American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS): 2007 Annual Convention

The Lafayette Theatre is named for Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette. Designed by noted theatre architect Eugene De Rosa, the style is Adamesque, but also with a combination of French and Italian Renaissance influences, subtlety mixed in a Beaux Arts style. The theatre was originally equipped with a Möller pipe organ. The Lafayette Theatre opened its doors in 1924 with the silent film classic Scaramouche and flourished through the rest of the 1920s with a combination of live vaudeville shows and film presentations. A renovation in 1927 added distinctive opera boxes and shortly thereafter the projection equipment was updated to play sound film. During the mid-1930s, an air-cooling system was installed which forced the removal of the pipe organ. It was during this renovation that the original chandelier was also removed.

The current Lafayette pipe organ, Wurlitzer Opus 2095, left the Wurlitzer factory on January 31, 1931 and was installed in the Lawler Theatre in Greenfield Massachusetts. It was the last Style 150 (2 manuals and 5 ranks) that Wurlitzer built. Like so many small town movie theatres, the Lawler closed in the `50's and `60's and was demolished. The organ was removed and installed in the Rainbow Roller Rink in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. Ben Hall, noted theatre historian and film critic, purchased the organ from the rink in 1968 and installed it in his New York City duplex. Tragically, Ben died in 1971 and the organ was once again "orphaned."
Ben's estate gave the organ to ATOS and the organ was packed up and shipped to California, where it was to be installed in the late Harold Lloyd Estate. Unfortunately, the plans for the museum fell through and the organ was shipped back to New York City where the New York Theatre Organ Society (NYTOS) installed it in the Carnegie Hall Cinema. The instrument played for over ten years in this location until the Carnegie Hall Cinema was remodeled, necessitating another move by NYTOS members. In the late 1980's, work began on restoring the Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, New York. Everyone agreed that the Lafayette would be an ideal place for the organ. Work was begun in November 1990,and after countless hours of labor by the volunteer NYTOS crew and nearly $20,000 in donated funds, the organ was reborn. Wurlitzer Opus 2095 played for the first time in its new home in December 1992. Since then, it has been entertaining the weekend audiences at the Lafayette Theatre in the grand tradition of the American Theatre Organ.

** Opus 2095 history from the NYTOS web site