The massive white Wurlitzer dwarfs 78-year-old Ralph Conn, whose bombastic versions of “The Phantom of the Opera”and “That’s Entertainment” echo throughout the spacious dining room of Organ Piper Pizza. Diners can barely hear each other speak, but don’t seem to mind.
“Theatre organs aren’t something the masses are clamoring for,” says Conn, who has played at Organ Piper for decades and shares duties with Ron Reseigh and Dean Rosko. But Milwaukee hangs on to the tradition.
The American Theatre Organ Society lists four public venues here with theatre organs, including the Riverside, Oriental and Pabst theaters. For comparison, the Society lists three in all of New York City.
The louder, rambunctious cousin of the church organ generally features bigger pipes, and can include percussion and sound effects (Organ Piper’s boasts quacking ducks). “Theatre organs were designed to accompany silent films,” explains Gary Hanson, Organ Piper’s manager and a 30-year board member of the Dairyland Theatre Organ Society. “Every Milwaukee theater had one.”
The city also had four pipe organ restaurants. But the Schnitzelhaus (51st and Capitol) and two Pipe
Organ Pizza joints (Sixth and Oklahoma, 72nd and Capitol) played their last waltzes years ago.
Today, you can find the antique music makers six days a week at Organ Piper (4353 S. 108th St., opened in 1976) and before the 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday showings at the Oriental’s main theater.
“We try to keep them going,” says Conn, who also mans the Oriental’s Kimball organ, “so the public knows they’re there.”
The instruments at Organ Piper and the Oriental were created from remnants at defunct venues like the old Grand and Avalon theaters. Remarkably, the Riverside’s Wurlitzer is the original 1928 installation.
New theatre organ construction is unusual, but it’s happening at Carma Laboratories (yes, Carmex) in Franklin. President and antique instrument enthusiast Paul Woelbing discovered his 40,000-square-foot warehouse had good acoustics, so he decided to install an organ with the help of Jelani Eddington, dubbed “the official organist of Carma Laboratories.” The massive instrument is slated for completion in 2011.
It’s a Field of Dreamsapproach, says Woelbing. “If you build a great instrument, people will come play it.”
