Silent films with live ragtime take over the Park Theatre

Long before surround sound, CGI explosions, and fancy theater seats, movie audiences gathered in darkened rooms where the action on screen depended as much on the musician at the piano as the actors in the film. That tradition remains alive at the Historic Park Theatre in Estes Park.

Beginning Saturday, May 23, the theater launches the 2026 Silent Comedy Movie Festival series, bringing Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Fatty Arbuckle, and Charley Chase back to the big screen with live piano accompaniment by Scott “Flyin’ Fingers” Wilseck. Steve Smersh founded the event in 2012, and it has been held annually since then, with the exception of a two-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic.

“I always say it has been more work and more fun than I ever imagined,” said Wilseck, who has been a part of the festival since 2014. “You watch the film, and you look for music that fits, and you also want music that sounds good and people like hearing.”

Now in its 13th year, the Silent Comedy Movie Festival returns for three separate programs spread across Memorial Day weekend, July, and Labor Day weekend at the Historic Park Theatre. Each session features a trio of silent comedy shorts accompanied live by Wilseck’s ragtime-heavy improvisational score.

The Memorial Day lineup includes “The Vagabond,” “Roaming Romeo,” and “One Week.” July’s program features “Fluttering Hearts,” “Butcher Boy,” and “The Rink,” while the late summer session includes “Bell Boy,” “Haunted House,” and “Mighty Like a Moose.”

“I really love doing this because of the music,” Wilseck said. “I play a lot of ragtime. There aren’t many places that pay you to play ragtime.”

That fascination dates back to his childhood in Chicago, where visits to the Museum of Science and Industry introduced him to silent films and live accompaniment.

“One of the things they had was an old street from 1910,” Wilseck said. “Way down at the end was a Nickelodeon. There were live piano players. Nothing elaborate, just a screen with folding chairs set up, and you paid a nickel to get in. I was there for the piano player more than the film.”

Wilseck began taking piano lessons around age 9 and eventually found himself playing in improvisational country-western bands after high school, experiences that shaped the fast-reacting style he now brings to silent film accompaniment.

“You can’t read music while doing this,” he said. “I have a script to look at to remind me what song to play, but I’m watching the screen the whole time. There is no time to read music.”

Every film requires extensive preparation. Wilseck watches each movie repeatedly, experimenting with melodies, pacing, and comic timing until he finds combinations that fit the action onscreen.

“There is a scene in one of the movies where a girl opens a milk bottle and the thing flies up and hits her in the eyes, and I do a glissando,” he said. “But if you do it a second too early or too late, it doesn’t look too good.”

Chase scenes are among his favorites.

“I always play with singers, and they tell me to slow down,” Wilseck said. “But in chase scenes, you’re supposed to play as fast as you can.”

The festival itself actually predates Wilseck’s involvement. Silent film enthusiast Steve Smersh founded the Estes Park event in 2012, then recruited Wilseck a few years later after hearing him perform at an open mic in Allenspark.

“You ever thought about playing silent films?” Wilseck recalled Smersh asking him after the performance. “I hadn’t and told him I wasn’t sure I was interested, but he convinced me.”

Smersh, who died a few years ago, was a major supporter of the Silent Comedy Movie Festival and was often seen at screenings dressed as Charlie Chaplin.

“He was very enthusiastic about the whole silent movie thing,” Wilseck said. “He had a career in communication and knew everything about sound. We miss him.”

Historic Park Theatre manager Jenna MacGregor has also helped sustain the festival over the years. Although the films were made nearly a century ago, Wilseck said modern audiences still respond to the physical comedy, especially children.

“When the kids are there, they are a catalyst for laughter,” he said. “Adults are sometimes scared to laugh, but we tell them it’s okay to laugh at the stupid stuff you see on screen.”

Programming the festival has become a balancing act between audience favorites and lesser-known discoveries. Wilseck said certain classics return every few years, especially during the busy summer tourism season.

Audience members who arrive about 30 minutes before showtime can also hear Wilseck perform ragtime standards before the screenings begin, something he says helps him settle into the rhythm of the performance ahead.

“I get a bit nervous before, so I just look at the list and play,” he said. “I feel like I get really warmed up that way and the films are easier then.”

For Wilseck, the Historic Park Theatre itself is central to the experience. Built in 1913, the theater recreates the atmosphere of early moviegoing in a way few modern venues can.

“The Park Theatre is the perfect place for this kind of thing,” he said. “The piano is perfect. We haven’t done this in any other place, so because of that, we say this is an experience that you won’t get anywhere else.”

The Silent Comedy Movie Festival’s Memorial Day screenings are scheduled for Saturday, May 23, at 7:30 p.m.; Monday, May 25, at 1 p.m.; and Thursday, May 28, at 7 p.m. July festival screenings are set for Saturday, July 11, at 1 p.m.; Monday, July 13, at 7 p.m.; and Thursday, July 16, at 1 p.m. The Labor Day weekend screenings take place Saturday, Aug. 29, at 7:30 p.m.; Monday, Aug. 31, at 1 p.m.; and Thursday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $17 for adults, seniors, and students, with one child admitted free per paying adult.