OLD LYME, CONNECTICUT.- On Saturday, April 6 at 5pm The American Magic-Lantern Theater will present the vintage slide and lantern show A Victorian Springtime Show. Hosted by the Florence Griswold Museum and held at the First Congregational Church in Old Lyme, the performance is sure to have audience members joining in with sound effects --- playing horns and tambourines, clapping, cheering, and booing --- in the melodramatic style of the Victorian theatre.

The American Magic-Lantern Theater is the only professional touring company in the country recreating Victorian "Magic-Lantern Shows," and one of only three in the world. The shows were a popular Victorian combination of color pictures, hilarious comedy and boisterous audience participation and are considered "the great grandfather of the cinema."  Using authentic equipment, scripts, music, and the dramatic style of the 1890s, slides are projected by the magic-lantern as a live showman and musician provide the "soundtrack" for the piece. The Victorian Springtime Show features segments like The Man on The Flying Trapeze, Sally Casey and the Billy Goat, and Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.  Each of the eight episodes was a favorite of the Victorians.