Sat. Feb. 22 

Doors – 7:00 PM  

Organ Overture – 7:30 PM  

Film – 8:00 PM  

Tickets - $6  

1hr 59min | PG | Drama | USA 

Citizen Kane! "It's Terrific!" proclaimed the posters. And they were right. 

Marking the feature film debut of the famously mercurial Hollywood auteur, Orson Welles, this drama of power, politics and regret is as engrossing as it is innovative. The film examines the tumultuous life and career of its title character, newspaper owner Charles Foster Kane (played by Welles) a composite of American business tycoons reminiscent of real-life media mogul William Randolph Hearst. Told in flashback, the film pieces together a life, an attempt to explain a mystery from the recollections of a man’s friends, enemies, and lovers. At turns poignant and biting, Citizen Kane looms large as an enduring and artful piece of entertainment that has often been credited with revolutionizing the language of cinema. 

But it’s also just terrific. Come experience it with us at the Senate! 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in our gated lot, on Gilbert, and Michigan Avenue 

Sat. Nov. 23 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets - $12 

2hr 31min | NR | War/Drama | United States 

Live Organ Accompaniment by John Lauter 

Silents at the Senate is proud to present The Big Parade, an epic romance set against the backdrop of global conflagration, with live organ accompaniment by theater organist John Lauter! 

This massive international hit tells the story of a wealthy young playboy (John Gilbert, perhaps the biggest marquee idol of the 1920s) who enlists in the U.S. Army to fight in the first World War. Expecting glory and adventure, he instead must confront the horrors of war, the likes of which only friendship and love can overcome. The Big Parade was MGM’s biggest success of the silent era, owing its success to its unflinching look at the realities of war and a stirring romance made real through the talents of its lead actors.  

And, as at every Silents at the Senate screening, the visual magic of cinema will be enhanced by the unmatched auditory majesty of our Mighty Wurlitzer theater pipe organ. This one-of-a-kind instrument was literally made to accompany silent films. There is no better way to see The Big Parade!  

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts 

Parking is available in a gated parking lot on Gilbert St., behind the theater.

Doors - 2:00 PM 

Concert - 3:00 PM 

Tickets - $17 

The Detroit Theater Organ Society’s long running Organ Pops Concert series continues its 2024 season with yet another afternoon of songs and splendor at the Senate. This time around we’re combining the power of our Mighty Wurlitzer theater organ, (the eighth largest ever constructed) with the talents of an up and coming young organist, Ian Fraser! Don’t miss your chance to experience the majesty, nuance and diversity of sounds that only a theater pipe organ can provide. 

Whether you are a lifelong theater organ enthusiast or just a curious music lover, we hope to see you there! 

Artist Bio:

Ian Fraser’s fascination with organs started at the age of two when he heard a band organ on a local carousel in his hometown of Staten Island, NY. His interests soon expanded into the world of mechanicalmusic with player pianos, orchestrions, etc. When he was 16, after seeing a silent film accompanied by Bernie Anderson at Chaminade High School in Mineola, NY in 2017, he had the opportunity to sit at the console and play the theatre organ for the first time. From there, he has followed his passion to become a theatre organist.

Leveraging his ability to play by ear, Ian taught himself in just a few short years to play the theatre organ. This has been influenced by studying his favorite genres and organists. He has performed at John Dickinson High School (DE), Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall (NJ), the Loew’s Jersey Theatre (NJ), the Trenton War Memorial (NJ), the Union County Performing Arts Center (NJ), Babson College (MA), Cleveland Grays Armory Museum (OH), the Capitol Theatre (PA) and The Grand Theater (PA) among others.

Ian is the first-place winner of the American Theatre Organ Society’s Young Theatre Organist Competition which was held at the 2023 Chicago Convention.

Now residing in Plainfield, NJ, Ian is the house organist at the Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee, NJ performing pre-shows before film screenings and accompanying silent films. He is also the house organist at the St. George Theatre in Staten Island, NY performing pre-shows for their “Better on the Big Screen” classic movie series and “Arts-In-Education” series where he regularly plays for audiences of over 1,500 students in grades K-12 exposing the theatre organ to the next generation.

In addition to being a concert artist and a silent film accompanist, he has developed a new themed live show format blending silent shorts, historical presentation and a mini-concert.

Ian’s other interests are in the restoration of pipe organs and mechanical musical instruments.

He is the Vice President of AMICA’s Lady Liberty Chapter (Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors Association) and a Director of COAA (Carousel Organ Association of America). He is also a member of the NCA (National Carousel Association), GSTOS (Garden State Theatre Organ Society), NYTOS (New York Theatre Organ Society), Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society (EMCATOS), Susquehanna Valley Theatre Organ Society (SVTOS), Rochester Theatre Organ Society(RTOS), Theatre Organ Society of the Delaware Valley (TOSDV), and ATOS (American Theatre Organ Society).

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in a gated parking lot on Gilbert St., behind the theater.

Doors - 2:00 PM 

Concert - 3:00 PM 

Tickets - $17 

The Detroit Theater Organ Society’s long running Organ Pops Concert series continues its 2024 season with yet another afternoon of songs and splendor at the Senate. This time around we’re combining the power of our Mighty Wurlitzer theater organ, (the eighth largest ever constructed) with not one, but two leading organists: Scot Smill and Stephen Warner! Don’t miss your chance to experience the majesty, nuance and diversity of sounds that only a theater pipe organ can provide. 

Whether you are a lifelong theater organ enthusiast or just a curious music lover, we hope to see you there! 

Artists Biographies:

Scott Smith is a life-long resident of Lansing, Michigan. He is the owner of Scott Smith Pipe Organs, LLC, a full-service pipe organ business that services and restores both theatre and church/classical pipe organs. He has worked extensively in the field of pipe organ maintenance and restoration since high school, when he joined the volunteer crew that restored and maintained the Barton organ in Lansing’s Michigan Theatre.

Scott has performed concerts and accompanied silent films across the country, but first performed regularly at the Michigan Theatre in Lansing as its last staff organist, from 1972 to 1980. When the organ’s new home was secured as the Grand Ledge Opera House in Grand Ledge, Michigan, he was responsible for the organ’s redesign and oversaw its installation and tonal refinement, where he has been House Organist since 1995.

Stephen Warner is the organist at Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church in Detroit and a staff organist at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. He grew up in Traverse City, Michigan, where he studied piano from age seven and participated in almost every facet of the Traverse City Public Schools music program.

In 2003, Mr. Warner completed dual bachelor’s degree in organ performance and in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan. There, he had the opportunity to play the organ with many of the bands, orchestras and choirs, including the U of M Men’s Glee Club, which he was a member for 6 years. He studied organ primarily with Dr. James Kibbie and piano with Dr. Louis Nagel.

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in a gated parking lot on Gilbert St., behind the theater

Silents at the Senate Presents: The Phantom of the Opera (1925) 
Sat. Oct. 12 
Doors – 7:00 PM 
Film – 8:00 PM 
Tickets - $12 
1hr 18min | NR | Horror/Drama | United States 
Live Organ Accompaniment by Tony O’Brien
Tarot readings before the show!

This spooky season Silents at the Senate is proud to present the 1925 adaptation of the world’s most famous gothic romance, The Phantom of the Opera, with live organ accompaniment by theater organist Tony O’Brien! 

Silent screen legend Lon “The Man of a Thousand Faces” Chaney stars as the title character. A seemingly supernatural figure, the “Phantom” terrorizes patrons and employees at the Paris Opera House, all in the hopes of furthering the career of Christine, a singer and object of his deranged affections. But the real star just might be Chaney’s self-devised make-up work. Nearly a century on this grotesque tour deforce still represents the pinnacle of cinema—how imagery can creep into our minds, lurk in the shadows, and strike with vengeance when we least expect it. 

And to that visual power the Senate will add the unmatched auditory majesty of a Mighty Wurlitzer theater pipe organ, an instrument literally made to accompany a silent film. There is no better way to see The Phantom of the Opera!  

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts 

Sat. Oct. 5 

Tickets - $6 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Organ Overture – 7:30 PM 

First Film – 8:00 PM 

Second Film – 9:45 PM (approximately) 

The Masque of the Red Death (First Film) 

1hr 23min | NR | Horror/Drama | USA 

House on Haunted Hill (Second Film) 

1hr 15min | NR | Horror/Mystery | USA

 

Behold! The poetic grandeur of not one but two classic Vincent Price performances, his singular visage projected in all its emotive glory on our big screen!  

The master of villainy and heroically huge theatricality, Price’s imposing frame has long loomed large amongst the pantheon of horror icons. His turn towards the genre began in the 1950s with the likes of William Castle’s camp classic, House on Haunted Hill, now one of Price’s best-known pictures. He soon found steady employment with director Roger Corman in a string of low-budget and high-style Gothic horror flicks adapted (loosely) from Edgar Allan Poe’s tales of the macabre. This collaboration ended in 1964 with two films, including the psychedelically tinged fantasia of depravity, The Masque of the Red Death.  

Experience the joy of vintage terror, filtered through the sonorous voice and unmatched enunciation of a master thespian, with nearly three hours of horror at the Senate. It's a spooky season miracle! 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in our gated lot, on Gilbert, and Michigan Avenue

Sat. Sep. 21 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Organ Overture – 7:30 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets - $6 

2hr 8min | NR | Melodrama| Mexico

Presented with Cinema Lamont and La Carpa Theatre Teen Ensemble 

The Senate is honored to present Nosotros los Pobres (“We, the Poor”) an all-time classic melodrama from the golden age of Mexican Cinema, starring the eras most beloved icon of screen and song, Pedro Infante!  A portion of proceeds will benefit La Carpa Theatre Teen Ensemble.

Infante plays Pepe, a poor carpenter living with his adopted daughter Chachita in the slums of Mexico City. Amidst tragedy, betrayal and violence their fragile family attempts to find a place for love and hope in a world where the downtrodden have little else.  

Don’t miss your chance to see this enduring and heart-wrenching tale at the Senate. This is big drama and deserves the big screen. 

Sábado. 21 de septiembre.

Horario de ingreso: 7:00PM

Inicio de ceremonia: 7:30 PM

Película: 8:00PM

Precio de tickets: $6,00

Duración 2h08min/ Sin clasificación/ género: melodrama/ México

con Cinema Lamont and La Carpa Theatre Teen Ensemble 

The Senate tiene el honor de presentar Nosotros los Pobres, un clásico atemporal del melodrama de la época dorada del cine mexicano, protagonizado por el ícono más querido de la pantalla y la canción de la época, ¡Pedro Infante! Una parte de las ganancias beneficiará El Grupo de Teatro Juvenil La Carp.

Infante interpreta a Pepe, un pobre carpintero que vive con su hija adoptiva Chachita en los barrios bajos de la Ciudad de México. En medio de la tragedia, la traición y la violencia, su frágil familia intenta encontrar un lugar para el amor y la esperanza en un mundo donde los oprimidos tienen poco más.

No pierdas la oportunidad de ver esta conmovedora y desgarradora historia en The Senate. Es un gran drama y merece la gran pantalla.

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in our gated lot, on Gilbert, and Michigan Avenue

Doors – 2:00 PM

Concert – 3:00 PM

Tickets – $17

The Detroit Theater Organ Society is proud to present another afternoon of mighty sounds from the mightiest of instruments the (aptly named) Mighty Wurlitzer theater pipe organ!

That's right, it's another installment in our long-running Organ Pops Concert series at our home, the Senate Theater!

This time around we are pleased to host the 2020 American Theatre Organ Society Organist of Year, Justin LaVoie.

A native of Michigan, Mr. LaVoie has performed across the United States, dazzling audiences with his mastery of the instrument. Additionally, he has been featured on the nationally syndicated radio program Pipe Dreams and Steve Ashley’s Hot Pipes podcast.

There's no better way to experience and appreciate the full power and majesty of a theater organ than a live concert, and we can't wait to hear what Justin can do at the console.

We'll see you at the theater!

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in a gated parking lot on Gilbert St., behind the theater.