He never smiled on camera, earning him the nickname of “the Great Stone Face.” But Buster Keaton’s comedies rocked Hollywood’s silent era with laughter throughout the 1920s. Keaton’s comic masterpiece, The General (1926), set during US Civil War, and his feature Sherlock, Jr. (1924), will be accompanied by live music performed by silent film composer Jeff Rapsis on Saturday, April 4, at 7:30 PM in the Blazing Star Grange Hall in Danbury.

Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film musician, accompanies shows at venues across New England. He performs on a digital synthesizer to reproduce the texture of the full orchestra and create a traditional “movie score” sound.

Rapsis said Keaton’s films were meant to be shown in theaters on a large screen. In reviving them, the Blazing Star Grange will give the public a chance to experience silent film as it was meant to be seen and enjoyed – in high quality prints, with live music, and with an audience.

“All those elements are important parts of the silent film experience,” said Rapsis, who improvises the score on the spot as the films screen. “Recreate those conditions, and the classics of early Hollywood leap back to life in ways that can still move audiences today.”

For more information about Jeff Rapsis and the music, visit JeffRapsis.com.

In the early decades of the 1900s, silent films were shown at the Blazing Star Grange when the hall was the hub of town activity. A reminder of that era can be seen on the back wall of the stage – a tattered broadside advertising George M. Bragg and “Moving Pictures.” Bragg, a performer in the small time vaudeville circuit, worked throughout New England and showed films as part of his act. He left his distinctive signature wherever he played. The broadside in Danbury features his smiling face and a dated signature of May, 1917.

The show is open to the public with a suggested donation of $5. For more information, see DanburyGrange.org.