What is Maestro of the Movies at the Hollywood Bowl without John Williams? Still a delight, it turns out, thanks to David Newman and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
Williams was unable to participate in this year’s edition of the show due to illness. It was only the third time since 1981—when Williams officially began his annual residency in the Hollywood Hills—that the 92-year-old had missed this beloved staple of the Hollywood Bowl’s annual calendar. The other two instances? In 2015, Williams stayed home while recovering from pacemaker surgery and scoring Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and in 2020, like the rest of the world, he was stuck indoors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, even as The Maestro remained sidelined, his fingerprints were all over this particular program. For one, there was the choice of Newman on the podium. The 70-year-old counts Williams as a mentor, having played violin during many of the latter’s scoring sessions between the late 1970s and early 1980s. The ties, though, run much deeper than that.
As Newman explained during the show, his own father, the renowned film composer Alfred Newman, was among the first in Hollywood to employ a young Williams. What’s more, Williams developed a close relationship with Alfred’s brother, Lionel Newman—who, like his brother and his nephew, Randy Newman, was an Academy Award winner. Of course, Williams is plenty decorated himself, with five Oscars to accompany his three Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes and 26 Grammy Awards (not to mention his British knighthood in 2022).
Of Williams’ award-winning works, a handful were prominently featured in Friday’s program. The conclusion to the second half of the show was composed of three Star Wars pieces: “March of the Resistance” from The Force Awakens, Return of the Jedi’s theme for “Luke & Leia”, and “The Throne Room and End Title” from A New Hope. The encore, too, ended with Star Wars, by way of the “Imperial March” from The Empire Strikes Back.
During all of these pieces, the Hollywood Bowl lit up with thousands of lightsabers swinging to the beat, as though each person wielding one was also a conductor keeping tempo. It’s a fun fan tradition that dates back at least 15 years—one that Williams himself got in on last year, when he shared the stage with Gustavo Dudamel, the music director of the L.A. Philharmonic.
Related: Hollywood Bowl Details 2024 Summer Season: Roots Picnic, Jason Isbell, Herbie Hancock, More
With Newman at the helm, the L.A. Phil beautifully and masterfully recreated every soft lilt and dramatic crescendo from Williams’ Star Wars classics. They were just as adept at bringing to life the “Flying Theme” from E.T., another of Williams’ Oscar-winning works.
But even with the “March” from Superman also on the docket, the show was much more than a recital of Williams’ greatest hits. In fact, many of his most widely recognized pieces—from fabled franchises like Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Home Alone, and Jaws—were conspicuously absent. Instead, the Maestro curated a collection of scores from Hollywood’s Golden Age, along with deeper cuts from his own catalog and some that are plenty familiar to the wider culture, if not always connected with Williams himself.
The first half of the performance predominantly showcased pieces that influenced Williams in his younger years. After the “Star-Spangled Banner”, Newman led the L.A. Phil through Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s “Suite” from the 1939 film The Private Lives of Elizabeth in Essex and a pair of Alex North’s works from 1960’s Spartacus.
Williams’ own entries from Seven Years in Tibet and The Adventures of Tintin formed a sandwich around a trio of Henry Mancini standards, including The Pink Panther, The Great Waldo Pepper, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Before intermission, the L.A. Phil journeyed through Leonard Bernstein’s Oscar-nominated “Symphonic Suite” from the 1954 Marlon Brando classic On The Waterfront.
The second half turned into a full-blown Star Wars revue, but first Newman guided the audience through some of Williams’ more covertly famous efforts. Chief among those were the Maestro’s themes for NBC programming, including Meet The Press, NBC News, Sunday Night Football, and his Grammy-winning work for the Olympics. joThat milieu still left room for the “RAKSIN Theme” from Laura, with Bing Wang on solo violin, as well as “Marion’s Theme” from Raiders of the Lost Ark to open the encore.
While John Williams wouldn’t make it back to the famed Hollywood Bowl shell in time for the Saturday or Sunday shows, everyone in attendance could only hope that he will be well enough to return to the podium next year, at age 93. Those well wishers include Newman, who will be more than capable of carrying the full load again if his mentor is unable to seize the baton (or the lightsaber) in 2025.
Click below to view a gallery of photos from Maestro of the Movies at Hollywood Bowl by photographer Timothy Norris provided courtesy of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.
The post David Newman Carries Torch At “Maestro Of The Movies” As John Williams Sits Out Hollywood Bowl Staple [Recap/Photos] appeared first on L4LM.
