EVERETT — Think about the heavy organ chords played in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera.” Couple that with the 1925 Lon Chaney “horror” movie of the same title.
You can have both on Halloween night at Trinity Episcopal Church.
The live organ accompaniment to the silent moviMige is an alternative to Trick or Treat, and it’s also a chance to hear one of Everett’s largest pipe organs.
Trinity Episcopal’s organist and music director David Spring will perform, as he did on Halloween night in 2014 when he accompanied a showing of the silent movie “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
“We like the idea of people hearing the pipe organ, with music that isn’t just for solemn church situations. We like fun,” Spring said.
The organist has spent many hours working on his synchronized accompaniment for “Phantom,” which will include excerpts from Webber’s 1986 musical. Spring has watched the old movie — about the deformed man who haunts the Paris Opera House — at least 10 times. He has prepared a wide range of music to fit the film, including pieces that will provide walking music for each character in the movie.
“There was a film score written for the movie at one time, but it’s no longer in publication,” Spring said.
In its time, the silent movie played at places such as the Historic Everett Theatre, where a local organist often performed the accompaniment spontaneously as the movie rolled.
While Saturday’s audience watches on the screen in the church sanctuary, Spring will be at the organ at the back of the room facing the other direction.
“I’ll be watching the movie on a monitor on the organ console,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t do well reading subtitles backwards.”
The Trinity organ and its many pipes will play a big part in the event.
Some 1915 Moller organ pipes were refurbished in 1971 and included with a new organ built by Balcom and Vaughan Pipe Organs in Seattle for Covenant Christian Church in Spokane. Trinity bought the used instrument less than 10 years ago for a fraction of what it would have cost to buy a new organ. It was introduced in a recital in early 2010.
“This organ can do many things. It’s versatile with a range of dynamics. There are many crayons in the box, if you will,” Spring said. “And there’s always the temptation to play it really loud.”
Spring, now 62, studied organ, choral music and music education at the University of Washington. He has served in seven churches and has been at Trinity for the past 14 years.
Spring also teaches lessons and conducts musical theater orchestras around the region, as he did for many years with the now defunct Northwest Savoyards community theater group that was based in Everett.
“I have always loved musical theater,” Spring said. “One of my UW professors told me I would be doing better in school if I paid a bit more attention to Bach than Rodgers &Hammerstein.”
However, plenty of Bach is on the program for Halloween night.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.
If you go
Watch the 1925 classic silent movie, “The Phantom of the Opera,” while listening to live accompaniment by Trinity Episcopal Church organist David Spring at 7 p.m. Oct. 31, at the church, 2301 Hoyt Ave., Everett. Suggested donation is $10, but children are free. The event includes a costume contest and refreshments.
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