Hillcrest Center for the Arts presents a screening of THE KID

The Hillcrest Center for the Arts will screen Charlie Chaplin’s classic silent film THE KID, with live music accompaniment by Rick Friend. One performance only will be held on Sunday, November 8 at 6:30pm at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts 403 W. Hillcrest Dr. in Thousand Oaks. THE KID is Chaplin’s first full-length feature about his most-beloved character, the Little Tramp, who discovers an orphan and raises him. Chaplin wrote the highly-autobiographical script, and also produced and directed the film. It is introduced in the opening title as “A picture with a smile-and perhaps, a tear.”

The film also stars a young Jackie Coogan, known to many as Uncle Fester in the TV series, “The Addams Family.” The film launched Coogan’s extremely successful childhood career. Coogan is also the namesake of “The Coogan Bill” that protects money earned by children from being spent by their parents. The bill was passed in 1939 and is still enacted today. Jackie Coogan earned millions of dollars as a child, and when he became an adult he found that his parents had spent nearly all of his money.

Rick Friend provides live accompaniment, using his own original score with additional music by Johann Sebastian Bach. Friend is an accomplished pianist and composer and has written and accompanied many dozens of silent films including Buster Keaton’s THE GENERAL, F.W. Murnau’s FAUST, and Harold Lloyd’s SAFETY LAST. He studied piano and composition at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and has been an avid movie buff since childhood. Friend has arranged full orchestrations for many great silent films such as The Mark of Zorro, The Phantom of the Opera, Nosferatu, and The Thief of Bagdad for numerous symphony orchestras around the U.S. and Canada.

According to Friend, his favorite venue is the symphony orchestra. “It serves well the values and feelings in these great movies from the 1920’s,” he says. His mission is to bring this art form to audiences everywhere.

Tickets are only $10 and can be purchased at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts Box Office or by calling (805) 381-1246 or www.hillcrestarts.com.

iI~x5G