For a few hours Saturday night, I was whisked back to the 1920s, the heyday of Vaudeville and silent films. The Duck Soup Cinema program at the Overture Centre seeks to give modern audiences a taste of turn-of-the-century entertainment.
In an effort to recreate the complete package of a 1920s entertainment experience, there were a number of live music and magic acts before the feature film. The music acts included the Madison-based New You Trio and Michigan-born crooner Whitney Mann.
As phenomenal as the musical acts were, the magicians were the ones who really got the ball rolling Saturday night. There were three of them in the lobby and walking throughout the theatre, performing tricks of all varieties. By the time the first act began, there were at least 100 balloon figures to be found.
The premiere entertainer of the night was Truly Remarkable Loon, a juggler and magician active in Southeast Wisconsin. From my multiple experiences with Loon at the Wisconsin State Fair, I was expecting a top-notch performance.
He didn't disappoint. We were informed that Loon had had some bad sauerbraten at the Essen Haus the previous night, and was unable to perform. Fortunately, his "German cousin" (Loon in lederhosen and a German accent) happened to be a juggler, and had agreed to perform.
After a brief intermission, the lights dimmed and the feature presentation began. The film was called "Safety Last," starring Harold Lloyd, one of the major players in the early silent film scene. It followed Harold's hijinks as he kept his financial failure a secret from his girlfriend, and ends with him climbing a skyscraper as a publicity stunt for the fabric store where he works.
The film itself was an absolute riot. For those who are unfamiliar with silent films, they aren't closed-captioned with the dialogue at the bottom. Every so often, there is an entire screen with a sentence or two of plot-central dialogue, but for the most part, you have to figure out what's going on by the actors' expressions. This lead to plenty of physical humor derived from both facial expressions and generous bouts of slapstick.
However, there are two parts to any movie, and the live soundtrack is what really shone in the second act. Theatre organist Clark Wilson provided a live soundtrack on an Original Grand Barton organ, the same one that has been used since the theatre's inception in the 1920s. Wilson's soundtrack, as with most silent film organ music, was composed mostly of alternating popular tunes and generic background music.
Of the entire experience, I would have to say that the MCs were the low point. The trio included a DJ from 106.3 Country Madison and a local weatherman. I like to think that I appreciate a cheesy joke more than the next guy, but their material was just awkward. It certainly was groan-inducing.
Another area of potential improvement was the music selection. To clarify, that is not at all meant to be a criticism of the skill of the performers. I thought both the acts were phenomenal, but they didn't really seem to fit the atmosphere that the Duck Soup Cinema creates.
Overall, I had an absolutely fantastic experience. The throwback to the "good old days" was so immersive that I was a little bit surprised to find a modern facility outside the doors when I left.
