Magnificent Morton Wonder Organ plays again at The Loew’s Jersey

posted by plenum on November 12, 2007 at 9:57 am

JERSEY CITY, NJ – The Loew’s Jersey Morton Wonder Organ was removed nearly 40 years ago and has been restored after 10 years of dedicated effort by the volunteers and members of the Garden State Theatre Organ Society. The magic of live organ music returned to The Loew’s Jersey on November 3, 2007.

The Bob Balfour Memorial Robert Morton Wonder Organ, named in memory of the GSTOS member who was instrumental in acquiring and leading the effort to restore an organ to The Loew’s Jersey, was celebrated during a Garden State Theatre Organ Society members event at the classic “wonder palace.” This organ, originally installed at the Loew’s Paradise (Bronx, NY), is a twin to the organ that was removed from The Loew’s Jersey and is currently installed at The Arlington Theatre (Santa Barbara, CA).

This Robert Morton Wonder Organ was only one of five ever built from among the over 6,000 organs the Robert Morton Company produced. It consists of 4 ranks, 23 banks and 1,774 pipes. The console, which rises and rotates from a position on the house left side of the orchestra pit, features 228 stops.

The Garden State Theatre Organ Society and The Loew’s Jersey intend to welcome the organ back with a gala event once final tuning is complete but in the meantime, pre-show organ performances are being offered with select film presentations.

A video of the first song played at the member’s event is available on YouTube.

More information about the organ and the Garden State Theatre Organ Society is available at their website.

Theaters in this post

• Arlington Theatre
• Loew's Jersey Theatre
• Loew's Paradise Theatre