1Duck Soup Cinema | Overture Center

Duck Soup Cinemafeaturing

The Kid Brotherstarring Harold Lloyd

WRITTEN BY DIRECTED BY John Grey, Ted Wilde Ted Wilde & J.A. Howe & Tom Ctizer

CAST (1927)

GRAND BARTON ORGAN HOSTED BY Dennis James Joe Thompson

VAUDEVILLE ACTSAce Willie and Doc the Rube in the lobby

Trinity Irish DanceMike SchneiderThe MadHattersThe Stellanovas

SAT, MAR 17, 2012 | Capitol Theater

SPONSORED BY

Additional funding provided by Madison Stagehands and Projectionists Union, I.A.T.S.E Local 251, contributions to Overture Center for the Arts and by members of the Duck Soup Club. Learn how you can support Duck Soup by becoming a member at overturecenter.com/contribute.

This program is part of Overture’s Community Ticket Program. Funding for the Community Ticket Program is provided by American Girl’s Fund for Children, a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts. Learn how you can help make arts experiences real for hundreds of thousands of people in the greater Madison area at overturecenter.com/contribute.

Harold Lloyd ............ Harold Hickory Jobyna Ralston ............. Mary Powers Waiter James ..................Jim Hickory Leo Willis .........................Leo Hickory Olin Francis ....................Olin Hickory

Constantine Romanoff ........SandoniEddie Boland ................. “Flash” FarrellFrank Lanning .................Sam HooperRalph Yearsley ............... Hank Hooper

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3Duck Soup Cinema | Overture Center

PROGRAM

Vaudeville Acts

INTERMISSION

Door PrizesThe Kid Brother

“The King of Daredevil Comedy,” Harold Lloyd is best remembered today as the young man dangling desperately from a clock tower in the 1923 classic Safety Last. At the height of his career, Lloyd was one of the most popular and highest-paid stars of his time. While his achievements have been overshadowed by the work of contemporaries Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, he made more films than the two of them combined. With hits like his 1922 film Grandma’s Boy, Lloyd became a strong force in bringing about the advent of the “feature-length” film.

Born in Nebraska in 1894, Lloyd’s stage career began at the age of 12. Although he had none of Chaplin’s or Keaton’s childhood Vaudeville training, Lloyd had a natural talent that led him to make the most dangerous tumbles and falls seem effortless. In 1913 Lloyd moved with his father to Los Angeles, where the motion picture industry was still in its infancy. There he tried desperately to break into show business, taking any small part he could get. He soon made friends with another extra, Hal Roach, who was putting together his own production company. In a short while the company had taken off and was making movies featuring Lloyd as “Lonesome Luke,” a Chaplin-inspired bumbler. While “Lonesome Luke” was popular, Lloyd knew his mimicry of Chaplin was an inevitable dead end.

In 1917, Lloyd began work on a new character, one that was to remain a signature through out his career. With round glasses, a straw hat, and an unkempt suit, this new invention still had many of the qualities associated with Chaplin’s Little Tramp, but something was different. He seemed both the fool and the fox, able to outsmart the bad guy, but only by a hair. In 1919, at the height of his acclaim, a tragedy struck. While posing for a photograph he grabbed what he imagined to be a fake bomb and lit it with his cigarette. The bomb went off in his hand, costing him a thumb and a forefinger. The story was front-page news and it seemed the end of this daredevil’s career. Never the quitter, Lloyd bounced back and made dozens of more films, among them his best and most highly acclaimed, including Safety Last (1923) and Speedy (1928). Even into the time of the talkies, Lloyd persisted while many other silent movie stars threw in the towel. In 1971, twenty-three years after his last feature film, he died in his Hollywood mansion.

From his early black-and-white shorts to his full-length talkies, Lloyd recognized that humor was nothing without a sense of play. Athletic and rigorous, he could fall from a window as well as he could scale a wall. It was said that Lloyd was not a natural comedian, rather, that he was a great actor playing comedic roles. His ability

HAROLD LLOYD

Are you a silent film aficionado? Does the sound of the Capitol Theater’s Barton Organ signal the beginning of a fabulous evening of Duck Soup Cinema for you? Then join Overture’s Duck Soup Cinema Club, and help keep this community program healthy and affordable for all!

Learn about the benefits of membership and make your donation online at overturecenter.com/contribute. You’ll have even more fun with Duck Soup and take pride knowing that your generosity is part of how it all happens.

2011/12 Duck Soup Club Member ListCurrent as of March 7, 2012

overturecenter.com/contribute

DON’T STAY

LOVEABOUT YOUR

SILENT

OFSILENT

FILMS

Cindy BallardDaniel BeckerWilliam BraaschEdwin BuringtonPeter ByfieldDavid CoeFern DelaneyRobert N. DoornekTheodore FinnBob & Beverly Haimerl

Terry HallerReta HarringJohn & Nancy HilliardBill & Marcia HolmanLarry KneelandLinn KublerPricilla LaufenbergTherese MaringMike & June McCowanIrene Meyer

Janet MonkStanford & Bev NinedorfLisa PfaffEvan & Jane PizerDon & Barb SanfordJoe & Jeanne SilverbergTanner SpaudeRobert & Marsha SteffenAlan WestEileen Zeiger

5Duck Soup Cinema | Overture Center

HAROLD LLOYD con’t to create multi-dimensional characters, both funny and moving, has helped to shape our contemporary view of what a comic actor can be.

Lloyd also understood the role fear could play in heightening comedy. One day while on his way to the studio, he watched a man scaling the side of a building. Crowds had gathered around and were completely consumed by the sight of the climber. Lloyd knew that if he could keep an audience on the edge of their seats like this, he could make them laugh even harder. So, using the tricks of photographic perspective, he began to shoot scenes that looked as if they were happening on the sides of buildings, on scaffoldings, or hanging from clocks. These acrobatic hi-jinks seemed amazingly real in a time before special effects. More

than simply renewing the audience’s interest in his work, these progressive techniques earned him the respect of others in the film industry.

Looking at the other films of the time and at the progress of comic acting and cinematography since, it is clear that Lloyd’s inspired work was an essential part in the growth of the industry. In his brilliant 1923 epic Girl Shy, Lloyd employed many of the high-action comic bits that made him famous. In its climactic chase scene, we recognize the beginnings of the action film genre, and can see the influence on movies from Ben Hur to Speed. While Harold Lloyd’s name has all but been forgotten and great films like Girl Shy and Grandma’s Boy are no longer in the public eye, Lloyd’s spirit lives on in the movie industry he helped to create.

Like all grand movie theaters built during the Silent Film Era, the Capitol Theater had a pipe organ that allowed a single musician to fill the theater with music while movies were being shown. Overture Center’s organ is a Barton, manufactured by the Bartola Musical Instrument Company in Oshkosh. It is believed to be the oldest Barton in Wisconsin, and the only one in the state remaining in its original location and condition. The instrument is such a rare gem that in 1990 it was honored by the Organ Historical Society as “an instrument of exceptional merit,” the first time a theater organ had been so recognized by the society, which typically reserves such honors for the grand pipe organs found in churches.

Hollywood had premiered the first “talkie,” the year before the Capitol Theater opened, but it took a while for sound films to catch on, and the Barton got a lot of use in the early years of the Capitol Theater. As sound films

became popular, the organ was used for sing-alongs and pre-feature entertainment, but as film showings lost their pageantry, this role diminished.

The gold and red horseshoe-shaped console is the most visible part of the instrument, but the organ’s sound comes from 1,034 pipes hidden in chambers on either side of the stage. The large illuminated console and its 141 stop keys and three manuals is usually located at house right. At one time, it was on its own elevator in the orchestra pit. It was moved to make space for the many large-scale productions staged in the theater. A seven and one half horsepower blower in the basement of the theater powers the organ and the massive electrical switching system is sealed in a special room high in the building. This electrical relay is so large that it was put in place before the theater was finished in 1928 and could only be removed with

GRAND BARTON ORGAN

6 Overture Center | Duck Soup Cinema

considerable demolition of the building.The smallest pipes, which produce

the high notes, are the size of a soda straw, and the largest are 16 feet tall and 18 inches in diameter. The pipes that produce the deepest notes are eight feet high and about 24 inches square, made of thick, knotless pine slabs. Like any wind instrument, the sound comes from air passing through the pipes, but the wind is supplied by a seven-horsepower air pump, rather

than a musician’s breath. The pipes are divided into fourteen ranks, or sets, that mimic the instruments of an orchestra.

In addition, a “toy counter” offers special sounds like a chirping bird, auto horn, sleigh bells and percussive effects.

An important part of keeping the organ in top condition is regular use. Overture Center continues to use the organ as part of the center’s Duck Soup Cinema series.

GRAND BARTON ORGAN con’t

the Arts, and for the U.C.L.A. Film and Television Archive and the British Film Institute. His silent film presentations have been seen throughout Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy and England. Dennis James is also dedicated to furthering public interest in the pipe organ and to the continuation of the theatri-cal traditions of organ performance. His has served as house organist for the Lansdowne and Brookline Theatres in Philadelphia and later at the Paramount and Rivoli Theatres in Indiana. From 1975 to 1989 James was the final appointed house organ-ist for the restored Ohio Theatre in Columbus. Since 1991 he appears frequently at the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, California, between his inter-national touring engagements.

In a career made up of diverse engagements, he has performed with such popular film personalities as Vincent Price, Ray Bolger, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Myrna Loy, Oliva De Havilland, Ginger Rogers and Fay Wray. He was se-lected by composer/conductor Carmine Coppola as the organist for the ongoing world tour presentations of Napoleon, the 1927 epic silent film by Abel Gance. He has also toured extensively with silent film stars Charles “Buddy” Rogers and the late Lillian Gish and providing musi-cal accompaniment at national revivals of their motion pictures.

For well over 25 years, Dennis James has played a pivotal role in the international revival of silent films with live music. Beginning as a pianist for campus screenings at Indiana University during the late 1960s, James now tours worldwide under the auspices of his own Silent Film Concerts production company presenting feature silent film programs with solo theatre organ, chamber ensemble and full symphony orchestra accompaniments. Performing silent films regularly with symphony orches-tras throughout the United States and Canada since 1978, James offers the most comprehensive repertoire in the field. James is a featured soloist on the international film festival circuit, including regular appearances for the San Francisco, Toronto, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia as well as the annual Pordenone and Rome (Italy) Festivals Cinema Muto. He per-forms frequently at the Walker Film Center in Minneapolis, the Cleveland Cinematheque and for the Chicago Art Institute’s film series and at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Palazzo Delle Espisozioni in Rome, and the National Film Theatre in London. He regularly performs under the auspices of the American Film Institute, the Museum of Modern Art, the Pacific Film Archive, the George Eastman House, the American Federation of

DENNIS JAMES

A ProVideo Comedy And TheATer SerieS eVenT

SAT, APR 21, 8 PMTickets starting at $21.50

Capitol Theater

Frank Ferrante in An Evening With Groucho

$10 tickets for k–12 students and educators with ID

Post-performance Q&A

Phot

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Fra

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ann

Award-winning actor Frank Ferrante channels one of the comedic greats of all time. His timing on classic one-liners and famous songs match Groucho’s originals with stunning precision!

oveRTuReCenTeR.CoM

1112_Groucho_FullPG-PB_Ad.indd 1 1/20/12 1:47 PM

8 Overture Center | Duck Soup Cinema

Joe Thompson has appeared on Madison stages countless times (plus one if you count tonight). He made his theatrical debut at the age of 9 with the Racine Theater Guild and thanks his mom and dad for always remembering to take him home after rehearsal.

His current activities include oregoni (the art of folding paper into the shapes

resembling Oregon), making jello salads, and strenuous daily oral hygiene. He is a member of Madison’s sketch comedy troupe “The Prom Committee” and co-author of Fatherhood, The Musical with Phil Martin.

He is the proud father of two and the lucky husband of one.

JOE THOMPSON

Overture Galleries

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A TomcAT ProducTs ouTside The Box series evenT

sun, apr 15, 7:30 pmtickets starting at $12

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LumaWhat started on Madison’s east side 20 years ago is now “a rare show, bedazzling, truly magical.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

$10 tickets for k–12 students and educators with ID

post-performance Q&a

9Duck Soup Cinema | Overture Center

Ace Willie, a.k.a., William Litzler has been performing in the Midwest for 40 years in venues ranging from Cub Scout banquets to corporate events. Ace was bitten by the magic bug after attending a magic show sponsored by The Houdini Club of Wisconsin in 1969. (He subsequently has shared the stage with every performer on that program.) In the 1980s, Ace Willie further developed his comedy style as a regular performer at The Comedy Cellar, Madison’s first comedy club. Once, at the Comedy Cellar, Ace alerted management of an underage performer and had that teenager removed from the club. The teenager was Chris Farley! Ace Willie is also a dealer in rare and vintage magic. He as been a leading seller in eBay’s Magic Community since 1999. Currently Ace Willie and his wife Debbie are popular performers for family events sponsored by corporations, country clubs and area communities. Visit www.acewillie.com.

Jim “Doc the Rube” Carter has a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine and a PhD in Veterinary Pathology from the Veterinary College at Kansas State University. He began clowning around with the Aldersgate Clowns in Olathe, Kansas in 1980. When he moved to Wisconsin he started the Asbury Clowns at Asbury United Methodist Church. His secular clowning has involved doing walk around entertainment and clown stage shows with his clown partners. He performed at the Clown Hall of Fame, the Kids Expo and in the Great Circus Parade in Milwaukee sponsored by the Circus World Museum. Doc has taught clown classes at several regional workshops and at a national Clown Impact Conference.

Trinity Irish Dance, founded by Artistic Director Mark Howard, a two-time Emmy Award-winning choreographer, is one of the most renowned Irish dance programs worldwide. For nearly 30 years, Trinity has thrilled audiences with their inspiring showmanship. From humble beginnings in church basements to recent engagements as U.S. ambassadors on international stages, Trinity dancers deliver a unique energy and passion for Irish dance and culture. Trinity’s program gives dancers the power of choice in their journey with lessons of commitment, hard work and team building. As the most widely recognized Irish dance school in the world, Trinity offers unique opportunities including a top notch teaching staff, monthly visits from athletic trainers, international consultants and exceptional performance opportunities. Trinity teachers shape the lives of their students by passing down not only impeccable dance technique, but also lessons in gracious sportsmanship and how to act with dignity and integrity. Trinity was founded on these principles and is unwavering in its dedication to the next generation of Irish dancers and their communities.

Mike Schneider is an award–winning musician who began his professional career in polka music in 1996. His accomplishments include eight nominations for the Band of the Year Award from the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame since 1998, performing for an episode of Food Nation with Bobby Flay on the Food Network, playing a birthday bash for JC Chasez of “N Sync and countless other area performances and festivals. Schneider

VAUDEVILLE

10 Overture Center | Duck Soup Cinema

VAUDEVILLE also hosts a monthly episode of Polka Parade, which airs Saturdays on AM 1340 WJYI in Milwaukee.

In 2008, Mike released Pint Size Polkas Vol. 1 which is the first polka music CD created specifically for children. Known now as “Uncle Mike,” Schneider has traveled the country for Pint Size Polkas appearing on numerous major network television affiliates in six states, including ABC 7 Chicago Sunday Morning News, Channel 3 News Today in Cleveland, Pittsburgh Today Live on KDKA 2 and the Morning Blend on Today’s TMJ4 in Milwaukee. He has performed his Pint Size Polkas program for children and families at libraries and schools in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The MadHatters are the premier men’s a cappella group of the UW campus. Founded in 1997, they were the first of its kind at UW and have seen their humble beginnings boom into sold out shows. Comprised of 15 singers and a vocal percussionist, the MadHatters croon the songs of decades past to the Top 40 present.

Built on the foundation of goofy guys making good music and bringing fun to the community, the MadHatters have achieved much success in their short life. From filling the seats at Madison’s Orpheum Theatre and Overture Center, to singing the “National Anthem” at a sold out Brewers/Cubs rivalry at Miller Park, to travel across the United States and Mexico, the MadHatters seem to have endless opportunities.

Currently, the MadHatters have one live and three studio albums and are working on their fourth and fifth studio recordings to be released later

this year. Their first album released in 2002, State Street, had a track earn a spot on the 2002 Best of College A Cappella (BOCA) CD. Their second album, 2004’s Friday After Class, exploded their fan base, becoming a “best seller” on a cappella websites around the world. Not For Credit, their third studio release, was produced in 2007 and received two national recording awards, including another BOCA inclusion. The fourth album, Random Play, was released in 2010. Cheer on Tap, their most recent effort, is a holiday album filled with songs for merrymaking and joy. A sixth album is currently in production.

The Stellanovas play what we call “cafe jazz”—intimate, whimsical, dynamic string jazz. Based in Madison, comprised of veteran musicians who have recorded and performed with musicians as various as U2, The Smashing Pumpkins, Willy Porter, Taj Majal, The Indigo Girls, Koko Taylor, Ray Charles, Delbert McClinton, Greg Brown, Peter Himmelman, Asleep at the Wheel and the Subdudes. The husband/wife team Mary Gaines (cello, vocals) and Chris Wagoner (violin, viola, ukulele, hawaiian guitar, accordion, vocals) have been performing together for almost two decades and often perform as a duo. Gaines and Wagoner have co-founded several of Madison’s most popular groups over the past two decades including Harmonious Wail, The Common Faces, The Moon Gypsies and The Bob Westfall Band. Additional players include Ed Fila (guitar) and Jim Huwe (drums). They perform originals as well as vintage string jazz.

Overture Center for the Arts would like to recognize our sponsors and thank them for all they do to support Madison’s thriving arts community.

LegACy SpOnSOrS

The Bruce Company of WisconsinCUnA Mutual groupproVideoUnity

University of Wisconsin Hospital and ClinicsUniversity of Wisconsin Medical FoundationUniversity research park

gOLd SpOnSOrS

Bell LaboratoriesCapital newspapers, Inc.deWitt ross & StevensFood Fight, Inc.gammexMadison Investment Holdings

Moe’s & Icon restaurantsMurphy desmond, S.C.SVASupranet CommunicationsTOMCAT productsWebcrafters

SILVer SpOnSOrS

goodman’s JewelersJ.H. Findorff & Son Inc.Outrider Foundationpepsi Cola of Madison

Smart Motors Stafford rosenbaum, S.C.State Bank of Cross plainsTdS Telecommunications

BrOnze SpOnSOrS

Custer Financial ServicesThe Fiore Companies, Inc.Hovde propertiesMullins grouppark BankThe robert H. Keller Co.

Steve Brown ApartmentsVon Briesen & roperWheeler, Van Sickel & Anderson, S.C.Whyte Hirschboeck dudek, S.C.WISC-TV

COrpOrATe SpOnSOrS

*List current as of January 31, 2012

pLATInUM SpOnSOrSAmerican girl’s Fund for Children

Madison gas & electric

1112 Donor List_2.29.indd 1 2/23/12 11:41 AM

Overture Center for the Arts would like to recognize our sponsors and thank them for all they do to support Madison’s thriving arts community.

LegACy SpOnSOrS

The Bruce Company of WisconsinCUnA Mutual groupproVideoUnity

University of Wisconsin Hospital and ClinicsUniversity of Wisconsin Medical FoundationUniversity research park

gOLd SpOnSOrS

Bell LaboratoriesCapital newspapers, Inc.deWitt ross & StevensFood Fight, Inc.gammexMadison Investment Holdings

Moe’s & Icon restaurantsMurphy desmond, S.C.SVASupranet CommunicationsTOMCAT productsWebcrafters

SILVer SpOnSOrS

goodman’s JewelersJ.H. Findorff & Son Inc.Outrider Foundationpepsi Cola of Madison

Smart Motors Stafford rosenbaum, S.C.State Bank of Cross plainsTdS Telecommunications

BrOnze SpOnSOrS

Custer Financial ServicesThe Fiore Companies, Inc.Hovde propertiesMullins grouppark BankThe robert H. Keller Co.

Steve Brown ApartmentsVon Briesen & roperWheeler, Van Sickel & Anderson, S.C.Whyte Hirschboeck dudek, S.C.WISC-TV

COrpOrATe SpOnSOrS

*List current as of January 31, 2012

pLATInUM SpOnSOrSAmerican girl’s Fund for Children

Madison gas & electric

1112 Donor List_2.29.indd 1 2/23/12 11:41 AM

12 Overture Center | Duck Soup Cinema1xx | Overture Center

ORDERING & INFORMATIONOrder online! overturecenter.com Phone orders: Call 608.258.4141 Mail or fax: online order form at overturecenter.com or in our magazine.Buy in person: Visit the ticket o� ce located on the main fl oor just o� the Rotunda Lobby. Ticket o� ce hours: Mon–Fri, 11 AM–5:30 PM; Sat, 11 AM–2 PM; open additional hours evenings and Sundays on days of ticketed performances.Group orders: Groups of 15 or more receive a discount on most performances. Call 608.258.4159 to make reservations.Visit overturecenter.com: For a calendar of events, links to artists’ websites, video, audio, directions, parking and much more.

PATRON SERVICES & POLICIESAccessibility: Request accommodations when ordering your tickets. Call 608.258.4144 for information, questions, or to request the following:■ wheelchair-accessible seating■ house wheelchair for transport■ sign language interpretation■ Braille playbill■ other accommodationsInformation is also available at overturecenter.com/tickets/accessibility Children and lap seating: Every person, regardless of age, must have a ticket to enter the theaters for performances. Children un-der the age of 6 are not permitted at certain performances. See our season brochure, visit our website or call the Help Line at 608.258.4143 for information.Contacting a patron during a performance: Call 608.258.4179 with the performance the patron is attending and his/her row and seat number.

Lost and Found: Visit the information desk in the Rotunda Lobby or call 608.258.4973.Rentals: For information on renting spaces in Overture Center for weddings, performances, meetings or other events, call 608.258.4163 or email events@overturecenter.com.

EtiquettePlease turn o� all paging devices, cell phones and watch alarms.Smoking is prohibited in Overture.The use of cameras or tape recorders in the theaters is prohibited without written permission from Overture Center and the performing company’s management. Food, large bags and other large items are not permitted in the theaters. Bottled water and beverages in Overture Refi llable Theater Cups are allowed in the theaters at select shows.In consideration of audience members with scent sensitivities and allergies, please use perfumes, aftershaves and other fragrances in moderation.Event Sta� Stagehand services in Overture are provided by members of Local 251 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.Usher and other services for Overture are provided by Overture volunteers. For infor-mation, visit overturecenter.com/contribute/volunteer or call 608.258.4177.

RESIDENT ORGANIZATIONSBach Dancing & Dynamite Societybachdancinganddynamite.org | 608.255.9866Children’s Theater of Madisonctmtheater.org | 608.255.2080Forward Theater Companyforwardtheater.com | 608.234.5001Kanopy Dance Companykanopydance.org | 608.255.2211Li Chiao-Ping Dancelichiaopingdance.org | 608.835.6590Madison Balletmadisonballet.org | 608.278.7990Madison Operamadisonopera.org |608.238.8085Madison Symphony Orchestramadisonsymphony.org | 608.257.3734Wisconsin Academy’s James Watrous Gallerywisconsinacademy.org | 608.265.2500Wisconsin Chamber Orchestrawcoconcerts.org | 608.257.0638

PATRON SERVICES AND INFORMATION

Welcome to Overture Center for the Arts Your enjoyment is important to us. Please contact an usher or the ticket o� ce if you have any concerns about your experience here.