Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

The sacred space of Grace Cathedral will transform into a grand movie palace for a special Halloween week screening of John S. Robertson’s 1920 adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novella of a doctor wrestling with split identities, starring John Barrymore and featuring a live score performed on Grace’s famous pipe organ by renowned organist and composer Dorothy Papadakos.  

A member of the GRAMMY-winning Paul Winter Consort and former Cathedral Organist of New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Papadakos has accompanied the greatest silent films in venues around the world. 

A smash success upon its release and a star-making vehicle for Barrymore, the film was easily the most successful silent version of Stevenson’s 1886 novella, earning universal praise for Barrymore’s bravura turn in the dual roles of London physician Henry Jekyll and his evil alter ego, as well as its terrifying makeup effects. 

This performance will take full advantage of Grace’s 7,500 pipe Aeolian-Skinner organ, a historic instrument installed in 1934 that has been played by many of the world’s great organists and earned a place in jazz history as well, being employed for the premiere of Duke Ellington’s Concert of Sacred Music in 1963 and pianist Vince Guaraldi’s 1965 Jazz Mass.