ep. 42: End of the Year 2021 Recap – Part 1

The Silent Film Music Podcast with Ben Model

“End of the Year 2021 Recap” – in the first half of this 2-parter, Ben Model recaps the past pandemic year of silent film live-streaming, rediscovering the meaning of providing entertainment for fans, the return to in-person accompaniments, and ponders the future of the silent movie virtual cinema.

Episode 42 Show Notes:

• Live shows return in early summer; re-adjustment to in-person performance; getting to leave the house; no longer having to be “the booth” as with the Silent Comedy Watch Party; variations among keyboard instruments – need for flexibility; meeting fans of the SCWP – Wearing the Merchandise
• Music Interlude – Metropolis on the Estey pipe organ at Episilon Spires in Brattleboro, VT, August 30, 2021
• What the Silent Comedy Watch Party means to its viewers: a respite, some laughter, and an anchor to the week; comparison to Bob Hope entertaining the troops; no longer just another film show; with all the difficulty in pulling the SCWP off, the audience counts on the show; that appointment is an emotional responsibility; shout-out to Marlene Weisman for the SCWP logo
• Underwriting Announcement from Undercrank Productions: Marcel Perez Volume 2
• Live-Streaming at Arthouse theaters and elsewhere in 2021 and beyond: plans to continue live-streaming with Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington, L.I., NY; Dylan Skolnick, Co-Director; many theaters want to return to in-person only; future of digital performance in live theatre is in doubt; Ben’s feeling of responsibility to the new audience who has just discovered the difference live music makes in the enjoyment of silent film, and believes in the future of live-streaming; programming “the PD Classics” (Shirley Hughes, Toronto Silent Film Festival)
• Music Interlude – Our Hospitality at the Museum of Modern Art, July 2021
• Sign-offs