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By JOHN FLEMING
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 23, 2001
The voice of the silent movie
The incomparable Rosa Rio will be at the Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ Sunday at Tampa Theatre for a matinee of the 1926 silent film Sparrows, starring Mary Pickford. Rio, a living legend among organists, got her start about the time Pickford's melodrama came out, as organist for silent movies at theaters in New York. With the advent of talkies, Rio went into radio and became known as the "Queen of the Soaps," playing for as many as 13 shows a week, including The Shadow, Between the Bookends and My True Story.
Rio moved to Sun City Center in 1993 and soon began accompanying silent film classics at the rococo theater. With her glittery outfits and flair for showmanship, she has drawn big crowds to hear her improvised scores to The Phantom of the Opera, Son of the Sheik, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and others.
Sparrows has a scene in which the heroine makes her way across a pond filled with alligators. "For that I'll play some real spooky swamp music," Rio said.
Sunday's performance marks the dedication of a newly renovated console for the organ, lovingly tended by members of the Central Florida chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society. The show begins at 3 p.m. at the Tampa Theatre, 711 Franklin St., Tampa. Tickets: $5 and $7. (813) 274-8981.
- JOHN FLEMING, Times performing arts critic