Sunday, Oct 14th will be our second event in the monthly Not-S0-Silent-Sundays series at the Armory Cafe in Somerville. I will be playing an original solo-piano score to an evening of short films by early silent-film maker Georges Méliès. Méliès was thrust back into the public consciousness last year with the success of the film ‘Hugo’.

Last month’s showing of Buster Keaton’s “The General” was a great example of the bridge between the vaudeville tradition and early cinema. Méliès’ films demonstrate a different historical linkage. Méliés was an illusionist who owned a theater in Paris. He performed magic tricks, directed productions, and built elaborate sets and tricks to mesmerize his audience. His film-making began as a natural extension of the art of illusion. Through elaborate set design, stopping and starting the camera, and other new and novel effects he was able create a host of fantastical dream-scapes. Many of his films were hand-painted to give them a psychedelic, cartoon-y effect. You can read more about Méliès here. 

The Films of Georges Méliès

Sunday Oct. 14 7:30pm

Arts at the Armory Cafe

191 Highland Ave

Somerville MA 02143

free admission!