LOTR In Concert Review

LOTR In Concert Review

I’ve always been a firm believer that there are folks with real talent, and those that wish or think they had real talent…but don’t, so they become critics instead. Sort of like those that can, do; those that can’t, teach; those that can’t teach, teach gym. I try to shy away from the gym thing because one of my favorite persons in the whole wide world was my elementary school gym teacher (and many of you know exactly who I am talking about).

But that’s besides the point. Last night Linda, Zach and I saw The Lord of The Rings – Fellowship of The Ring in Concert at Lincoln Center, which inspired me to become an Arts & Entertainment critic of sorts. Not that I’m qualified but I know many folks don’t pay much attention to movie critics, so why should I be any different.

Last night’s Lord of The Rings in Concert was a movie viewing/culture altering experience. Here’s the set-up:  Big screen at one of the world’s most famous cultural/entertainment venues – Lincoln Center; big symphony orchestra, even bigger chorus including a few dozen members of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. The movie was subtitled to allow for the orchestra to play certain sections without having to hear all the dialog, which added a great element to the viewing experience and an added layer of drama that great movie music does so well.

The lead vocalist was Kaitlyn Lusk who has an outstanding voice. One young man from the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, who sang a few of lead parts, gave me goose bumps when he sang. Packed house at Lincoln Center, which stayed through all of the closing credits (except for a handful of people and I have no idea what they were thinking), and good thing they stayed because there are a couple of vocal sections of the score in those closing credits which were 2 of the highlights of the evening. The event was topped off by an appearance by Howard Shore, the movie soundtrack composer. Let me tell you, seeing an epic movie such as Fellowship of The Ring, in a magnificent setting, with that world class orchestra and chorus has forever changed my idea of the “best movie theater I’ve ever been to.”

My wife, who has no tolerance for scifi, fantasy, Tolkien type of stuff, described the evening as a “religious experience.” In addition to Linda and Zach (who loves all things scifi, fantasy, Tolkien) we were joined by Josh Stanton, also known as Rabbi Stanton (hence a sort of religious experience double entendre) and his much better half (aren’t they all) Mirah.

FYI, I’m a huge movie music fan. I regularly listen to Thomas Newman (have a Thomas Newman Pandora station), Hans Zimmer and many other movie soundtracks. Since last night, I’ve been thinking about what other movies would I enjoy seeing in this type of environment. A few come to mind. Gladiator – great score with some great vocal sections. How about a series of Pixar movies – my kingdom for the WALL-E soundtrack, especially the “Define Dancing” segment. Dances With Wolves, Shawshank Redemption, 2001 A Space Odyssey.

If there’s a movie you love, that has a great soundtrack, and you find out they are showing it in a setting similar to what we experienced last night, do it. It might not be the “religious experience” my wife had, but I’m pretty sure you will never watch or listen to a movie the same again.