Godoy plans documentary of historic Music Hall organ

Melissa Godoy of Mt. Airy is one of seven recipients of $6,000 grant from the Cincinnati Arts Ambassador Fellowship. She plans to use her award to fund a short documentary about the restoration process of the art-carved wood panels from the 1878 Hook and Hastings organ that is currently in the orchestra pit of Music Hall.

“These panels have been stored there for about 40 years after this huge, classic organ was dismantled in the 70s,” Godoy says. “In its time, this organ was one of the largest organs in the country, and the art-carved panels were the opus of the art carved movement, which was centered in Cincinnati."

The panels, carved by more than 108 women students, inspired Gody, who decided to employ two students from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, where she is a professor, to help her create the cinema vérité style film.

There have been numerous delays in the restoration of Music Hall, so the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall (SPMH) decided to restore these panels while waiting for negotiations to conclude.

Godoy plans to show her film at Music Hall in conjunction with the display of the panels. She also plans to put the project online, supplemented with background information and links.

“Years ago, when the Cincinnati Wing of the Art Museum opened, I was the coordinating producer of the HD videos that are screening now,” Godoy says. “And I was very much involved in the art-carved furniture research and shooting, so I got really interested in the history of it and fascinated by the movement.

“The aesthetic movement (which encompasses the art-carved movement) is so appropriate for Cincinnati because of the natural beauty of the city. So that’s what I’m striving for also stylistically, is something just really natural.”

Godoy has been involved with filmmaking since her playwright studies at Northwestern University. Born in D.C., Godoy grew up in Wisconsin, went to school in Chicago and finally settled in Cincinnati in 1994 because her husband was getting his master’s degree. Godoy enjoys the pace of life in Cincinnati and is energized by the revitalization of the city. 

Since 2008, she has worked on a documentary about the revitalization of OTR, which she says taught her many lessons about her craft. Godoy also worked on several national productions directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert. Her own documentary, “Do Not Go Gently,” with Walter Cronkite as the narrator, is on American Public Television and has won numerous awards. “Until Sadie Blotz” is her most recent completed work, which was shown in the Cincinnati Film Festival. 

Do Good:

• Learn more about SPMH.

• Donate to SPMH.

• Find out about Godoy’s documentary on the revitalization of OTR.

By Stephanie Kitchens