V I S U A L
S T A T E M E N T :
Andrew Rogers, a staff organist at
the Michigan Theater, first became in-
terested in the organ at a chapel at one
of his spiritual retreats before coming to
the Michigan Theater.
“I started to enjoy some of the sounds
of the organ but then I got interested in
wanting to learn how to play,” Rogers said.
“Music was always in the background. I
worked for a travel agency and I had (a)
church job and music got squeezed in
between everything else. I quit the travel
agency so I could do more programs …
So now it was my opportunity to make
a living out of music rather than just a
hobby. I was able to come down here and
start playing before films and occasion-
ally travel doing silent films.”
During these silent films accompani-
ments, Rogers acts a live score — choos-
ing how to incorporate his music into
the film and acting almost as a director.
“For instance, in Hitchcock’s ‘The
Lodger’, there’s a girl in the film and
you’re not sure if she’s safe around the
lodger or not, so I can really choose mu-
sically, when I will let the audience know
she’s safe,” Rogers said. “Every time I
do a film (it’s) a little different because
the way I incorporate the melodies will
change each time.”
While Rogers does spend his time ac-
companying silent films, his job at the
Michigan Theater gives him the rare op-
portunity to play on one of 40 organs in
the country that are still in their original
home.
“Other (organs) have fallen into disuse,
(been) removed, split up for parts to go
into other organs or moved into differ-
ent locations like schools or churches,”
Rogers said. “It’s really the interest and
foresight of the theater that have kept it
up. So whatever I say about the organ or
my role here it’s really the theater that
backs the organ and keeps it running.”
M o r e t h a n
M ov i e s a t
t h e M i c h i g a n
T h e a te r
BY
ASHA LEWIS
Wednesday, January 23, 2019 // The Statement
8B