And so, here’s looking at you, ‘Kid’
Henderson Symphony will provide live score for Chaplin film classic
To quote the opening credits, “a smile — and perhaps a tear.” That certainly describes Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 classic “The Kid,” which will be screened — with live orchestral accompaniment by the Henderson Symphony Orchestra — Saturday night at the outdoor Henderson Pavilion.
But the phrase might also apply to Henderson Symphony Orchestra music director Taras Krysa, who makes his penultimate podium appearance Saturday.
After eight years as the orchestra’s conductor, Krysa plans to step down from the post following next month’s Fourth of July concert.
“It’s just time to go,” says Krysa, who will continue as UNLV’s director of orchestras and take on more projects in Europe.
“It’s been a wonderful ride,” he says, adding that the volunteer orchestra went from playing in a gym for 150 people to performing before 1,500 at the outdoor Henderson Pavilion during his tenure.
“It’s not only me,” Krysa says of the orchestra’s growth. “Everyone has worked toward (Henderson Symphony Orchestra’s) new sort of orbit. It’s a new wave for this orchestra.”
During Krysa’s years as music director, the orchestra’s increasingly popular performances have included screenings of several Chaplin classics, including “City Lights,” “Modern Times,” “The Gold Rush” and “The Circus.”
And though “The Kid” turns up last in the orchestra’s Krysa-conducts-Chaplin series, the movie represents a series of firsts.
Chaplin’s first full-length feature as director (“the great picture upon which the famous comedian has worked a whole year,” its poster proclaimed), “The Kid” also is credited as the first movie to blend dramatic and comedic elements.
In “The Kid,” Chaplin stars as his trademark Little Tramp character, who finds and raises an abandoned child (played by Jackie Coogan, the future Uncle Fester on “The Addams Family” TV series). That is, until the authorities intervene.
The storyline carries echoes of Chaplin’s own impoverished beginnings — except that, when young Chaplin wound up in a home for destitute children, no one came to rescue him.
Chaplin composed the score for “The Kid” when he edited and reissued the movie in 1971.
And while it’s not Chaplin’s most complex score (Krysa describes Chaplin’s “Modern Times” music as extremely difficult), plenty of complexities remain.
To lead the orchestral accompaniment, “you have to learn the movie,” Krysa says, by watching it many times.
“And then you learn the score,” he says.
During a regular orchestral concert, the conductor’s main task is to direct traffic between all the sections, he adds.
But in conducting orchestral accompaniment, “the trick is, the movie is set; it’s constant,” Krysa says. “If the orchestra is slow, the movie’s not going to wait. You can’t say, ‘Wait a minute, Charlie.’ ”
Krysa first experienced live orchestral accompaniment of a Chaplin comedy while playing violin with the St. Louis Symphony.
When he became Henderson Symphony Orchestra’s music director, the orchestra traditionally played “Classics Under the Stars” programs at the Henderson Events Plaza, he recalls.
“I was thinking how to make it a little different,” Krysa adds, “and I remembered doing Chaplin movies at the St. Louis Symphony,” which in turn sparked the first of the Henderson orchestra’s Chaplin programs.
Through the years, Krysa has developed an even greater appreciation for Chaplin’s artistry — not only as a composer, but as a filmmaker, citing the attention to details in his films.
For “The Kid,” Chaplin shot up to 53 takes on each scene, the conductor says.
“Just imagine — it’s one hour, and he had filmed material worth 60 hours.”
To prepare for Saturday’s concert, Krysa has had to watch “The Kid” numerous times — but the repetition hasn’t dampened his admiration for a movie he describes as “so fantastic.”
After all, he says, “with the great masterworks, whether it’s music or movies, the more you watch it, the more you understand the small little details.” For more stories from Carol Cling go to bestoflasvegas. com. Contact her at ccling@reviewjournal.com and follow @CarolSCling on Twitter.