RAZING OF THEATER BRINGS BACK ORCHESTRA MEMORIES

In the days of silent movies shown at the Orpheum Theater in Cape Girardeau, a four-piece all-girl orchestra, called the "Kempe Kids," provided the music.

One of the founders of the group, Paula Kempe, said news reports about Tuesday's collapse of the old theater brought back memories of her first job as a musician.

The Orpheum, at 615 Good Hope, was built in 1917. It collapsed due to deterioration.

"It brought back such memories for me when I saw it crumble," Kempe said. "Things were so different then."

The job in the orchestra pit was the first professional job for the orchestra, Kempe said. The musicians were teen-agers at the time.

Paula Kempe played banjo. Her twin sister, Mary Kempe, played saxophone. Aleen Vogel Wehking played piano and Evelyn Bisset was the drummer.

The orchestra members made $1 a night.

"We played there every night. The attendance wasn't large, especially at first," Kempe said.

"We were instructed to play according to the type of movie fast, sad or romantic," Kempe said. "We had quite a selection of music to match the picture.

"We never did see the movie in advance, but they would brief us about the movie so we would know what it was about. We would arrange our music in advance."

Then orchestra members would watch the movie, changing their tunes as the scenes changed.

"In those days of silent films they would always show the picture and then you would read. We had to play more then because it took longer to read."

Kempe recalled watching one western as the orchestra played. "It was really a weird western. We were so wrapped up in it, we kept playing and playing. After the show was over, we turned around and everyone else had left."

Kempe said the theater was very dark. The orchestra pit had a very dim light, but the musicians knew most of the music by heart.

"We played tunes that had a tune, not like this rock and roll. These were real pretty tunes. The jazzy ones were real jazzy and for the westerns we really pepped up the music."

Kempe said her family included many musicians. It seemed natural for her and her sister to form a band.

"Our brother was a real musician," Kempe said. "He owned Clark's Music Co. on North Main Street. He was the one who bought our instruments and taught each one of us to play."

"We didn't have to audition (for the job in Orpheum orchestra pit)," Kempe recalled. "They needed somebody and we applied. They had to have somebody, so they hired us right off and they liked us."

In addition to their $1 a night pay, the Kempe Kids Orchestra distributed business cards to patrons at the theater, resulting in additional performances for dances and parties.

After their start at the Orpheum, the Kempe Kids went on to perform at the Broadway Theater.

"They had to have some local entertainment," Kempe explained. "There just weren't that many pictures."

The Kempe's plays exotic instruments like the Song Whistle, the musical saw and the Turkish tubaphone.

They were also among the first performers on Oscar Hirsch's new radio station, broadcasting out of his living room.

"We formed a bigger and bigger orchestra and went on the play for all different functions at college," she said.