Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Media Contact
Becca Hansborough, Communications Manager
hansborough@trustarts.org
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Announces
Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid at 100 at the Harris Theater
April 16th at 7:30 p.m.
Celebrate Chaplin’s 133th birthday with renowned mime artist and comedy choreographer Dan Kamin!
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is excited to announce the 133th birthday celebration of legendary actor Charlie Chaplin at the Harris Theater on April 16th at 7:30 p.m. The event will include a beautifully restored screening of Chaplin’s The Kid followed by an illustrated talk and audience discussion led by renowned mime artist and comedy choreographer Dan Kamin.
In 1921 Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid took the world by storm. The story of a penniless tramp who adopts an abandoned infant struck a powerful chord in the aftermath of a devastating war during which millions died and thousands of children were left orphaned. In this celebratory event, The Kid at 100, author of The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin: Artistry in Motion, Dan Kamin, will reveal what keeps the film fresh, funny, and incredibly moving to this day.
Kamin trained Robert Downey, Jr. for his Oscar-nominated performance in Chaplin, after which Downey said, “Dan’s insights are amazing.” “Demented, charming and brilliant” is how Allentown’s Morning Call described Dan Kamin for his work with Johnny Depp on the physical comedy sequences in Benny and Joon. Another critic raved of Kamin's stage performance as being “a breathtaking display of theatricality that’s sharp, funny, and highly inventive.” But Kamin’s favorite review came from eleven-year old Kenneth: “You made me laugh so hard I got a headache,” said Kenneth. “Nobody’s ever done that before.”
“Classic movies inspired me, and I came full circle by adding classic visual comedy to modern films”, says Kamin. Kamin returned to his comedy roots to write Charlie Chaplin's One-Man Show, revealing the secrets of Chaplin's comic art which he will share with audiences at the Harris Theater. Hailed as a breakthrough work, the book boasted a preface by another Chaplin fan, the legendary mime Marcel Marceau. The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin: Artistry in Motion updates his earlier book and features an account of how he trained Downey for his Oscar-nominated performance.
During recent seasons Kamin has toured his solo show throughout America and Europe, and “humiliated many symphonies”—including Cleveland, Atlanta, Montreal, Shanghai, Singapore and Malaysia—with his comic antics. For more information on Kamin read this Q&A with the renowned mimic and choreographer.
Tickets for The Kid at 100 event are now on sale and can be purchased at trustarts.org/film.
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The definitive cinema of choice for filmmakers and film lovers alike, the historic Harris Theater is an intimate, single-screen theater dedicated to the art of independent film. With innovative programming that celebrates the diversity of cinematic artistry, the Harris Theater brings the best of independent, international, and documentary films to Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. Originally built in 1931, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust purchased and restored the Harris Theater and its art deco marquee, reopening it to the public in 1995. TrustArts.org/Film
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh’s most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country’s largest land masses “curated” by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh’s quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Trust maintains a Charity Navigator Four-Star Rating and stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts.
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