The Parkway Theater will be showing a screening of the highly-acclaimed vampire film Nosferatu on Oct. 25. The showing will feature a live score from small orchestra ensemble the Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra Minnesota.

Despite their name, the Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra Minnesota actually started in St. Louis. They have been accompanying silent films since 2007. According to a press release for the event, the group has a mindset that "films of the Silent Era are not dusty museum pieces, but rather vital and urgently relevant works of art." The pieces performed by the group are original compositions from troupe members.

The group, which takes its unusual name from a St. Louis predecessor organization, comprises classically-trained performers on string and brass instruments. "We are all a bunch of orchestra kids who rely on their classical training," violinist/Thereminist Beth Dill told Silent Twin Cities last year. "A few members have experience playing in musical pit orchestras, and that has helped us, I think.”

Nosferatu is one of the most famous horror films ever made. It was released in 1922 as an adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula. Though there had been an original score composed for the film when it was first being shown in theaters, a majority of the score has since been lost.

The screening on Sunday will begin at 7:00 p.m.  Tickets are $10 in advance and can be purchased from either vitalculture.com or at the door.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpmO6YKGmL4

Emily Raffesberger is a freshman at the University of St. Thomas, studying music business.