Creepy Encore: ‘Nosferatu’ and Mini Mo will star at the Rylander Theatre

AMERICUS — Scary monsters and sci-fi devices like time travel are all the rage at Halloween, and the Rylander Theatre is combining the two for a unique experience at its Mini Moller Monster Movie on Oct. 27.

The theater will feature the 1922 silent horror movie “Nosferatu,” one of the earliest cinematic vampire tales and one that is popular with classic movie collectors. Theater-goers will be transported back in time — or at least feel like it — when the film is presented with live accompaniment from the Rylander’s Moller pipe organ, allowing them to experience the film much as movie-goers in the 1920s would have.

“This is us answering the call for an encore,” Heather Stanley, managing director of the Rylander, said last week.

While “Nosferatu” can be seen — it was recently broadcast on Turner Classic Movies — the Rylander’s big-screen presentation is what makes the show unique, she said.

“Seeing it like it was in the 1920s in a theater, this is an event experience,” she said.

It’s also a response to demand from the public. Last October, the Rylander presented the 1925 version of “The Phantom of the Opera,” which also was a silent version, with Atlanta organist Ron Carter performing the score on the Americus theater’s “Mini Mo.”

“As soon as the ‘Phantom’ was over last year, we had people calling and asking, ‘Are y’all going to do that again?’” Stanley said. “This is a such wonderful opportunity for us to once again showcase the ‘Mini Mo’ and for our patrons to see a classic film as it was intended to be experienced in theaters in the 1920s.

“This isn’t something you get to enjoy every day and with it being so close to Halloween, it just adds to the fun of the event.”

Stanley said Carter came highly recommended in 2016 by the American Theater Organists Society, of which he is a member. He is house organist for the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta and the Earl Smith Strand Theatre in Marietta.

“Mr. Carter graciously agreed to perform his original score for this film,” she said. “He was thrilled to be asked back. He actually sent us a list of movies that he had music scores for.”

Among those was “Nosferatu,” which Stanley they quickly settled on.

“It’s a great vampire classic horror movie and this is the Friday right before Halloween,” she said. “People who love classic films, this movie is in their personal libraries.

“It’s a nice, good, classic scary movie.”

One that, thanks to Carter, will be preceded by lighter fare that still fits with the theme. In the early and mid 20th century, films often shown after short news reels and features. The comedy short “Haunted Spooks,” starring Harold Lloyd and accompanied by Carter on the Mini Mo, will be presented before the audience gets to sink its teeth into “Nosferatu.” Carter had the score for the Lloyd short available.

“He (Carter) just threw that in,” Stanley said. “This even enhances the experience more.”

She said the theater is fortunate to have a muscian of Carter’s caliber come in for the show, saying he’s one of the musicians “who know how to get the most out of an instrument like” the Mini Mo.

While a pipe organ would have been used to accompany a film like “Nosferatu” in 1992, the Rylander’s Moller dates to 1928. It has the nickname Mini Mo because a larger version, known as “Mighty Mo,” is at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. Stanley said that until recently, the Fox and Rylander were the only two theaters in Georgia that had this type of organ.

Tickets for the show are on sale. Seating is reserved. Admission is $15, adults, and $10, students kindergarten-12th grade. The event also is eligible for Friends Membership complimentary tickets.

Tickets can be reserved by calling the Rylander box office at (229) 931-0001 or visiting the rylander.org website. The box office is open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays. The Rylander is located at 310 W. Lamar St.