Welcome to the world of the Grande Page Pipe Organ!
The Embassy Theatre 2024 organ and silent film events will take place May through August 2024. Additional organ shows may be added later in the year.
The Embassy offers patrons a unique and historic experience like none other! Whether you desire to focus on the Grande Pape pipe organ on its own or alongside iconic films from a century past, this lovely and melodic instrument is showcased by an array of talented organists who specialize in highlighting its thrilling music and sound effects.
The Grande Page pipe organ (4-manual, 16-rank) is lovingly maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers, and has for the past century, drawn organ fanatics—at times, party train-cars full of them—to hear this magnificent instrument played, by some of the greats—including our beloved Buddy Nolan. We hope to honor this history and invite the community to join us as we re-visit silent cinema classics and feature organists Mark Herman, Dennis Scott, Dennis James and Clark Wilson, who will lend context to the films and music at each event.
TICKETS are free for 12 and under, 65 and over, and members of the Embassy. All other tickets are $10 (plus applicable fees) and can be purchased at ticketmaster.com. To avoid Ticketmaster convenience fees for general tickets or to obtain FREE tickets, please visit the STAR Bank box office at the Embassy (260.424.5665) at 125 W. Jefferson Blvd., Fort Wayne. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The theater lobby will be open to patrons one full hour prior to show time. To reserve accessible seating, please contact the box office. These are general admission events. Sensory kits and hearing assist devices are available at the STAR Bank box office at the Embassy Theatre.
A full listing of program events, follows:
- Saturday, May 4, 2024, 7:30PM – Buddy Nolan Memorial Concert featuring organist Mark Herman
Mark Herman is one of America’s busiest theatre organists, performing over 30 concerts and silent film presentations each year across the US and abroad. In 2012, Mark was named the American Theatre Organ Society’s Organist of the Year. He is the youngest person ever to receive the prestigious honor. Mark has been featured on several American Public Media’s Pipedreams program episodes and has performed for countless American Theatre Organ Society conventions, American Guild of Organists and Organ Historical Society conventions. He has toured Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. His compositions, arrangements, and performances have also been heard on television and in motion pictures. In 2019, he was honored to be featured alongside the Los Angeles Philharmonic for a rare organ solo cameo.As a film accompanist and scorer, Mark has developed a reputation for dramatic period-authentic film scores with historically informed presentations that resonate with and captivate modern audiences. In 2019, he was commissioned to compose and record two new scores for The Criterion Collection’s latest Harold Lloyd Blu-ray release.
- Sunday, July 14, 2024 – Sherlock Jr. (1924) plus short Balloonatic B&W silent films, featuring organist Dennis Scott
3:00PM | feature is 45 min., short is 22 min. – starring Buster Keaton
In this award-winning 1924 comedy, a kindly movie projectionist (Buster Keaton) longs to be a detective. When his fiancée is robbed by a local thief, the poor projectionist is framed for the crime. Using his amateur detective skills, the projectionist follows the thief to the train station only to find himself locked in a train car. Disheartened, he returns to his movie theater, where he falls asleep and dreams that he is the great Sherlock Holmes.
In Balloonatic, a hapless amusement park attendant finds his run-away balloon ride has left him in a strange predicament.
This year, we are pleased to announce the return of Grandparents Day! On Sunday, July 14, bring your grandchildren (12 and under are free) and introduce them to a timeless treasure, the unique Grande Page pipe organ sounds and music, alongside a comical silent film. Learn about how the organ saved the Embassy. Enjoy free popcorn and fun activities before the show.
- Sunday, July 28, 2024 – The Thief of Bagdad (1924) B&W silent film, featuring organist Dennis James
3:00PM | 140 min. – starring Douglas Fairbanks
The Thief of Bagdad is a 1924 American silent swashbuckler film starring Douglas Fairbanks. Freely adapted from One Thousand and One Nights, it tells the story of a thief who falls in love with the daughter of the Caliph of Bagdad. This film, strong on special effects, a flying carpet, magic rope, fearsome monsters, and massive Arabian-style sets, is an exciting adventure for all.
- Sunday, August 11, 2024 – Greed (1924) B&W silent film; featuring organist Dennis Scott
3:00PM | 140 min. – starring Zasu Pitts and Gibson Gowland
Greed is a 1924 American silent psychological drama film written and directed by Erich von Stroheim and based on the 1899 Frank Norris novel McTeague. When housewife Trina McTeague (ZaSu Pitts) wins the lottery, her comfortable life with her dentist husband, Mac (Gibson Gowland), is slowly destroyed, in part by her own increasing paranoia and in part by the machinations of a villainous friend, Marcus (Jean Hersholt). This film was shot on location in and around San Francisco, an extravagance unheard of in the 1920s. The original version, since lost, ran for nearly 10 hours.
- Sunday, August 25, 2024 – Girl Shy (1924) B&W silent film, featuring organist Clark Wilson
3:00PM | 89 min. – starring Harold Lloyd
Harold Meadows is a shy, stuttering bachelor working in a tailor shop who is writing a guidebook for other bashful young men, “The Secret of Making Love,” chapters of which are portrayed as fantasy sequences in this 1924 film. Fate brings him to meet a rich girl, Mary, and they fall in love. In a twist of fate, she is about to wed an already married man, so our hero embarks upon a hair-raising daredevil ride to prevent the wedding. This romantic comedy will leave you cheering for true love.
Sponsors for the 2024 Buddy Nolan Memorial Concert are Thomas and Penelope Mathiesen with additional support from Fort Wayne Newspapers.
