About LTOS
The Lockport Theatre Organ Society is a non-profit organization formed to promote the Theatre Organ. The Wurlitzer organ is located in the Bette Dale Building in an assembly activities room. Concerts on the Wurlitzer have been presented since 1981.
The Lockport Theatre Organ Society is a non-profit organization formed to promote the Theatre Organ. The Wurlitzer organ is located in the Bette Dale Building in an assembly activities room. Concerts on the Wurlitzer have been presented since 1981.
What Is A Theatre Organ?
During the teens and roaring 20s, magnificent movie palaces were being built. Going to a movie was quite the experience. Movies were silent and so there was musical accompaniment to the film. In small theatres this was done with a piano or small orchestra and in theatres as large as 3,000 seats or more a very large orchestra was needed to fill the massive room with sound. In the small theatres, pianos couldn't express the drama very well with what was happening on the screen and in the large theatres, orchestras became too expensive and couldn't keep very well in synch with what was happening on the screen if there was no time to rehearse. Along came the theatre organ. Wurlitzer became the leader in theatre organ manufacturing and was local to the area with their factory being located in North Tonawanda, NY. Barton, Robert Morton, Marr and Colton and Kimball were just a few others who manufactured these 'unit orchestras'. This was exactly what was needed. One person able to imitate all the sounds of an orchestra at the tips of his fingers. Between approximately 1915 and 1932 not many more than 10,000 theatre organs were manufactured. The end was near for these mighty machines when movies began to 'talk' causing many theatre organs to fall silent. During the war years many were scrapped for metal and when movie palaces were closed up then demolished the organs died with them. Today less than a quarter of these instruments are left worldwide. In 1955 an organization was formed to save these instruments from being further neglected. The American Theatre Organ Society still exists today (ATOS.org) working to preserve these instruments on an international level. The goal for LTOS is to maintain its gem of a Wurlitzer and work to promote the theatre organ in the greater Lockport, NY area.
During the teens and roaring 20s, magnificent movie palaces were being built. Going to a movie was quite the experience. Movies were silent and so there was musical accompaniment to the film. In small theatres this was done with a piano or small orchestra and in theatres as large as 3,000 seats or more a very large orchestra was needed to fill the massive room with sound. In the small theatres, pianos couldn't express the drama very well with what was happening on the screen and in the large theatres, orchestras became too expensive and couldn't keep very well in synch with what was happening on the screen if there was no time to rehearse. Along came the theatre organ. Wurlitzer became the leader in theatre organ manufacturing and was local to the area with their factory being located in North Tonawanda, NY. Barton, Robert Morton, Marr and Colton and Kimball were just a few others who manufactured these 'unit orchestras'. This was exactly what was needed. One person able to imitate all the sounds of an orchestra at the tips of his fingers. Between approximately 1915 and 1932 not many more than 10,000 theatre organs were manufactured. The end was near for these mighty machines when movies began to 'talk' causing many theatre organs to fall silent. During the war years many were scrapped for metal and when movie palaces were closed up then demolished the organs died with them. Today less than a quarter of these instruments are left worldwide. In 1955 an organization was formed to save these instruments from being further neglected. The American Theatre Organ Society still exists today (ATOS.org) working to preserve these instruments on an international level. The goal for LTOS is to maintain its gem of a Wurlitzer and work to promote the theatre organ in the greater Lockport, NY area.
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The console that controls Lockport's Mighty Wurlitzer
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