The brilliant trio Alloy Orchestra returns to the Ruth Sokolof Theater for a live musical performance set to VARIETÉ, E.A. Dupont’s 1925 silent melodrama about jealousy and murder set in the world of circus acrobats.

Heavily censored on its initial American release, VARIETÉ delivers action, romance, and surprisingly touching performances. Emil Jannings stars as an acrobat recounting the circumstances that landed him in the slammer for murder: how he abandoned his family for a mysterious and beautiful circus performer, how she was lured away by a devious trapeze artist, and the deadly result of his jealousy. This Weimar-era delight is an example of the thrilling and groundbreaking “unchained camera” technique that spurred many of the innovations that have become staples of cinematography.

Formed in Boston in 1990, Alloy Orchestra (Roger Miller, Ken Winokur and Terry Donahue) began their love affair with silent films with an original score for METROPOLIS in 1991. In the years since, they have written original scores for more than 30 feature-length film presentations and performed more than a thousand shows around the world. Working with an outrageous assemblage of peculiar objects, the group’s members employ instruments ranging from the expected (clarinet, keyboards) to the not-so-much (“junk”).

Special Notes

Special thanks to Film Streams’ sponsor for visiting filmmakers and guests, Hilton Omaha.