Piccadilly

Piccadilly

At Valentine Wilmot’s fashionable London nightclub, star dancers Mabel and Vic are the toast of the town—until Vic’s departure sends the club into crisis. In a desperate bid to revive its fortunes, Wilmot turns to Shosho, a spirited young dancer whose unexpected success soon changes the dynamics of the club. As rivalries, romance, and jealousy take center stage, a shocking murder plunges everyone into a mystery where appearances can be dangerously deceiving.

The film is driven by the fiery screen presence of Anna May Wong, a Chinese-American actress whose Hollywood opportunities were limited by anti-miscegenation laws; her work with Jewish-German director E.A. Dupont led to her breakout performance in this European production.

Featuring live accompaniment by Andrew Simpson.

Andrew Earle Simpson is an acclaimed composer of opera, silent film, orchestral, chamber, choral, dance, and vocal music based in Washington, DC. His works make multi-faceted connections with literature, visual art, and film.

His concert and theatrical works have been performed at such venues as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Museums, Getty Museum as well as Europe, Australia, and the Americas. He is also a professional company member of the Alliance for New Music-Theatre in Washington, DC.

One of America’s foremost silent film accompanists, he has performed across the United States and abroad. He is Resident Film Accompanist at the National Gallery of Art and a resident accompanist at the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus Theatre. He also conducts orchestral and chamber ensemble scores for silent film, both live to screen as well as recording.

His concert and silent film music appears on Naxos, Albany, and other labels. His film scores have been broadcast on the Turner Classic Movies Channel, and more than fifty are recorded with Kino Lorber, Flicker Alley, and others. He has spearheaded two silent film restoration projects with his new scores for DVD/Blu-ray, released by Undercrank Productions.

In 2022, he founded the Andrew Simpson Ensemble, a chamber group that premieres and performs new scores for silent films.

Andrew Earle Simpson is Ordinary (full) Professor of Music at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

More information, works lists, and recordings: www.andrewesimpson.com