2022-11-24 - I undertook a brief survey of the instrument following a private visit to the theatre on November 11th, 2022. The theatre itself is utterly magnificent and is maintained to a very high standard. However, the organ's present condition is sadly practically unplayable as regular maintenance and use had stopped roughly 20 years ago. The entire Foundation chamber is currently offline due to a roof leak, although re-plastering work has already taken place to secure the chamber from any further damage. The majority of the ranks in the Main chamber are also currently non-functioning, due mostly to either perished leather in the chests or blown regulators. Much of the organ still contains original leather. Most of the expression shade pneumatics were dead, too. However, the contents of each chamber is entirely intact and all of the pipework, chests and other components are original. This also includes the relay and combination machines which are located on the 1st basement level beneath the stage. I was unable to access the Percussion and Diaphone chambers on this occasion. The console is extremely comfortable to play, despite its very large size. The combination action is currently inoperable as are many of the stop tabs again, due to failed pneumatics. While the present picture is certainly a grim one, the potential this organ has is almost limitless. It is a completely intact example of the Wurlitzer company's most high-end and deluxe work and represents the pinnacle of their career as the world's most famous builder of orchestral pipe organs for theatres. The specification is most luxurious and contains a range of voices that give an almost matchless sense of colour and dynamic variety. Couple this with the Fox's cavernous and resonant acoustics, and you have a match made in heaven! The blend of the sound here is wonderfully lush, even though it may slightly lack the clarity of other comparable original Wurlitzer installations such as the 4/28 Special at Shea's Buffalo. But again, this is largely due to the overwhelming size and width of the auditorium. It is a completely worthy candidate for restoration and inclusion in future programming! -Alex Jones
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