The world-renowned Alloy Orchestra will return to the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center for a 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3 performance.
The group will play an original score accompanying the digitally restored silent film “The Son of the Shiek” (1926). The film stars Vilma Banky and Rudolph Valentino in his final role.
Tickets, available at the Ross box office and online, are $25 general admission, $20 for senior citizens, and $15 for students and Friends of the Ross members.
The Alloy Orchestra is a three man musical ensemble, writing and performing live accompaniment to classic silent films. The group uses an array of peculiar objects to create soulful music and sounds. Using their famous “rack of junk” and electronic synthesizers, the group can conjure up a French symphony or a simple German bar band of the 20’s. The group can make the audience think it is being attacked by tigers, contacted by radio signals from Mars or swept up in the Russian Revolution.
In “Son of the Shiek,” Valentino plays an unusual dual role, both the sheik and his son. The son of the sheik and a dancing girl (Vilma Banky) fall in love, but when he is made to believe she has betrayed him he seeks revenge.
The production was Valentino’s last film. He died of an infection two weeks before the general release of the film, while on a nationwide promotion tour. The film was a huge hit with audiences (grossing a million dollars in the first year) and critics have deemed it the greatest work of the actor’s career.
For more information, go to http://www.theross.org.
