Charlie Chaplin in "City Lights," with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra

Charlie Chaplin and Virginia Cherrill in City Lights, 1931

Last night we all climbed into the TARDIS (which is bigger on the inside) and traveled back in time to 1931 to watch City Lights, a silent Charlie Chaplin film on the silver screen, accompanied by a live orchestra and a live audience roaring with laughter (because silent films were not, in fact, silent at all).  All of which is totally and completely true, except for the part about the TARDIS (we've been watching a lot of Dr. Who reruns as well). 

Actually, the film was screened at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in 2014 with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra performing the original score to the silent film, just as original audiences would have experienced the film back in 1931 when it was a new release.  Jacomo Rafael Bairos, the energetic young conductor whom our sons remember from his tenure with the CSO Lollipops family concert series when they were much younger, led the orchestra in a rousing rendition of Chaplin's original score.  It was absolutely fantastic.  We loved it, the kids loved it, and I wish this wasn't just a one-time thing. 

Also, I had not known that Charlie Chaplin not only starred in his films, but also wrote the films, directed the films, AND composed his own musical scores.  Note to self: Find a Charlie Chaplin biography next time I'm at the book store.

That's all you get -- a quilt is calling me from across the room!