“Anchorage audiences love movies. Anchorage audiences love their Anchorage Symphony Orchestra. Combine the two, and you’re in for a lively night at the theater,” writes Colin Roshak in Tuesday’s (1/14) Anchorage Press (Anchorage, AK). The Anchorage Symphony’s January 11 concert, led by Music Director Randall Fleischer, “began with Chris Beheim’s Anchorage Revisited. Beheim [the orchestra’s bass clarinetist] arranged series of photos of Anchorage from its earliest years set to two Scott Joplin tunes—‘The Easy Winners’ and ‘Palm Leaf Rag.’ The main event … was the double feature of two iconic silent film comedies—Charlie Chaplin’s The Pawnshop and Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. In The Pawnshop … the score was a hodgepodge of rag-time, Joplin-esque tunes with sprinklings of Chopin and Beethoven, arranged by Beheim…. Percussionist Corliss Kimmel was able to precisely time crashes, honk, bangs and whistles to highlight the physical acting. Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. is a fast-paced, dynamic subject for an orchestral performance…. The combination of fast-paced visuals, era-defining stunt work and driving music made for a very engaging concert experience…. There’s been a resurgence in the popularity of silent films in the last 20 years or so and the ASO has found a niche for themselves.”
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