Last Saturday I was fortunate enough to see "The Maestro of the Movies" John Williams perform at the Hollywood Bowl! And yeah, it was awesome.
Confession time: I lost my program! So I'm going off my memory here. Bear with me!
He opened the show with some of his Olympic themes, one of which was accompanied by footage from memorable Olympic moments. Needless to say I felt very lazy listening to that epic music and watching amazing athletes do their thing.
The show also included rockstar violinist Gil Shaham. He played a piece from Scent of a Woman arranged by Williams, a selection from Schindler's List, and a medley from Fiddler on the Roof. And MAN. He can play! I sat there in awe. He was working the crowd too, waggling his eyebrows, winking...quite the performer.
He also came back to play a piece from the film Laura while they showed footage of gorgeous women from film history. Greta Garbo...Marlene Dietrich...Lana Turner...Elizabeth Taylor...Gene Tierney...Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction?! Aah! I think they were going for a femme fatale theme, but damn! The overall effect was lovely though. Seeing their luminous faces in black and white while the violin music played...*sigh*
After the intermission he welcomed everybody back with the Superman theme, and out came the lightsabers! The energy was electric, everybody was having a great time. At some point he also played the duel from The Adventures of Tintin accompanied by footage of great swordfights in cinema history. And yes, they showed Inigo Montoya and Westley in Princess Bride. Love!
I should mention that a choir from Cal State Fullerton was on stage at this point, and in the choir was my roommate's brother Matt! They performed with the orchestra on another Olympic theme, a piece from Amistad, and (of course!) "Duel of the Fates" from Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Lightsabers again!
(my sister bumped my shoulder!)
I can't recall at what point in the program it was, but they also performed Marion's Theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark. I had forgotten how beautiful that piece is. Understated, lovely.
Finally, my absolute favorite part. To close the show, they showed the entire last reel from E.T. with live score. To say I got goosebumps would be an understatement. Seeing the bicycles take flight, the tearful goodbyes to ET...aww, it was amazing.
But what's a show without an encore (or three)? He threw a bone to the audience (or should I say he HURLED IT using the FORCE) and played selections from Star Wars: Luke and Leia's theme, the main theme, and the Imperial March! I got some video (posted below) so you can see and feel the energy. What a great show!
Big thanks to my dad and his girlfriend for taking my sister and I...it was certainly a night to remember!
All photos by yours truly.
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