The Cameraman: Silent Film With Live Music
Featuring Aaron David Miller, organist
A classic silent film from 1928, The Cameraman is considered one of slapstick comedian Buster Keaton’s best. The romantic comedy follows a simple photographer who dreams of capturing video for the news, but continually finds himself in various wrong places at the wrong times. The zany action on screen will be accompanied live by organist Aaron David Miller 
, a maestro on the historic Northrop Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ. The soundtrack will be improvised during the film—just as was done in early 20th century theaters.
Advisory: This 1928 film contains negative depictions of people or cultures.
Free for UMN students; registration required.
“Aaron possesses a composer’s insight to understanding music.”—The American Organist Magazine
“Courageous improvisations with flair.”—MPR
“Aaron turned the organ into an audible color wheel as he improvised.”—Los Angeles Times
If you need assistance with your tickets, please call 612-624-2345, email umntix@umn.edu.
Interested in connecting before the show? Join Project Success in Northrop’s lobby for a pre-show Teacher Appreciation Affinity Event to celebrate the educators in our lives! Connect with other teachers, enjoy snacks and refreshments, take a selfie at the Hollywood-themed photo booth, and stop by the Project Success table for fun swag and prizes. All are welcome! Note: no food will be allowed in the theater.
Affinity Events are designed to bring people with similar interests or backgrounds together before performances and to facilitate connections and a sense of belonging for those new to Northrop.
You might enjoy this performance if you loved:
The Phantom of the Opera: Silent Film with Live Music Featuring Aaron David Miller, organ
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis: Silent Film with Live Music Featuring Peter Richard Conte, organ
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The content below derives from the Northrop Across Campus Program that supports Northrop's mission towards intersections between performing arts and education for the benefit of all participants now and for generations to come.
Find ways to make thematic connections to these suggested topics:
Cinematography
Filmmaking
History of film
Silent film
Music: Organ Performance, Composition, Music for Film
Journalism
Comedy
Improvisation
Take a deeper dive with these resources that provide additional information about the performers, the history of the art form, and the artistic process.
Links:
PBS American Masters: “Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow”
Criterion: The Cameraman article
Silent Film: The Cameraman article
Elements of Madness: Explore Silent Film Era Superstar Buster Keaton’s World article
Start a conversation about the performance or encourage reflection, using these questions as inspiration.
In PBS’s Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow, directors Kevin Brownlow and David Gill open with this statement: “Buster Keaton is considered one of the greatest comic actors of all time. His influence on physical comedy is rivaled only by Charlie Chaplin.”
Edward Sedwick, who co-directed the film alongside Keaton, writes about The Cameraman for its release on the Criterion Collection: “Buster Keaton is at the peak of his slapstick powers in The Cameraman … his last great masterpiece … Keaton plays a hapless newsreel cameraman desperate to impress both his new employer and his winsome office crush as he zigzags up and down Manhattan hustling for a scoop … The marvelously inventive film-within-a-film setup allows Keaton’s imagination to run wild, yielding both sly insights into the travails of moviemaking and an emotional payoff of disarming poignancy.”
Renowned composer, improviser, and organist Aaron David Miller will accompany Northrop’s screening of The Cameraman with live music. Miller last appeared on Northrop’s stage during Manual Cinema’s Ada/Ava and has received rave reviews when accompanying silent films.
