Summer Movie Magic and the Mighty Wurlitzer

I don't do well going all out on Friday nights, so this Friday a friend and I decided to relive our junior high days and catch Grease at the Tennessee Theatre on Friday night. And it ... was ... awesome! There's something so charming about watching an old favorite on the silver screen.

Worth the $8 ticket price alone was the Mighty Wurlitzer mini-concert you get before the show starts. Organist Bill Snyder, who's a former UT engineering dean, plays the Wurlitzer as it pops out of the orchestra pit. He plays a few rousing tunes before ending on the Tennessee Waltz, which is the perfect thing to hear in the beautiful setting of the Theatre.

The Wurlitzer has been around the Tennessee Theatre since its opening in 1928 -- one of the few still in its original location. It was shipped to Reno, Nevada in 2000 to be restored by a master organ rebuilder and was reintroduced at the Theatre a year later.

You've got only four more showings in the Summer Movie Magic series: It Happened One Night shows at 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday and Gone With the Wind at 8 p.m. Aug. 22 and 2 p.m. Aug. 24. It's open admission and you can buy your tickets online or at the door.

If you can't make that, catch Bill and the Wurlitzer at noon on Monday for Might Musical Monday. It's free and you can brown bag it kinda like the Blue Plate Special.