#FIRSTLOOK: “JURASSIC PARK LIVE IN CONCERT”

Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong

There is something truly magical about seeing a movie you adore once again on the big screen. Words almost fail to describe that feeling you get when you  experience a live orchestration of that Film’s Score in a concert setting.

Sony Centre for the Performing Arts is giving Jurassic Park the concert treatment and I had the pleasure of going to the first of two nights of this incredible experience. Prior to the presentation, the audience was treated to Behind the Curtain with Richard Crouse and Evan Mitchell, the Conductor for both this and the venue’s popular presentation of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Mitchell talks about the nuts and bolts of doing a live orchestration of a movie. We see them popping-up more and more and the reason why he says, is “I feel like they’re a slam dunk.”. He adds “to have the music frame in frame is a difficult thing to do. We’re not watching the film as we play. It becomes more mechanical for me” and that he “only looks up for key moments”.

The conversation then shifted to John Williams’  Score itself of Jurassic Park and Crouse had some interesting tidbits to share. For example, Williams has said that “he wanted to write music that matched the rhythmic gyrations of the dinosaurs” according to Crouse, while Mitchell states “I believe he captured the character of the music and the dinosaurs very much”.

Now onto the main event itself. There is something surreal hearing Jurassic Park‘s Score play live as the helicopter scene to Isla Nebular unfolds. It sends chills through your body hearing this in-person as it takes place on the big screen. As well, the first appearance of the T-Rex paired with live orchestration is breathtaking, truly adding something new to the experience that you might have missed from just watching the Film in theatres or on television. If you’re a fan of Jurassic Park, this certainly is something you cannot miss.

You have one more chance to see Steven Spielberg’s classic Jurassic Park in Concert at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts tonight. More here.

 

(Photo credit: Justin Waldman)