Buster Keaton: From One Week to The Balloonatic
An evening of silent-film comedy and live music in Andrews Hall
Sonoma, California. Sonoma Community Center brings back musician and composer John Partridge to accompany two short films by Buster Keaton. Keaton’s first short film, One Week, and one of his last shorts, The Balloonatic, will screen in Andrews Hall on Thursday, October 8, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are just $10 per person, and all ages are welcome. Classic film enthusiast and Movies Are Magic author Jennifer Churchill will introduce the films.
Last year, the Center shared the eerie history of Nosferatu, one of the first films to haunt audiences. This year, they are taking a different path with comedy. One Week and The Balloonatic bookend a portion of Buster Keaton’s career. And they will be doing it in a format that echoes the past: how audiences originally experienced silent movies on a big screen, as a community, with live music.
“Buster Keaton was known as the ‘Great Stone Face,’” said Churchill. “He gets a lot of laughs from the juxtaposition of the kooky physical comedy going on around him while he never wavers from his famous serious face.”
For those who have not experienced the joy of attending a silent film in the theater, these films will be viewed much like they would have in the 1920s. Even in its digital form, the film retains the flicker, grain, and gentle tremor of its original life on celluloid. Acting was different back then because without sound, they had to exaggerate gestures and expressions to tell the story.
“Modern actors Johnny Depp, JackieChan, Johnny Knoxville, and Jim Carrey all have said how much they revere the great Buster,” Churchill continued. “Come see what all the Buster Keaton love is about- you won’t be disappointed!”
Take advantage of this chance to travel back in time and see two of Buster Keaton’s most beloved shorts. The screening with live music will take place in Andrews Hall on Thursday, October 8, at 6:30 p.m., with doors at 6:00 p.m. A donation-based snack bar will be available.
All proceeds benefit the Sonoma Community Center. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit SonomaCommunityCenter.org or call 707-938-4626. The Center is located at 276 East Napa Street.
About Sonoma Community Center
The Sonoma Community Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1953 to serve the communities of Sonoma Valley with the mission of cultivating a vibrant community through extraordinary creative, cultural, and learning experiences. Originally built as the Sonoma Grammar School, which opened in 1916, the Center is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Community – Innovation – Creativity – Inclusion – Leadership
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Media Contact:
Cat Smith
Director of Marketing, Sonoma Community Center
[email protected]
707-931-4147
