Aroundtown Magazine May June 2023 edition

OUT & ABOUT
Songs from the
silver screen
An industrial estate comprising
of self storage units is probably
not the place you’d expect to
find a tribute to the halcyon days
of 1930s theatre organs.
But the Astoria Centre in Barugh Green is
nothing like you’ve ever experienced before.
The first of its kind in the UK, the Astoria
Centre is Barnsley’s unique centre of musical
heritage dedicated to the theatre organ.
Inside the steel fabricated walls, the unit has
been transformed into a top-quality concert
venue with a nod to the Art Deco era when
entertainment was king.
Long before surround sound, theatre
organs were used for silent films, replacing the
orchestras that once swamped the cinema hall.
If you’ve never seen someone play the theatre
organ before, it’s quite a sight to behold. One
Restoring it took five years,
“
with 1,200 pipes ranging from
16-foot to a few inches tall.
”
30 aroundtownmagazine.co.uk
Pipe Room
person sat on a stool in front of this almighty
instrument that looks like a pilot’s control deck
can create every sound of an orchestra using
both hands and both feet. It’s simply mind
boggling to watch.
The Astoria Centre enables visitors to enjoy
music that was once such a key cog in a cinema
visit for less than a current-day cinema ticket.
Every Wednesday, the public can reminisce
about their youth or courting days at the popular
afternoon tea dances. Or on Thursdays you can
Melotone Horn
Kevin and the Mayor
wallow in nostalgia at the Music and Memories
mini concerts. They also host monthly events
where they welcome celebrated organists from
the music scene such as Tower Ballroom’s Phil
Kelsall MBE or Robert Wolfe from the acclaimed
Thursford Show.
Song repertoire varies across 100 years of
popular music, so it’s not just music from the
1920s and ‘30s. There might be songs from the
Beatles, Dusty Springfield, Adele, or Robson
and Jerome. Sometimes the setlist will include
songs from shows and musicals, or even film
scores like Harry Potter and Disney.
It’s always tuneful, and always performed
on the range of theatre organs that make up
their collection including a three-manual electric
organ and a three-manual Allen digital replica
theatre organ.
New life has been breathed into the pipes
of some classic items from film music history
such as a 1934 Compton organ from the Astoria
Cinema in Purley, Surrey, after which the centre
is named. Restoring it took five years, with 1,200
pipes ranging from 16-foot to a few inches tall.
This painstaking task was undertaken by
volunteers from the Penistone Cinema Organ
Trust who are custodians of the Astoria Centre.