Milwaukee's Oriental Theatre will finally debut its historic Wurlitzer pipe organ

Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·2 min read
Coming soon to the Oriental Theatre: This 1925 Wurlitzer pipe organ.
Coming soon to the Oriental Theatre: This 1925 Wurlitzer pipe organ.

The Oriental Theatre's mighty Wurlitzer will be back in business next month.

Milwaukee Film, which operates the Oriental and the Milwaukee Film Festival, said the 1925 Wurlitzer pipe organ that it secured in 2019 will have its formal debut at a fundraiser Nov. 8 at the east side movie palace at 2230 N. Farwell Ave.

“Milwaukee Film has always been a champion of cinematic history and culture, and the addition of this instrument to our majestic Oriental Theatre reflects its historic and significant importance,” Susan Mikulay, Milwaukee Film board chair, said in a statement.

After an organ performance and a silent auction, the Wurlitzer will accompany a screening of the classic 1923 Harold Lloyd comedy "Safety Last." At the debut, organist Ron Rhode will play the 98-year-old pipe organ, which has been extensively restored.

“When considering how best to celebrate and unveil the newly installed Wurlitzer at the Oriental Theatre, we wanted to honor the overlapping histories of cinema and the theatre organ,” Cara Ogburn, Milwaukee Film's artistic director, said in the statement. “So Lloyd’s classic, always a crowd-pleaser and celebrating a major anniversary this year, was an easy, natural and perhaps obvious choice."

Tickets for the Nov. 8 fundraiser, which starts at 5:30 p.m., are $200. For tickets and other info, go to mkefilm.org/mightywurlitzer.

The Wurlitzer secured by Milwaukee Film was first installed in the Paramount Theater in Atlanta, where it operated until the 1950s. The pipe organ was acquired through a partnership with Jeff Weiler of JL Weiler Inc., a pipe-organ curating and preservation outfit based in Chicago. Weiler will be on hand at the Nov. 8 fundraiser to talk about the pipe organ's history and restoration.

A look at some of the pipes in the 1925 Wurlitzer pipe organ that's been restored for installation in Milwaukee's Oriental Theatre.
A look at some of the pipes in the 1925 Wurlitzer pipe organ that's been restored for installation in Milwaukee's Oriental Theatre.

The return of a pipe organ, which in the silent era provided the soundtrack in many movie palaces, revives a decades-old tradition at the Oriental.

From 1991 until 2018, a Kimball pipe organ was played on Saturday nights in the main theater under the aegis of the Kimball Theatre Organ Society. That pipe organ changed hands in 2017, and its new owners removed it from the Oriental in April 2018 — three months before Milwaukee Film formally took over the theater.

There's a lot more to a pipe organ than pedals, pipes and keyboard. Here are some of the workings of the 1925 Wurlitzer pipe organ that has been restored for installation in Milwaukee's Oriental Theatre by JL Weiler Inc. of Chicago.
There's a lot more to a pipe organ than pedals, pipes and keyboard. Here are some of the workings of the 1925 Wurlitzer pipe organ that has been restored for installation in Milwaukee's Oriental Theatre by JL Weiler Inc. of Chicago.

When it opened in 1927, the Oriental had a Barton pipe organ, built in Oshkosh. That instrument lasted in the theater until 1959, according to Milwaukee Film.

The Milwaukee movie palace has undergone extensive restoration efforts since Milwaukee Film took over operations in 2018.

RELATED: Here's what's new in Milwaukee theaters this week

RELATED: Downer Theatre, Milwaukee's oldest movie theater, closes; Milwaukee Film 'excited' about prospects

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's Oriental Theatre will finally debut historic pipe organ