A theater organ is a complicated instrument with multiple keyboards, pedals for both feet meant to be operated by the toesand heels, and thousands of pipes. And it is Paul Stapel’s job to wrangle the people necessary to operate and maintain a 1926 Robert-Morton IV/24 organ at the Forum Theater.
Stapel serves as the volunteer executive director of the Binghamton Theater Organ Society, a local nonprofit founded in 2004 by Stapel that maintains the organ and brings in musicians from around the world to play seasons that now consist of roughly six shows a year.
“I act as more or the less the whole doer and shaker,"Stapel said. "I have the most broad knowledge to make this whole operation go.”
That includes locating and engaging the people needed to maintain the organ, locating local and worldwide talent to play the instrument, fundraising, balancing the economic realities with the need to put on good shows, planning what repairs and needs the organ will have in the future, and locating and training a new generation of dedicated volunteers.
“I got the club going because I knew that if we didn’t we might lose this incredible piece of history, so I helped start that happen but with a lot of help from friends and volunteers," he said."And now we are approaching the cusp of big-time growth in that we have a regular season with season tickets and reserved seats with very professional artists from local and around the world.”
Stapel isn’t just looking for more help, though; he is also looking for his successor.
“I’m 75 years old and I am slowing down," he said."You are not meant to do something like this forever, so along with searching for more people to help and volunteer, I also need to find my replacement.”
Stapel admits that might be tough, because finding someone who mirrors his passion and knowledge for the theater organ will be hard to find. Stapel graduated with a bachelor's degree in music from the University of Michigan, but instead of a lifelong love affair with the string bass, which he studied, he instead became entranced by the piano and organ.
“I played in churches and directed church choirs around Binghamton as a part-time job," he said."I was a decent amateur, but not at the level of the people I look for now.”
However, Stapel doesn’t want people to confuse a church organ with a theater organ —that would be a big mistake he says.
“Silent movies had orchestral scores meant to be played by 20 to 30 musicians in a pit. But not every theater could afford that. So the theater organ got invented, based off a church organ, but instead a theater organ is designed to produce any sound required,” he said.
Stapel said more than 7,000 of the organs were made, but when talkies hit, the need for them vanished.
“Now there are only a few hundred left across the world, we don’t know how many for sure,” he said.
The organ in the Forum is not native to Binghamton, but was purchased from storage in Michigan in the 1970s by the president of the Binghamton Savings Bank and restored by a local engineer.
“The organ has been in use since 1978, but for the 10 years before we got to it the organ was maybe being used for one show a year,” Stapel said.
Now the organ is much busier.
“We are very proud that we can do amazing concerts as well as provide silent movies,” he said.
While age has taken Stapel’s ability to competently play the theater organ, when he could he said it was a very fun experience. However, in order for the theater organ to be functional, members of the audience have to forget its even there.
“Because of the professionalism of our artists, you can sit and hear them play with a movie and realize how perfect a job they are doing because you realize the music and movie are seamless, and the incredible amount of technique it takes to make the audience forget the organ’s presence, to use two hands and two feet, the toe and heel, you can just make the organ do just about any musical thing you want," he said.
However, with the instrument pushing 90 and thousands of working parts, Stapel said he wants to ensure the future of the organ is set before he steps down.
“Normally it helps to have a technical crew of five to 10 people;right now we have one," he said."There are thousands of little parts, and some are starting to break down, and we need to replace them, but they have to be hand made.”
Stapel said he also wants to save enough money —tens of thousands of dollars —to upgrade the electrical system to digital. But to Stapel that is part of the allure of the theater organ, the fact that it is almost like a living breathing machine that needs constant care and love, but is capable of anything musically. Something that Stapel hopes through works hard and dedication will allow the theater organ at the Forum to keep playing well into the future.
Paul Stapel
Age: 75
Home:Binghamton
Hometown: Muskegon, Mich.
Hobbies: Traveling and photography
Family: Large extended family
Where you can find him: BinghamtonTOS.org
