Canton Palace Theatre

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Restoration of the Kilgen Theatre Pipe Organ was made possible by a grant from The Flowers Foundation.The restoration work was done by The Kegg Pipe Organ Builders.

On the opening night in 1926, patrons of the Palace Theatre were treated to the sounds of the Kilgen Wonder Organ at the hands of the famous Banks Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy signed the wall of the left pipe chamber and wrote that "Valencia" was the first piece heard by the public. His signature has been preserved and remains there today. While the Kilgen was one of 7 theatre pipe organs in Canton, it is the only one still in Canton and is by far the most well-known. Built by George Kilgen & Sons, Inc. of St. Louis, Missouri, it served as one of their show instruments in the Canton area and was pictured in their national sales literature. The Kilgen Company was primarily a church and concert organ builder and their most famous instrument is in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. During the 1920s, Kilgen joined other companies such as Wurlitzer, Morton, Kimball and Moller in constructing instruments specifically designed for playing silent movies and entertaining theatre audiences. Out of several hundred theatre instruments produced by Kilgen, the Canton organ is one of only two remaining in its original home.

The Palace Kilgen organ was always an audience-pleaser and the Ink family of Canton who built and owned the Palace liked to have the organ played. They and the management kept the organ in reasonably regular use through WWII and into the 50s. In the late 50s and early 60s, enough problems developed with the organ itself to make it unplayable. In 1967, Mr. Stephen Brown of Orrville, Ohio made some repairs to the organ and regularly played it until the theatre closed in the mid 70s. In the brief time the theatre was closed, the roof developed many severe leaks and caused extensive water damage to the building and the organ. A group of people consisting of Charles Kegg, Clark Wilson, Charles Blair, and Robert Beck patched and repaired the organ enough that it would again play for the reopening of the theatre by the Canton Palace Theatre Association in 1980. In this condition, the organ was used until October 1992, when the Kegg Organ Company removed the entire organ from the building for restoration for an 8 month restoration. No screw was left unturned and all perishable materials were replaced. Water damaged parts were repaired or replaced. The console was stripped, redecorated, repainted and fitted with all new controls. Two new ranks (sets) of pipes were added to bring the rank count to 11, with a total of 767 pipes.

A theatre pipe organ is very different in concept and mechanical design from a church or concert organ. The 11 ranks of pipes include many kinds of sounds never heard in church, such as kinura, saxophone, and post horn. Also, there is a marimba, harp, celesta, xylophone, orchestra bells and chimes in the organ in addition to a complete drum and trap set for percussion effects. All these instruments are real and were placed in the organ chambers and are struck with air operated mallets when the organist plays those stops. The organ chambers are approximately 12' wide, 10' deep and 15' high and are located behind the false box seats on either side of the proscenium arch. From this vantage, all the thousands of pieces come together under the able fingers of the artist to speak freely to all parts of the auditorium.

The Canton Palace Theatre Presents Our Kilgen Pipe Organ Concerts Starring Bob Beck

Take a step back in time and enjoy the nostalgic organ concerts of yesteryear! Concerts are offered throughout the year and cost only $1.00.
Local Restaurant Gift Certificates will be given as door prizes at the concerts, which are generously sponsored by The Albert W. & Edith V. Flowers Foundation.

For more information, call the Palace at (330) 454-8172.
Please Note: Wheelchair seating is very limited, so please call ahead to reserve seats.