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Everybody Sing!: Community Singing in the American Picture Palace
During the 1920s, a visit to the movie theater almost always included a sing-along. Patrons joined together to render old favorites and recent hits, usually accompanied by the strains of a mighty Wurlitzer organ. The organist was responsible for choosing the repertoire and presentation style that would appeal to his or her patrons, so each theater offered a unique experience. When sound technology drove both musicians and participatory culture out of the theater in the early 1930s, the practice faded and was eventually forgotten.
Despite the popularity and ubiquity of community singing--it was practiced in every state, in theaters large and small--there has been scant research on the topic. This volume is the first dedicated account of community singing in the picture palace and includes nearly one hundred images, such as photographs of the movie houses' opulent interiors, reproductions of sing-along slides, and stills from the original Screen Songs "follow the bouncing ball" cartoons.
Esther M. Morgan-Ellis brings the era of movie palaces to life. She presents the origins of theater sing-alongs in the prewar community singing movement, describes the basic components of a sing-along, explores the unique presentation styles of several organists, and assesses the aftermath of sound technology, including the sing-along films and children's matinees of the 1930s.
Despite the popularity and ubiquity of community singing--it was practiced in every state, in theaters large and small--there has been scant research on the topic. This volume is the first dedicated account of community singing in the picture palace and includes nearly one hundred images, such as photographs of the movie houses' opulent interiors, reproductions of sing-along slides, and stills from the original Screen Songs "follow the bouncing ball" cartoons.
Esther M. Morgan-Ellis brings the era of movie palaces to life. She presents the origins of theater sing-alongs in the prewar community singing movement, describes the basic components of a sing-along, explores the unique presentation styles of several organists, and assesses the aftermath of sound technology, including the sing-along films and children's matinees of the 1930s.
312 pages, ebook
Published January 15, 2018
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March 12, 2018
Everybody Sing! by Esther M. Morgan-Ellis is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early February.
Factual, but fun - I was really excited to learn about this form of pre-show entertainment that I was much more unaware of, compared to newsreels, and, boy, the author really puts their Yale graduate school dissertation plus 4 years of research to good use. Song slides and singalong reels were used heavily during a timeframe between 1925-1933 to draw in customers in a way that A/C, heat, scenery, and live pre-show acts could not with organists travelling from coast to coast with their own witty-silly narratives, theme nights, legally or illegally-gained slides, and using songs to unite culture and classes with patriotism, gospel spirituals, songs that use vernacular/slang, region and occasion-specific songs, parody songs with cheesy accent, tongue-twisters, whistling, and lisps. Naturally, all of this would amp up a full show at a movie theater to be as long as 2-3 hours with the movie itself lasting about 60-105 minutes.
Factual, but fun - I was really excited to learn about this form of pre-show entertainment that I was much more unaware of, compared to newsreels, and, boy, the author really puts their Yale graduate school dissertation plus 4 years of research to good use. Song slides and singalong reels were used heavily during a timeframe between 1925-1933 to draw in customers in a way that A/C, heat, scenery, and live pre-show acts could not with organists travelling from coast to coast with their own witty-silly narratives, theme nights, legally or illegally-gained slides, and using songs to unite culture and classes with patriotism, gospel spirituals, songs that use vernacular/slang, region and occasion-specific songs, parody songs with cheesy accent, tongue-twisters, whistling, and lisps. Naturally, all of this would amp up a full show at a movie theater to be as long as 2-3 hours with the movie itself lasting about 60-105 minutes.
Displaying 1 of 1 review