Welcome to The Rosette! Hanging in the Entrance are four photographs: an outdoor performance with film projection from June 2012 of an original live film score to accompany the movie THE UNKNOWN, across from three adorable photos from a 2017 special event related to Pixar’s film COCO.
THE UNKNOWN is a silent film starring Lon Chaney Sr. and Joan Crawford (!) released in 1927. The story goes that the film reels were labeled “Unknown” and, as a result, were lost for decades in a film archive assuming they contained unknown footage. It was not until the 1980’s they were identified as containing this wild gem of an early silent thriller. And it is wild!
On the recommendation of Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas founder Tim League, ACG commissioned a new musical score to accompany the film, composed by European-based guitar duo Les Freres Meduses (Randall Avers & Benoit Albert). The piece, for two guitars and violin, was premiered outside in the lower grounds of Austin’s Laguna Gloria by the duo with violinist William Fedkenheuer, in collaboration with the Alamo’s Rolling Roadshow.
The photograph is by Arlen Nydam.
The three photos on the opposite wall are from another ACG/Alamo special event that took place on the opening weekend of Disney/Pixar’s COCO. We thought it would be fun to create an event where kids coming to see the film would learn to play the song featured in the movie trailer, in 30 minutes or less, right before watching the movie itself. With a little re-tuning, and a small backing band, we got it done! Here’s the video.
We’ve chosen these four photos, taken by Heather Leah Kennedy, for The Rosette Entrance because The Rosette, itself, is a giant collaboration with Karrie and Tim League, and by extension the Alamo Drafthouse. The Baker Center, where The Rosette is located, is a beautiful historic school, purchased and lovingly restored by the Leagues with their longtime architectural partner Richard Weiss. The Leagues, Weiss, ACG, and GC Mac Smith envisioned and created The Rosette together as a space for ACG to expand its service mission of inspiring individuals in our community through experiences of deep personal significance.