The Butte Symphony adds the musical backdrop to films by Laurel and Hardy and Buster Keaton.
The Butte Symphony once again blends film and music in a free outdoor concert, 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 16, at the Original Mine Yard in Uptown Butte.
The annual Symphony Under the Silver Screen features the musical scores composed by Ben Model (www.silentfilmmusic.com) for two silent films: 1928’s “Wrong Again” featuring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy; and Buster Keaton’s 1921 masterpiece, “The Goat.”
In “Wrong Again,” stable grooms Laurel and Hardy overhear news of a $5,000 reward for the return of a stolen painting, “The Blue Boy.” But the intrepid duo thinks the reward is for the horse at their barn named Blue Boy.
When they bring the horse to the painting’s owner, the millionaire speaks to them from an upstairs window where he can’t see the steed, and instructs them to bring Blue Boy in the house and put him on the piano. Chaos naturally ensues.
In “The Goat,” Keaton is once again in the wrong place at the wrong time after he’s mistaken for an escaped murderer.
The orchestra starts the evening with Seven Dances from “Dansrye” by Tielman Susato. This Renaissance piece, composed in 1551, showcases the full orchestra under the direction of Maestro Luis Millan.
Bring lawn chairs and blankets and be ready for a delightful evening. If the weather is inclement the concert will be held in the historic Mother Lode Theatre.
The Symphony Under the Silver Screen is sponsored by the Quality Inn of Butte and Montana Pro Audio, with generous grants from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, the Montana Arts Council Public Value Partnership, and the Montana CulturalTrust/Cultural & Aesthetic Project Grant.
The all-volunteer Butte Symphony Orchestra is the oldest symphony orchestra in Montana, and was founded in 1950, hence the invitation to “come to the Original and experience Montana’s Original Symphony Orchestra in an evening of music, movies, and laughter.”
The orchestra’s upcoming season opens Oct. 3 with “An Evening of Classical Guitar and Orchestra.” For details, visit buttesymphony.org or find the orchestra on Facebook.