The event that especially interested me was the free showing of a
Harold Lloyd movie,
Hot Water, in the Capitol Theater. It has some funny moments but is definitely not as good as his more famous movies. Because it was free, I was surprised and disappointed that most seats in the balcony, where I sat, were empty. Opened in 1928, the theater is one of the few silent movie theaters left that has its original organ to accompany movies.
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| Capitol Theater, Overture Center; Madison, Wisconsin. September 27, 2014. Organ being played prior to show. |
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The theater was kept and renovated as part of the
Overture Center, which has a much larger hall within the complex. I attended one of the first concerts in the Overture Hall--Dave Brubeck--but I disliked the "European seating" design in the balconies without aisles. The older Capitol Theater, on the other hand, is much more comfortable with its palace look.
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| Barnum and London Cage Wagon, 1883--along State Street, Madison, WI |
For the anniversary of the entire center, a circus theme was chosen--I suppose because of the proximity of the
Circus World Museum in Baraboo. About a dozen circus wagons from the museum were placed on streets surrounding the Overture Center. According to signs posted near each wagon, most of the wagons are over 100 years old. They included ones for caged animals, music calliopes (one of them was playing while I walked by), bands, and selling tickets. The band wagons reminded me of Dr. Seuss books.
One reason that I post this information is in case someone is considering moving to Madison, such as to teach at UW. In recent years, the sociology department has lost prominent professors through retirement, better salaries elsewhere, or family reasons. Some prospective professors and grad students maybe have the misconception of a boring Midwest, so they prefer one of the coasts. [I'd forgotten to post this after I created it this past fall.]
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| Circus calliope wagon |
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| Circus steam calliope |
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