best… interestingly, it is believed this film may have been made partly in response to the unjust arrest of Keaton’s costar Fatty Arbuckle, who was later proven innocent of his alleged crimes.
Leave ‘Em Laughing (MGM, 1928)
Starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
In the dead of the night, a terrible toothache wakes up poor Stan, and after a series of home-made remedies, Ollie takes him to the dentist. There, ample amounts of laughing gas lead to the perfect mess. Will Stan ever visit the dentist again? Leave ‘Em Laughing is a Laurel and Hardy classic, just recently restored for the big screen!
Adam Swanson is one of the world’s foremost performers of vintage American popular music, including ragtime, early jazz, the Great American Songbook, and more. He holds a bachelor’s in classical piano and a master’s in musicology from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. Adam has been a featured performer and lecturer at ragtime and jazz festivals across the United States and abroad, and he is the only four-time winner of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest. He made his New York debut in Carnegie Hall at the age of nineteen, where he performed with Michael Feinstein. Adam has performed at the Cinecon Classic Film Festival in Hollywood and the Kennedy Center, as well as in Hungary, Switzerland, and Australia. He has worked with such musicians as Toronto’s John Arpin, former rock star Ian Whitcomb, and legendary 1950s recording artist Johnny Maddox, who was one of Adam’s greatest influences. He lives in Durango, Colorado, where he frequently performs in the Diamond Belle Saloon at the Historic Strater Hotel. Adam is also the director of the Durango Ragtime and Early Jazz Festival. Visit Adam online: www.adamgswanson.com.
Sunday, June 15
2:00pm
