'It's a-live!' Halloween concert at Miami

Longtime fans – or first-time viewers – of the 1931 classic horror film “Frankenstein” starring Boris Karloff will have the opportunity to watch it projected on a large screen alongside a live performance of the Miami University Symphony Orchestra for free on Halloween night.

Ricardo Averbach, director of orchestral studies at Miami, said the symphony orchestra recently celebrated 120 years, yet throughout those years, it has never had a concert on Halloween night.

The symphony orchestra will now have its first-ever Halloween concert on Friday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. in the Hall Auditorium at 101 S. Campus Ave. where it’ll play a soundtrack by composer Michael Shapiro.

While the original film does not have a sound track, Averbach said Shapiro’s modern compositions fit the scenes.

“There is a major challenge,” Averbach said of the students performing alongside a film. “Usually when conductors do live music together with a movie, there are click tracks or some other resources to help synchronize.”

He said, this time, the performance will fully depend on the orchestra being well-rehearsed and him, as the conductor, finding the right pacing so the music lines up with the film. 

Averbach said he was recently inspired by a television show from the 1980s called “Elvira’s Movie Macabre,” narrated by Elvira, or the “Mistress of the Dark.” During the show, Averbach said Elvira would often interrupt with humorous sketches related to the movie.

During the Halloween show, a master of ceremonies will guide the audience through the evening, occasionally interrupted by faculty members performing sketches and exploring the novel’s place in literature, ethical dilemmas of science and biology and the novel’s gothic imagery to create a “blend” of entertainment and education. 

“‘Frankenstein’ is the perfect movie to do that,” Averbach said, “because it does have some fadings into dark in and out between scenes. So there are some very logical places to stop the movie.” 

Hall Auditorium will be decorated for the holiday, and a pre-concert lecture will be given by Kerry Hegarty, associate professor of film studies, at 6 p.m. in the Hall Auditorium green room.

Audience members are encouraged to come in costume, as there will be a costume competition during the performance.

Averbach said he expects the performance to last around 90 minutes.

“It is an amazing opportunity to be part of the energy that this event is going to bring,” he said, adding he hopes the Halloween performance will become a new tradition.