Wurlitzer
Organ Trust of
Hollywood
Cinema, Avondale,
Our
Wurlitzer Organ
Excerpted
from The
Unit Orchestra In The “Land Of The Long White Cloud” – A Look At The Theatre
Pipe Organ In New Zealand
By
Jelani Eddington, © 2004
RJE Productions LLC (reprinted with permission)
3/15 Wurlitzer, Opus 1475 – Hollywood
Cinema, Avondale,
Not
surprisingly, the center of gravity of theatre organ activity in New Zealand is
located in Auckland, the country’s largest city of over 1 million
inhabitants. The 3-manual 15-rank
Wurlitzer that now resides in the Hollywood Cinema in Avondale (a suburb of
Auckland) began its life as a 2-manual 8-rank Wurlitzer “Model F” Opus
1475. Shipped from Wurlitzer’s North
Tonawanda factory in October 1926, Opus 1475 arrived in New Zealand in December
of that year and was installed in the 1,700-seat Regent Theatre on Auckland’s
Queen Street – the city’s most elegant thoroughfare.
The
installation of the instrument was not completed in time for the official
opening of the theatre in December 1926, and the organ was not heard publicly
until February 1927 in a dedicatory concert played by American organist Eddie
Horton. The theatre engaged Mr. Horton
as house organist for the next year, followed by Australian organist Knight
Barnett. As was often the case, the advent
of the “talking” pictures in the 1930s temporarily silenced the instrument, and
it was very rarely heard in public.
Additionally, with the arrival of the much larger Wurlitzer Style 260
“Special” at the Civic Theatre only a few doors up the street from the Regent
(see below), the novelty of the Regent Wurlitzer all but vanished.
After sitting virtually unplayed and unheard for several years, the instrument was
offered for sale in 1944, and the parents and pupils of Hutt
Valley High School, located in a dormitory suburb of New Zealand’s capital
city, Wellington, purchased the instrument.
The organ was installed in the school’s assembly hall where it became a
feature of the music department and played for various school functions for
many years. Sadly, in 1968 a deadly
tropical cyclone struck the area which, at its apex, blew apart a portion of
the roof of the school hall, exposing the instrument to torrential rains and
wind. (In fact, this same storm was
responsible for the sinking of an inter-island ferry, the Wahine,
at the entrance to
Wellington Harbor,
with the tragic loss of 51 lives.)
Due
to the significant damage to the Wurlitzer, the school considered the
instrument to be unplayable and sold it to Wellington businessman and organ
enthusiast Lindsay Anderson who in turn sold the instrument to Auckland
enthusiast Les Stenersen in 1978. Mr. Stenersen, with
the assistance of the late Mr. Jan Grefstad (owner of
the Hollywood Cinema), Mr. John Parker (an organ builder from Sydney,
Australia, then resident in New Zealand), the Kiwi Chapter of the American
Theatre Organ Society, and a host of volunteers, brought the organ back to
Auckland in August of that year and began the process of installing the
instrument in the Hollywood Cinema.
[FN1]
The
instrument was repaired and painstakingly rebuilt under the direction of John
Parker. Because the Hollywood Cinema was
used exclusively for motion pictures, it was possible for the instrument to be
installed in three chambers (Main, Solo, and Percussion) behind the movie
screen. The console was situated to the
left of the proscenium on a turntable lift.
The opposite side of the proscenium houses a Wurlitzer upright piano
console which was once the piano-console organ at the Cozy Theatre in Masterton (see below).
In
addition to the original eight Model F ranks (Tuba Horn, Open Diapason, Tibia Clausa, Violin & Celeste, Clarinet, Vox
Humana, and Concert Flute), four more ranks were added, including a Solo
String, Tromba, and a “pseudo” Kinura
and Post Horn. Mr. Anderson retained the
organ’s original toy counter and percussions before the instrument was returned
to Auckland, and, accordingly, the traps from Cozy Theatre Wurlitzer were
incorporated into the Hollywood organ.
Additionally, Wellington organ enthusiast Michael Woolf
loaned a Glockenspiel and Xylophone from his residence installation (see
discussion of the Nelson Paramount below).
The
installation and restoration of the instrument was completed in late 1982, and
November of that year saw the re-inaugural concert with Australian organists
Tony Fenelon and Margaret Hall at the console.
Following this gala re-opening of the instrument, the Hollywood
Wurlitzer was used very regularly and could be heard in as many as eight public
concerts each year.
In 1993, Mr. Stenerson announced his intention to sell the Wurlitzer,
and with the spectre of the instrument being sold for
parts overseas, a group of eight enthusiasts formed the Wurlitzer Organ Trust
of Auckland (WOTA) – a charitable trust that purchased the instrument from Mr. Stenerson and assumed responsibility for its preservation
and maintenance. Once the Trust was
established, the first priority was to focus on the condition of the
instrument. Since 1984, the instrument
had been a very active organ with 6-8 concerts each year and was in need of
refurbishment and upgrading.
The
first phase of the renovation included locating a full set of percussions to
replace those loaned by Mr. Woolf. With the assistance of Russ Evans from
Seattle, four Wurlitzer percussions (the Glockenspiel, Chrysoglott,
Xylophone, and Chimes) were obtained, restored, and installed, and the units on
loan were returned to Mr. Woolf. In addition, WOTA was able to re-acquire the
original toy counter and that had been retained by Mr. Anderson, and those
traps were reunited with Opus 1475. Moreover,
the Kinura and Post Horn were replaced with more
suitable ranks, the Solo String was replaced by a pair of Salicionals,
and a Trumpet was incorporated into the instrument. With the recent installation of an Orchestral
Oboe, the Hollywood Wurlitzer is now complete at 15 ranks.
The
second phase of the restoration came with the rebuilding of the console, as the
organ had literally outgrown its original two-manual console. To this end, and again with the assistance of
Russ Evans, a three-manual Style 235 Wurlitzer console was located, originally
from Opus 1256 that had been shipped to Loew’s
Theatre in Norfolk, Virginia. John
Parker rebuilt the console and modernized the specification. John Andrews, also
of Sydney, installed an electrified combination action with seven levels of
memory, plus a complete solid-state organ relay to replace the original
pneumatic relay. The organ’s original
two-manual console and relay were acquired by Michael Woolf
in Wellington to control his residence organ.
In May 1998, the newly refurbished console and relay arrived in
Auckland. The premier concert series
took place over the course of a three-month period between June and August of
that year with organists from around the world, including Ken Double from the
United States, Chris Powell, from the United Kingdom, and Margaret Hall, from
Australia.
Since
that time, the Hollywood Wurlitzer has become a focal point of theatre organ
activity in New Zealand, regularly welcoming numerous artists from around the
world. In fact, the Hollywood Wurlitzer
is often the starting point for
organists embarking on tours throughout
[FN1] For an account of the return of the Regent
Wurlitzer from Wellington to Auckland, see Dawe,
Norman, "A Kiwi Wurlitzer In Flight."
Theatre Organ Dec. 1978-Jan. 1979: 23-25.
CHAMBER ANALYSIS
(all ranks are Wurlitzer unless otherwise noted)
SOLO CHAMBER (RIGHT SIDE)
Tuba Horn
Tibia Clausa
Solo String (Robert
Morton)
Vox Humana
Kinura (Robert Morton)
String Celeste
Trumpet (Robert Morton)
Orchestral Oboe (Brand X)
PERCUSSION CHAMBER
(CENTRE)
Toy Counter and Effects
Glockenspiel/Orchestral Bells
Master Xylophone (re-iterate)
Sleigh Bells
Chrysoglott
Metal Bar Marimba Harp (Christie)
MAIN CHAMBER (LEFT SIDE)
Concert Flute
Violin
Open Diapason
Viol Celeste
Clarinet
Harmonic Tromba (Crofts)
Post Horn
UNENCLOSED (CENTRE)
Xylophone (single tap)
Tower Chimes (Church
& Carillon Bell Co. - England ex-Auckland
Town Hall Organ)
Cathedral Chimes
Piano
Since this article was written the organ
has now reached its final total of 16 ranks with the addition of a digital 16’
& 32’ Bass String & Violone – June 2007
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