BRATTLEBORO-On on Friday, May 17, at 7 p.m., Epsilon Spires, 190 Main St., offers a rare screening of the 1916 silent film treasure, Snow White, with an original live score performed on harp and viola by sisters Leslie and Barbara McMichael. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the film begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are by sliding-scale and popcorn and refreshments are included.
Everyone knows Disney's classic animated film Snow White, but few are aware that a teenage Walt Disney growing up in Kansas City saw the original silent movie of the fairy tale, and it was this 1916 silent movie that inspired him to blaze a path in filmmaking and make his own version in 1937.
Like all silent films, Snow White was made on flammable nitrate film stock, and for many years, it was rumored to have been destroyed in a vault fire. But a single theatrical print was discovered in the Netherlands in 1992, and a heroic restoration was performed by the George Eastman House film archive.
Now the silent fantasy returns to the silver screen, and film goers can see the long-lost Snow White with live musical accompaniment.
Seattle-based harpist-composer Leslie McMichael will perform her original composition on the concert harp for the 63-minute film with her sister Barbara McMichael. who will play viola.
Northwest Film Forum commissioned McMichael to compose a new score for Snow White in 2016, and the 100-year-old film and McMichael's live music premiered on opening night of Children's Film Festival Seattle that year. Since then, the old film and live accompaniment have toured across the country.
How did McMichael approach the project of scoring the film? The harpist says that her DVD remote and digital timer were two modern tools that she relied on to compose a soundtrack that fits the onscreen action.
After watching the film and writing longhand notes about every scene and character, she says she developed musical themes to reflect the moods in the storyline. Certain motifs reappear in her score whenever a character appears - Snow White has specific music, as does the Witch, the Huntsman, the Prince, and, of course, the Seven Dwarves.
"It's thrilling to play live and pair the visuals of film with my music," McMichael said in a news release. "With every performance, we get to use our instruments to underscore the expressive acting so typical of the silent era - very fun!"
For advance tickets, visit epsilonspires.org.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.