It’s hard to imagine, but before TV and Internet, people learned about current events at the movie theatre. There they would get a window into the world via “newsreels,” which were shown alongside movies and cartoons. Frequently, these were all musically accompanied, live, with a theatre organ.
Students can now experience something like this for themselves! Through a combination of comedy film clips, cartoons, historic photos, and newsreel footage, students will get their own window into the early 1900’s of the United States—from industrialization and cinema to the Great Depression and World War II. They will also glimpse how kids just like them, living in Tucson, experienced these aspects of history.
Taking it to the next level, students will enjoy it all in a historically authentic setting—the Fox Theatre, built in 1930—and with historically authentic, live music! An acclaimed theatre organist will be on the stage, sharing about the mind-blowing Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ that has been restored to the Fox and playing it to accompany the film segments.
