![]() She became a founding member of the Ohio chapter of the Theatre Organ Society. “I’m more of a church organ lady who just fell in love with the instrument.” She credits Peters, her “musical BFF,” for teaching her the ways of the Wurlitzer. “It was kind of like asking a tuba player to play the flute,” said Carbetta, who was classically trained at Capitol University in piano pedagogy and who describes herself as “happily average” on the Wurlitzer. She got her start in 1996 when she was asked to play for a Phantom of the Opera-themed United Way event. It found its forever home in Marion thanks to Yannitell and a crew of volunteers who installed it at the Palace in time for the 50th anniversary and reopening in 1978.Ĭarbetta followed in the footsteps and company of Yannitell, Marc Peters, John Holsinger, Thomas Buffer, and others who, over the years, have sat at the Wurlitzer’s keyboard. It was later installed in the Lavonia, Michigan, home of Al Mason, the national president of the American Theatre Organ Society. 30, 1924, and was originally installed in the Mars Theatre in Lafayette, Indiana. ![]() ![]() This particular Wurlitzer – a 3-manual, 10 rank Style 235 Special “Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra,” Opus 893 - left the factory on Aug. The Wurlitzer, procured by the late Tom Yannitell, was, in its own way, a traveling show. Eventually, however, the Page was sold by previous management to help pay down the then-struggling Theatre’s debt. The instrument and its player were vital to the success of the Theatre’s entertainment line-up. It gave “voice” to the silent films of the day and provided background music for performing Vaudevillians. Unique in its finish, the Page shone beams of light into the auditorium as the spotlight reflected off its surface. Before that, in 1928, the theatre was home to an ornate, three-manual Page Rainbow Gold, built specifically for the Marion location. The Palace’s current organ, the Wurlitzer, is the theatre’s second, installed during the Palace’s grand renovation in the 1970s. According to the American Theatre Organ Society, there were originally several thousand theatre pipe organs around the world and today only a few hundred remain. The Marion Palace Theatre considers itself fortunate to be among the list of historic theatres that are still home to a working theatre pipe organ. ![]() “Coming up the lift, surrounded by that amazing sound, my heart flutters every time,” said Carbetta, who first began playing the theatre’s organ in 1996. What is it like to rise up from the orchestra pit of the Marion Palace Theatre astride the Mighty Wurlitzer organ – as its powerful sound swirls around you and fills the theatre? In a word, “thrilling,” says Angela Carbetta, who has been among a small, close-knit group of players of this magnificent instrument for the last 20 years. ![]()
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