Alloy Orchestra to Perform Score to Restored Fritz Lang Film Metropolis 9/30

The Alloy Orchestra takes the Englert Theatre stage at 8 p.m. on Friday, September 30 for what film critic Roger Ebert calls "the film event of the year."

Alloy will perform their original score with a screening of the complete, restored version of Fritz Lang's classic silent film "Metropolis."

Based in Cambridge, Mass., Alloy Orchestra is a three-man musical ensemble writing and performing live accompaniment to classic silent films: Roger Miller on synthesizer; Terry Donahue on junk percussion, accordion, saw and banjo; and Ken Winokur on junk percussion and clarinet. Winokur formerly lived in Iowa City and attended City High School in 1971-72; his mother and sister still live in Iowa City.

Ebert calls Alloy "the best in the world at accompanying silent films."

For more than 20 years, Alloy Orchestra has helped revive some of the great masterpieces of the silent era. The group has performed at festivals and cultural centers in the U.S. and abroad, including the Louvre, Lincoln Center, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Italy.

Made in 1927 by German filmmaker Fritz Lang, "Metropolis" is a pioneering work of science-fiction that's widely regarded as one of the greatest films in cinema history.

Alloy's new score was written for "The Complete Metropolis" -- an astounding new version of Lang's masterpiece that includes 25 minutes of newly discovered, restored footage. A near-complete cut of the original film was found in Buenos Aires in 2008, and the subsequent reconstruction represents one of the most significant restoration projects in film history.

The Alloy Orchestra show is presented by Iowa City filmmaker and film promoter/programmer Andy Brodie under the banner of his Garage Filmworks. Brodie studied film at the University of Iowa and is a former programming director of the UI's student-run Bijou Cinema.

The night of the show will also mark the announcement of a new nonprofit film organization that Brodie has been working to co-found with documentary filmmaker Andrew Sherburne, also of Iowa City. The organization's primary mission will be to open and operate a full-time independent cinema in downtown Iowa City.

"We have been working diligently with local leaders to develop our plans, and we're excited to announce those plans to the community soon," Brodie said.

Tickets for Alloy Orchestra with "The Complete Metropolis" are $15 for the general public and $12 for students and Senior Center members. Seating is reserved.

The show is being sponsored by the Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center, celebrating its 30th anniversary. A pre-show talk with Alloy leader Ken Winokur, free and open to the public, will be held at the Senior Center, 28 S. Linn Street, at 2:30 p.m. on the day of the show.

http://www.englert.org/