Live music at silent film, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Monday at theater

The Rex Allen Theater has announced a very special event for the evening of Monday, Oct. 16. On that evening, Willcox will be host to a live performance by the nationally known Devil Music Ensemble. According to Bill Nolan, spokesman for the Rex Allen Theater, "The only reason Willcox is getting this group is luck. They normally play much larger venues, but their fall tour brings them through Willcox on I-10, and they have a free night. A bit later in the tour, they will be playing the Kennedy Center."

On that evening, Oct. 16, the theater will be showing the 1920 silent film classic Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, starring John Barrymore. The Devil Music Ensemble will accompany the film with live music, which the Boston Globe describes as "brainy, fun, and unexpected."

The Devil Music Ensemble consists of three talented composers and musicians, who wrote the score for the film, and perform it using about 10 instruments total. Silent films, of course, were never really silent. They were always shown with live music accompaniment, but usually with a single piano or organ. These classically trained musicians use guitars, lap guitars, vibraphones, violins, clarinets, drums, accordions, banjos, and a few more to produce a truly unique sound. On their Fall Tour, besides Willcox, they will be playing 37 venues around the country, including the University of Wisconsin, Liberty Hall in Kansas, the University of Oregon, Balboa Theater in San Francisco, the Rialto Theater in Tucson, the Dallas Museum of Art, Brown University, and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

To learn more about this event, you can visit the group's website at www.devilmusic.org, or the Rex Allen Theater site at www.willcoxmovies.com. Tickets are very limited. Admission is $9 per person, and tickets are on sale now at the Rex Allen Theater. Tickets will be available at the theater the evening of the show, as well, if it is not sold out before then.