Back to the Twenties - Playing the 1929 State Theatre Wurlitzer, Sydney

The 1929 State Theatre Wurlitzer was restored by Jeff Weiler in the 2010s, and became available to play in 2019. This performance on 9th February 2020 was part of its revival debut, and I played alongside theatre organists Cliff Bingham and Simon Ellis. This was one of the last performances before the Covid lockdowns began, and also it was one of the worst days of continuous rainfall and flooding in Sydney. That did not stop us from performing for this spectacular occasion.

Sadly, the organ has not been used publicly since that day, and our organ community suspects that the State Theatre is not very interested in using it for performances- rather, the restoration of the organ was done out of necessity, since NSW law recognises the organ as a part of the building, in the case of a heritage listing. The State Theatre was required to restore it, as part of the maintenance of the rest of the building.

My thanks to Michael Piquemal, Barry Tooker and my wife Kim for filming the performance.

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