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Oasis Theatre
63-57 Fresh Pond Road
Ridgewood (Queens), N.Y. 11385
The Oasis Theatre, which opened on September 16, 1927, was built by Sol Brill, a onetime business associate of William Fox. Thomas Lamb designed the theatre in a subdued Egyptian style, draping the stage opening and surrounding area to suggest a tent that might be found in a desert oasis.
The majority of its original 1,800 seats were on the ground floor, but there was additional seating in the small balcony. As the stage was too shallow for vaudeville, the Oasis showed only movies, but employed a pit orchestra with 15 musicians plus an organist until 1929, when the theatre converted to "talkies."
For its first few years, the Oasis showed a feature movie, supported by shorts and newsreels, with program changes every three days, and then switched to double features. The theatre closed in 1979, after which it became a roller rink for many years. After standing empty since its closing as a roller rink, the Oasis was semi-demolished for conversion to a CVS store. |
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Wurlitzer Organ Company
North Tonawanda, N.Y. – Opus 1607 (1927)
Electro-pneumatic action
Style HNP
2 manuals, 10 ranks, 5 Tuned Percussions, 14 Traps,
Curved Console
This organ was shipped on April 6, 1927. |
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Pedal – 32 notes
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16 |
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Tuba Profunda |
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8 |
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Flute |
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16 |
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Bass Diaphone |
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4 |
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Octave |
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16 |
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Bourdon |
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Bass Drum |
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8 |
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Harmonic Tuba |
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Kettle Drum |
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8 |
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Diaphone Diapason |
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Crash Cymbal |
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8 |
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Tibia Clausa |
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Cymbal |
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8 |
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Clarinet |
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8 |
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Cello |
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3 Adjustable Comb. Toe Pistons |
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Accompaniment (Manual I) –- 61 notes
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16 |
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Contra Viol [TC] |
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Chrysoglott |
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16 |
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Vox Humana [TC] |
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Snare Drum |
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8 |
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Harmonic Tuba |
85 |
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Tambourine |
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8 |
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Diaphonic Diapason |
85 |
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Castanets |
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8 |
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Tibia Clausa |
73 |
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Chinese Block |
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8 |
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Clarinet |
61 |
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Tom Tom |
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8 |
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Kinura |
61 |
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8 |
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Orchestral Oboe |
61 |
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Second Touch |
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8 |
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Viol |
85 |
8 |
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Harmonic Tuba |
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8 |
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Viol Celeste [TC] |
61 |
8 |
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Diaphonic Diapason |
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8 |
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Flute |
97 |
8 |
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Clarinet |
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8 |
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Vox Humana |
61 |
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Cathedral Chimes |
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4 |
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Piccolo |
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Xylophone |
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4 |
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Viol |
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Triangle |
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4 |
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Viol Celeste |
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4 |
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Flute |
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10 Adjustable Combination Pistons |
4 |
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Vox Humana |
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2 2/3 |
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Twelfth |
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2 |
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Piccolo |
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Solo (Manual II) – 61 notes
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16 |
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Tuba Profunda |
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4 |
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Viol Celeste |
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16 |
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Bass |
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4 |
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Flute |
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16 |
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Tibia Clausa [TC] |
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2 2/3 |
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Twelfth |
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16 |
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Bourdon |
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2 |
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Fifteenth |
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16 |
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Contra Viol [TC] |
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2 |
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Piccolo |
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8 |
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Harmonic Tuba |
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1 3/5 |
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Tierce |
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8 |
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Diaphonic Diapason |
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| Cathedral Chimes |
25 notes |
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8 |
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Tibia Clausa |
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8 |
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Clarinet |
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8 |
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Kinura |
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8 |
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Orchestral Oboe |
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Orchestra Bells [re-it] |
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8 |
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Viol |
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8 |
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Viol Celeste [TC] |
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8 |
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Flute |
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Second Touch |
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8 |
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Vox Humana |
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16 |
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Tuba |
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4 |
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Harmonic Clarion |
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8 |
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Tibia Clausa |
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4 |
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Octave |
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8 |
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Clarinet |
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4 |
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Piccolo |
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4 |
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Viol |
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10 Adjustable Combination Pistons |
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Tremulants (4)
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Main |
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Vox Humana |
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Solo |
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Tuba |
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General
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Two Expression Pedals |
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Effects
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| Surf |
Auto Horn |
Train Whistle |
| Fire Gong |
Bird |
Horse Hoofs |
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Sources:
Cinema Treasures web site: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/4624
Junchen, David L., comp. and ed. by Jeff Weiler. The WurliTzer Pipe Organ – An Illustrated History. Chicago: The American Theatre Organ Society, 2005.
Kaufmann, Preston J. Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. 3. Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1995.
The Theatre Organ Home Page web site: http://theatreorgans.com/
"When the Heat Became Unbearable, It Was Time to Sleep on Tar Beach," Times Newsweekly (July 17, 2003).
Illustrations:
AJWB Collection. View of house; console of Wurlitzer Organ, Op. 1607 (1927).
Cinema Treasures web site. Interior.
Times Newsweekly (July 17, 2003). Oasis Theatre Marquis (Sept. 16, 1927). |
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