Not So Silent Cinema has new tunes for Charlie Chaplin

Film fans longing for a fresh soundtrack for the 20th century’s most acrobatic kicks to the tush are in luck: Not So Silent Cinema revives three Charlie Chaplin classics at Bucks County Playhouse on April 29.

This event was originally scheduled for March, but due to this year’s insufferable weather, it was postponed. The show is part of the playhouse’s Visiting Artist Series.

Philly composer Brendan Cooney founded Not So Silent Cinema to pair new live scores with screenings of classic films. Each performance includes a different roster of artists: this time, it’s the New River Ensemble, with Cooney on piano, Martha Hyde on clarinet, and Lisa Liske-Doorandish on cello. Cooney’s original scores are tightly composed, minutely timed soundtracks that are faithful to the original cinematic themes, but leave room for onstage improvisation.

The events screens three films: 1916’s The Pawnshop, and The Cure and The Adventurer from 1917, which, according to the playhouse, “show the rapid evolution of Chaplin’s style from no-holds-barred slapstick to a more nuanced brand of storytelling.” The show (a family-friendly event) lasts 75 minutes in all.

The music may be new, but Chaplin is up to his usual shenanigans. In The Pawnshop, he blankets the place in feathers, racks up several OSHA violations on the ladder, ruins an expensive clock with famous aplomb, and still manages to foil a robbery. In The Cure, his character wobbles into a sobriety retreat with a trunk full of bottles and really gets into it with the revolving door. The Adventurer follows a wily escaped convict who leads the police on a merry shoreline chase before stealing a bathing suit and stumbling into a series of aquatic rescues that land him at a very fine party.

Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope presents Not So Silent Cinema on Sunday, April 29, at 2pm. Tickets ($25) are available online (all tickets purchased for the original March date will be honored).