Lincoln Theatre is a multi-purpose theatre in
Mount Vernon, Washington
Mount Vernon is the county seat of Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 35,219 at the 2020 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included in the Mount Vernon- Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. The theatre is located at 712 South First St. It was originally constructed in 1926 as a
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
and
silent movie house, and currently shows movies several days a week, as well as hosting concerts and other activities. The theatre also contains one of only 98
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
theatre organ
A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films, from the 1900s to the 1920s.
Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements ...
s still located in their original installation.
Volunteer work
Because of the nature of the Lincoln Theatre, nearly every person who helps with running the theatre does so through volunteering, to keep the maintenance costs as low as possible. Some of the volunteering positions include ticket sales, poster distribution, cleaning, and concessions. Volunteers are often reimbursed for their time in the form of free entry into ticketed events held at the Lincoln.
Theatre organ
The organ at the Lincoln Theatre is a two-manual, seven-rank style D Special. The addition of "Special" to the style is from the addition of a full
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
(with
pedal piano
The pedal piano (or piano-pédalier or pédalier,) is a kind of piano that includes a pedalboard, enabling bass register notes to be played with the feet, as is standard on the organ.
There are two broad types of pedal pianos: either the pedal ...
extension) to the right of the console, a
marimba
The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...
to the left, and a kinura rank located in the pipe chamber. The cost of purchasing and installing the organ at the time was $22,500.
Because of the niche area of theatre organ culture, only a few volunteers are in charge of caring for and playing the organ. Some concerts have been held exclusively for the organ; however, it is mostly played for 30 minutes before a movie showing by one of the volunteers. On nights which feature an organist, one of the lobby volunteers places a notice informing guests of who is playing that night.
References
{{reflist
External links
Lincoln TheatreYouTube playlist featuring videos from the Lincoln Theatre
Mount Vernon, Washington
Buildings and structures in Skagit County, Washington