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The orchestra will perform live along with three classic silent films featuring some of the silent era’s biggest stars in an entertainment experience at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, at the John Legend Theater.
The show is presented by the Springfield Arts Council and is appropriate for all audiences.
“What we do is reenact the experience of going to a grand movie palace where the magic of motion pictures was added to by live music,” said Rick Benjamin, Paragon’s conductor and founder.
Benjaming was fascinated by the process while studying at Julliard and led Paragon through 700 performances in seven countries and 49 of 50 states over 32 years.
The program will have three complete films starring three comedy legends including “One Week” with Buster Keaton, “Get Out and Get Under” with Harold Lloyd and “Easy Street” with Charlie Chaplin.
Benjamin is pleased that it’s an experience everybody can enjoy. He’s found children loving it as something new, and surprised millennials are discovering it.
“Some of these comedians have a cult following with college kids, probably from YouTube,” Benjamin said.
He admits some people aren’t quite sure what they’ll get with a show. He describes the presentation as a community activity and not something you can replicate at home.
For those original audiences, it was like getting two shows in one as they’d spend their week at work and a night at the cinema meant an escape from everyday life, often in an elaborate theater with beautiful carpeting and concessions.
Springfield actually had its share of such venues — with the Regent Theatre and State Theatre still standing.
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The orchestra will play the original scores to the films. It will feature various stringed instruments and an actual 1910 drum set made of all wood, adding to the authenticity.
The band supplies where sound effects would normally go, adding to pratfalls and giving the audience a fun surprise.
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Benjamin said some people may already be familiar with the ragtime orchestra’s music if they’ve been to Disney parks in the last 30 years. It’s their music that plays on Main Street, U.S.A.
“You’ve probably already heard us without even knowing it,” he said.
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra performed a similar program here at the Summer Arts Festival nearly a decade ago. This will be a chance to experience it indoors.
“By the end of this two hours, the audience will have had a full immersion of the silent cinema experience — and we think they will like it,” Benjamin said.
WANT TO GO?
What: The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra
Where: John Legend Theater at The Dome, 700 S. Limestone St., Springfield
When: Saturday, Jan. 27, 7:30 p.m.
Admission: $22.50-$33.50
More info: 937-324-2712 or www.springfieldartscouncil.org/event/paragon/
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