Widespread Panic keyboardist to perform live score for silent horror classic 'Nosferatu'

Just because Halloween falls on a Monday this year doesn't mean you won't still be able to have a one-of-a-kind experience in Athens after a weekend of partying and trick-or-treat. Widespread Panic keyboardist John "Jojo" Hermann plans to send the holiday off with one last night of fright.

Hermann will perform a live score to the 1922 silent horror classic "Nosferatu" at Ciné on Oct. 31 for a pair of back-to-back screenings at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. The film is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its release this year with similar live events at venues throughout the world.

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It was at one of those concerts in Nashville five years ago that Hermann saw "Nosferatu" for the very first time, and subsequently "fell in love" with it.

"I had no idea that there is this whole scene of musicians who regularly perform live scores to silent movies," Hermann told the Banner-Herald. "I thought it was so cool and I wanted to do it, too."

When "Nosferatu" first came out, composer Hans Erdmann wrote a score that was performed by an orchestra at the film's premiere screening in Berlin, but only parts of it have survived over time. For decades, the score for 'Nosferatu' has been largely or entirely improvised.

Though some composers have incorporated sound effects and synthesizers, Hermann decided to keep things simple by performing his score on solo piano like it might've been done in smaller venues like Ciné a century ago. To accompany the film's 94-minute run time, Hermann wrote "seven or eight" songs that will be mixed with improvisational pieces and classic themes.

Directed by F.W. Murnau, "Nosferatu" is an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" that stars Max Schreck as the still-terrifying Count Orlok. The film was remade in 1979 and another is on the way from "The Witch" director Robert Eggers. Murnau's original is considered a gothic masterpiece that set a template for horror movie atmosphere that continues today.

"I've seen the movie countless times at this point, so I've definitely gotten to know the characters," said Hermann. "They're real people, and you start to forget that they're all from 100 years ago. That's one of the reasons 'Nosferatu' is still a great movie."

For tickets and updated show times, visit athenscine.com

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: See 'Nosferatu' with a live score by Widespread Panic's keyboardist