Duck Soup Cinema

The Raucous Sound of Silence

Several times a year, we reclaim the silent film heritage of the Capitol Theater with our Duck Soup Cinema Series. Local vaudeville-style acts open for a silent film screening that has the crowd roaring by the end of the night. Each show features a skilled organist who mirrors the actors’ emotions, just as it was done in 1928.

Duck Soup Cinema will return to Overture Center in Fall, 2022. Stay tuned!

Grand Barton Organ Restoration Update

We are excited to share that the Grand Barton Organ has returned to the Capitol Theater. The restoration remains in progress, and we look forward to hearing it fill the theater with music again soon. Stay tuned for updates.

Check out Wisconsin Public Television’s University Place feature on silent film organist and composer Jelani Eddington. In the episode, filmed in Capitol Theater, Eddington accompanies scenes from “The Flying Ace,“ a 1926 silent film with an all-African American cast.

Check out our very own silent film, First Date, produced in the spirit of Duck Soup Cinema!

Overture’s Duck Soup Cinema silent film series is nationally known for providing an authentic and rare silent film experience in the historic Capitol Theater, which celebrated its 90th anniversary in January 2018. As these films were released nearly a century ago, please be aware they may depict some of the theatric and social conventions of the time including material that may be considered socially insensitive today.

See a full chronology of silent film in the Capitol Theater HERE