The critically acclaimed Paragon Ragtime Orchestra (PRO) returns to the Majestic Theater to open their season with a live performance of the music set to the silent film classic, Safety Last! (1923) on Thursday, September 17. PRO is one of the world’s foremost silent film accompanists, leading the industry in designing, producing, and performing silent films for modern audiences. They have done more than 750 screenings across 48 states and 7 countries, and were featured on the PBS program Great Performances this past April.
Considered to be one of the masterpieces of silent film comedy, Safety Last! cemented Harold Lloyd as a true star of the era. Famous for the iconic imagery of Lloyd hanging on by the hands of a clock, dangling from a skyscraper above city traffic, this film is hailed for its cinematic innovation and slapstick comedy.
“Safety Last! is suspenseful, romantic, and hilarious and it will be brought to life by the unmatched artistry of the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra right here in our beautiful 1925 Majestic! We opened our centennial season with Paragon last year and our audiences demanded a return – perhaps a ‘silent in September’ will become an annual tradition!” stated the Majestic Theater’s Executive Director Brett W. Messenger.
The Pennsylvania-based PRO is celebrating its 41st season as the world’s only year-round, professional ensemble specializing in the authentic recreation of “America’s Original Music” – the sounds of early theater, “silent” cinema, and vintage dance. The ensemble was founded by Rick Benjamin while studying at Juilliard and realizing that there was no ensemble specializing in this overlooked era of American music. In 1988 the Orchestra made its formal debut at Alice Tully Hall – the first concert ever presented at Lincoln Center by such an ensemble. Since then, PRO has toured extensively across 48 states and several countries overseas. These travels have taken the Orchestra to more than 700 performing arts centers, including the Ravinia Festival, the Smithsonian Institution, Chautauqua, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, the Austria’s Brucknerhaus, the American Dance Festival, and in New York at the 92nd Street Y and City Center.
This performance is made possible in part by the Majestic Theater Centennial Endowment Fund.
Tickets ($25 general admission and $10 for students) are available at the Majestic Theater Box Office, 25 Carlisle St., Gettysburg, by calling (717) 337-8200 or online at www.gettysburgmajestic.org. The Majestic Theater at the Jennifer and David LeVan Performing Arts Center is owned and operated by Gettysburg College as a gathering place for its campus and community to celebrate the arts together.