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THURS 10/13
Bay Area silent-film fans, long used to showy solos by organists
who play "I've Been Working on the Railroad" every time a train
appears, or to pianists who offer variations on the same theme no matter
what the movie, have found relief. Over the past decade, offbeat musical
combos such as the Club Foot Orchestra, the Sprocket Ensemble, and the
Alloy Orchestra have delighted and sometimes perplexed viewers with fresh
takes on silent cinema. Their efforts have refreshed a vibrant era of
picture-making.
To that roster of revivalists can now be added the Devil Music
Ensemble, a string-heavy trio hailing from Boston that's been known to
work with a range of unique instruments, including vibraphones and
accordions. The group's red-eyed eclecticism should be perfect for both the
western comedy Big Stakes and for F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu,
the classic of German expressionism with Max Schreck as the original screen
Dracula. Schreck looks like an elongated edition of Edvard Munch's painting
The Scream, and his unearthliness can still raise a shudder today. Big
Stakes starts at 7 and Nosferatu starts at 8:45 p.m. at the
Balboa Theater, 3630 Balboa (at 38th Avenue), S.F. Admission is $10-20;
call 221-8184 or visit www.thebalboatheater.com.
-- Gregg Rickman
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