Did you know that the faux box seats on either side of the Fox Theatre stage actually mask the chambers of Mighty Mo’s organ pipes?
If you’ve been to the Fox Theatre, you’ve likely heard the sounds of Mighty Mo! Learn more about Atlanta’s claim to theatre organ fame.
Mighty “Mo” Moller Organ Facts
1. The Fox Möller Opus 5566 Theatre Organ is the second largest theatre organ in the U.S. (behind Radio City Music Hall), and has four manuals, forty-two ranks, and 3,622 pipes.
2. The Fox Möller Theatre Organ is also known as “Mighty Mo”.
3. More than 7,000 theatre organs were installed in American movie houses from 1915-1933, but today fewer than 40 of those remain in their original theatres, and even fewer are operational, making the Fox’s “Mighty Mo” even more exceptional.
4. Our “Mighty Mo” was custom built for the Fox by M.P. Möller, Inc. of Hagerstown, Maryland from 1928-1929.
5. M.P. Möller emigrated to the United States in 1872 and founded the M.P. Möller Pipe Organ Company in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, in 1875. The city of Hagerstown, Maryland, took notice of Möller’s early successes and induced him to move his business there in 1881 to help make it a viable business center in Western Maryland.
6. The “box seats” on either side of the stage actually disguise the four organ chambers that house the organ pipes and instruments for “Mighty Mo”.
7. There are seven miles of electrical wire that connect the organ to the various instruments.
8. Within the organ chambers are actual instruments used to make dozens of sound effects, including songbirds, sirens, a Ford horn, Ludwig snare drums, base drums, sleigh bells, Zildgian cymbals, and a bell from a 1928 RR locomotive, just to name a few.
9. Originally, the term “Theatre Organ” referred to a pipe organ designed specifically to imitate an orchestra to accompany a silent film, but as the instrument evolved, new designs and sounds were incorporated.
Learn more about this history of the Fox Theatre on FoxTheatre.org.
Read about Fox Theatre shows in previous issues of Encore.
Photos and history provided by the Fox Theatre.
