The 1927 3/8 Robert Morton theatre organ that resides in the Lakewood Theatre is unique in several ways, with “theatre” being the operative word. A theatre organ is not the same as a church organ. The theatre organ was originally called a “unit orchestra” and, like the banjo, is uniquely American.

The unit orchestra is an appropriate name for this instrument, since it can produce a full range of orchestral sounds, as well as sound effects. It was originally created to accompany silent movies and could replace up to 3,000 musicians.With the advent of “talkies” the organ was used during intermission or to accompany live shows. The use of theatre organs declined in the late 1930s; many of these organs were junked and today there are only six to seven thousand remaining worldwide.

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In the 1950s interest in the theatre organ was rekindled with the recording of hi-fi and stereo LPs, which could capture the depth of the music.

With this momentum, the American Theatre Organ Enthusiasts (ATOE) organization was born. The Dallas organization, Theatre Organ Association of Dallas (TOAD) evolved from this group and today is known as the North Texas Chapter of American Theatre Organ Enthusiasts (NTC-ATOE).

The 3/8 Robert Morton theatre organ was built in 1927 and was installed in the Old Mill Theatre at 1925 Elm Street in Dallas in 1928, where it was used to accompany silent movies and vaudeville acts. The Old Mill later became the Rialto, where the organ was stored in the basement until the Rialto was demolished in the1950s.In the 1960s, after several moves, it was purchased by Earl McDonald, a member of the North Texas Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society, where it was stored in his garage for 20 years. When the Lakewood Theatre was re-opened in 1984, the chapter installed the organ in the 1938 Art Deco style movie house, where it has remained.Don Peterson, the president of NTC-ATOS, books some of the best organists in the world to perform here and also works on and repairs the organ.Under Don’s leadership, the chapter plans to increase the size of the organ in the near future.

The organ is used frequently for radio/television specials, concerts, even rock concerts. The Lakewood occasionally uses it to accompany silent movies, such as “Metropolis” and “Phantom of the Opera.”

The instrument has three manuals (keyboards—-the “3” in 3/8), eight ranks of pipes (the “8” in 3/8).There are 72 pipes in each rank, ranging from pipes that are a few inches in height to those that are more than 16 feet. The instrument has more than 6,000 moving parts, a huge blower, six sets of swells (shutters) and a full symphonic range of instrument sounds including drums, cymbals, xylophone, bells and additional sound-producing instruments. The white and gold console — the only part of the instrument that is visible to the audience — rises from beneath the stage and is the command center with tabs, keys and pedals that make all the 6,000 moving parts produce an amazing range of musical sounds and styles — everything from Bach to Rock — with a little bit of Gershwin and Sousa thrown in.