Twelve films by pioneering French filmmaker Georges Méliès will get a brand-new live soundtrack this weekend when Alcoléa & Cie brings its show Right in the Eye to The Maitland Art Center on Saturday at 7 p.m. Three musicians will perform using more than 50 instruments, some of them rare and handmade, to score the century-old silent footage in real time.
The performance is billed as a Central Florida premiere, according to Maison Française, which lists the show as choose-what-to-pay with tickets starting at $21. Alcoléa & Cie describes Right in the Eye as a multimedia show built around 12 films by Méliès, blending live music with early cinema, set design and lighting, per the company's own event page. The standard version of the show runs one hour and 15 minutes.
Orlando Weekly first flagged the Maitland date in its Orlando Weekly preview of the engagement, noting the event takes place at the Maitland Art and History Center. The venue's full address is 231 W. Packwood Ave. in Maitland.
No Film Degree Required
Organizers are pitching the show as accessible even to audiences with no background in silent cinema. Maison Française describes it as requiring no language barrier and no knowledge of film history, with the production instead leaning on music, images, rhythm and humor to carry the storytelling. On stage, the three musicians work through an unusually large arsenal of instruments, some of which the company says are rare or handmade, to build the live score in sync with the projected films.
A review of the same production at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts on April 6, 2025, described the performance as a live soundtrack to Méliès' silent films, noting instruments including violins, musical saws and bicycle wheels among the sound sources used onstage, according to Stage and Cinema. A separate listing for a different presentation of the show similarly described it as composed of 12 films representative of Méliès' work, per Arts and Culture Albuquerque.
Workshops Dig Into the Tricks Behind the Films
Alcoléa & Cie is also running participatory workshops tied to the performance, exploring Méliès' world, the origins of cinematic special effects, and the relationship between image, music and sound, according to a listing from Broadway World. One of those sessions, called Inside Live Cinema, is described as a hands-on workshop covering early cinematic illusion, live music and silent-film technique, per the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Orlando's October newsletter. Broadway World's schedule lists sessions at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., with the evening session conducted in French and open to attendees without previous experience.
The Saturday performance itself offers wheelchair accessibility, accessible seating and free on-site parking, according to the same Arts & Cultural Alliance of Orlando newsletter. Admission follows the choose-what-to-pay structure, and the event encourages donations.
