The Boyd Kimball pipe organ, now greatly augmented through the years, would become the world-famous Dickinson Theatre Organ.
His opening theme, entertainer Steve Allen’s This Could Be the Start of Something Big, was unknowingly at the time, a prophecy. At midnight, organist Larry Ferrari played the Boyd organ. A near generation of dust greeted the inspectors, along with bent and damaged pipes (from the Cinerama screen’s installation), but overall, the organ was found to be, in their words, in excellent condition.Ī farewell concert was deemed to be practical and thus, on Washington’s Birthday 1969, the great blue and silver console arose from the depths in the theatre for one last time. The orchestra pit was raised to stage level and carpeted, but the organ console was remained lowered on its own lift, covered at floor level with a wooden cover. The magnificent proscenium was all but obliterated from by a Cinerama screen, part of which was even fastened inside the organ pipe chambers. The grandeur of old was little in evidence. Dilworth and his associates inspected the theatre on November 9, 1968, the years had not only taken a toll on the Kimball organ, but also of the theatre itself. Dilworth concluded a contract for the Boyd organ to be removed for use in the Dickinson High School auditorium. Robert Dilworth, a member of the faculty of the John Dickinson High School, near Stanton, Delaware, had for some time been negotiating with Walter Froehlich of the RKO-Stanley Warner Corporation (successors to the original owners of the Boyd Theatre) about the possibility of acquiring a pipe organ from instruments still installed and unused in RKO theatres. As was customary for many theatre organs of the era, it lay dormant for decades until a memorable evening in 1969. The organ was used only for a short time, as it was never used to accompany silent pictures. House organists were Otto Beck and Joseph K. In keeping with the decor of the theatre, the console was decorated in French Blue with silver trim. Kimball Company, the instrument (opus 7050) featured 19 ranks (sets) of pipes and a three-manual, horseshoe-style console. A live feature at every performance was the playing of the Boyd’s grand organ, situated on a separate lift, to the left of the orchestra pit.
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