Restoring the Sounds of Years Past
Bringing the Mighty Wurlitzer back to life

Everyone knows that music sets the tone for a movie, creating a sense of tension, romance or excitement. In fact, so many movie-goers love the music accompanying their favorite films that movie soundtracks quickly climb the charts. But take yourself back to the 1920s and imagine sitting in a darkened theater as the movie starts -- and there is no sound. How can the movie really engage your emotions?

From 1912 through 1930, the silent era of motion pictures, the theatre organ provided the sound of everything except the human voice to accompany the movie. From the frantic pace of horses hooves to romantic background music, the theatre organ provided the very first movie soundtracks. Nearly 7,000 theatre organs were performing each day when the motion picture screen learned to speak in 1927. During that time, Wurlitzer became the largest and most prestigious manufacturer of theatre pipe organs in the world.

When the Kentucky Theater opened in Lexington on Oct. 3, 1922, the theater boasted its own Mighty Wurlitzer. The organ's stirring music and special effects became the heart and soul of the theater, often more popular than the movies themselves, according to H. Steven Brown, president of Kentucky's Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Organ Project.

In direct response to the organ's popularity, the theater owners expanded the organ in 1926 and the instrument became the largest in the state. In addition to providing movie accompaniment, the organ became a part of popular life. Many University of Kentucky pep rallies culminated in the Kentucky Theater with "On, On U of K" accompanied by the Mighty Wurlitzer.

Yet the Mighty Wurlitzer"s popularity was to be short-lived. Downtown Lexington flooded in June 1928 after being pummeled by devastating rains. The Kentucky Theater and the Mighty Wurlitzer were both casualties of the floods. While the theater later reopened, the invention of "vitaphone" sound for movies had made the Mighty Wurlitzer obsolete and the organ was not restored to its former glory.

All across the country, theater organs were being abandoned, discarded or given to churches. Many theater organs languished for years, dormant in their theaters. Today, only about 100 of the remarkable instruments remain in public venues nationally and only 47 Wurlitzers remain.

Luckily for Kentucky, one of those instruments is the Kentucky Theater's Mighty Wurlitzer. Oscar Wilson of Lexington purchased the instrument in 1977 and installed it in his home. In 1989, the organ was donated to the University of Kentucky, where it has been stored in parts and pieces in the Singletary Center for the Arts.In 1993, a coalition of private citizens was formed to work with local government and University of Kentucky representatives to bring the organ home to the Kentucky Theater.

"This is an exciting opportunity to bring back a piece of lost Lexington and preserve cinematic history," Brown said. "This was a cherished activity in the city and when this was in the theater many people came for the music as opposed to the film."

Although thousands of dollars have been raised, the ultimate price tag on the restoration, theater reconstruction, reinstallation and future operation and maintenance is high. While the theater organ was operational when it was donated to the University in 1989, years of storage and numerous relocations have taken their toll. The restoration and rebuilding of the theater pipe organ will take more than a year of labor-intensive work and cost almost $193,000. Modifying the Kentucky Theater to reinstall the theater organ will require another estimated $207,000.

One unique way of supporting the theater organ project is to fund one of the instrument's 1,146 pipes with a $100 donation. For each $100 gift, the donor can designate the name to be inscribed for each pipe. Gifts can be given in honor of a living person or in a person's memory.

When completed, the Mighty Wurlitzer will be the only surviving original theater organ in Kentucky. However, project organizers don't plan to make the organ a museum exhibit. They intend for the organ to be used.

A concert series, silent film festival and music education are among a few of the uses planned for the restored organ, and modern technology will allow the organ to be used even when a trained organist is not available.

"Through the marvels of modern technology we will be able to program the instrument to play back previous performances," Brown explained.

This capability is important because project coordinators want to get as much use as possible out of the instrument once it is fully restored to its former home and finding an organist skilled enough to perform on it won't always be easy.

A project exhibition is currently on display at the Singletary Center for the Arts on the University of Kentucky campus. This exhibition showcases the three-manual theater organ console, historic photographs, consultants' recommendations, organ chamber analysis and specifications, pipe chamber drawings and other information.

You can hear the Mighty Wurlitzer at a concert by international concert organist Tom Hazelton at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 14, at the Singletary Center in Lexington.

Deanna Mascle is a staff writer for The Lane Report.

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