Sunday afternoon concert on the Wurlitzer theatre organ at The Assembly Hall, with second-hand CDs and vinyl for sale and proceeds to the Sussex Theatre Organ Trust.
Michael Wooldridge takes to the Wurlitzer at The Assembly Hall on Saturday 14 February, as part of a series of sessions that bring one of the biggest theatre organs in England and Europe back into the spotlight. It's a proper Worthing institution, and this particular afternoon is one of four dates scheduled across the early part of the year.
If you've never seen it in action, the Wurlitzer is a beast of an instrument. It's housed in two chambers behind the stage, with more than 1,500 pipes ranging from two inches to 16 feet in length. It doesn't stop at the pipes, either: there's a full set of real percussion built in, including a xylophone, sleigh bells, drums, cymbals and cathedral chimes. The console itself rises on a lift, and it's got three manuals to work with. It was originally built to accompany silent films in cinemas, and it was saved and reinstalled when many of those old cinema buildings were demolished.
The sessions run in two formats. The Saturday afternoons are tea dances, which include tea, coffee and cake. The Sunday afternoons are concerts billed in true Blackpool style, with second-hand CDs and vinyl on sale and all proceeds going to the Sussex Theatre Organ Trust. Wooldridge's date falls on a Sunday, so is a proper concert.
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It's one of a few dates this season: Elizabeth Harrison played on 9 January, and Phil Kelsall MBE has two, on 10 and 11 April. The Saturday tea dances start at 2.00pm, and the Sunday concerts at 2.30pm. You'll find the organ at The Assembly Hall, Stoke Abbott Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 1HQ.
