Of course, first thought was "must be for kids" or "I'm not interested in cartoons." (you know who you are) But what a show you've missed.
Awesomeness #1, I found a coupon code that gave 50% off the tickets. So, instead of $65 + $9 convenience charge... it became $27.45 + $8.10 = $35.55 for Orchestra seats - even though we were 2nd last row, it was still orchestra and not the mezzanine or balcony... but WOOHOO! Saving!
We went for the 2pm afternoon show and I'm not sure if that was a mistake or just happen so because there were lots of kids. However, they were not as much of a distraction as I thought some kids *could* be.
Conductor was George Daugherty with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra... who had already played the show in Kitchener on April 7th and 8th.
So, onto the show!
It started with "Dance of the Comedians" and as you expected, cartoon playing and orchestra playing. They played the famous Merrie Melody/Looney Tune intro and I must admit, it does sound better with an orchestra. This was not a typical symphony though as George actually talks to the audience and explains a brief of history with Termite Terrace and Merry Melody that the cartoons were used as intermission filler back in 1930s at the movies (really interesting tidbits but doubtful the kids cared).
Right after, Bugs Bunny himself arrives on the screen to conduct... the piece "Baton Bunny." If you don't recall, this is "Bugs Bunny vs Fly" cartoon. To hear a LIVE orchestra to the cartoon is a total difference experience then watching it at home. The music and cartoon were spot on.
The music is done the same way current orchestra and big movies are done. There is a clicker which the conductor uses to synchronize the music to whatever is going on screen.
After Baton Bunny, it was a short cartoon, "What's Up, Doc?" without the orchestra.
Following that was "Rhapsody Rabbit" which had audio from the cartoon WITH orchestra. At first, I thought it was a full audio track with the orchestra playing ALONG with the track but I think they may have reworked the audio tracks where it left out orchestra music. In this cartoon, you had Bugs Bunny performing on piano with the live orchestra. It is quite funny even though I have seen this more times then I can remember, I still laughed when Bugs held out "throw the bum out!" sign when a cough was part of the cartoon itself.
The first half ended with one of my favourite Bugs shorts, "Rabbit of Seville." This is where you realized the difficulty of syncing the audio tracks and orchestra for the conductor. The live orchestra made this piece even more enjoyable.
During the intermission, I stopped at the shop and they sold a plastic viking hat, a fancier program and variety of t-shirts. I really wanted a t-shirt...
Back to the show!
The second half was more of a tribute to other cartoons. It started with an overture. As George put it, "I want you to enjoy the amazing Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra. So, here is the 'Overture to the Beautiful Galatea.' and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra."
George asked if the audience wanted to see some of Bugs' friends... First piece was "Tom and Jerry in Hollywood Bowl" which the cartoon was quite similar to Baton Bunny. It was followed by "Scooby-Doo's Hall in Mountain King." Then "Bedrock Ballet" which was The Flintstones to Can-can music.
The show ended with my ultimate favourite cartoon, "What's Opera, Doc?" It could be my love for Romantic Era music or Wagnerian music... but this is my all-time favourite. What was interested was the audio track was NOT from the cartoon. I recall watching the DVD extras (yes, I bought the Looney Tunes DVD) and they mentioned that they needed to hire someone for one word, SMOG. In the cartoon, the word smog was spoke with such a coarse voice but in this one, the word smog was more mild and toned down.
To demonstrate in words... in the cartoon... "Typhoon! Hurricane! SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGGGGG!!!!!!!" and in this particular audio track... "Typhoon! Hurricane! Smooooog!!!" which was how Mel Blanc had originally done it. It had a little less hate and craziness...
Here is a 1 minute sample I took of "What's Opera, Doc?" I am quite surprised my blackberry could record this well...
Before the show ended, they played a recap piece of all the Merrie Melody and Looney Tune characters.
What I learned from the show... cartoons ain't for kids - especially when it comes to Bugs Bunny. A 1930s slide guitar was restored to do one thing and one thing only... that "boing" sound that beings Merrie Melody and Looney Tune cartoons are made with that guitar. If this was a once in a life time experience, it was certainly well worth it... if they decided to do another run, I would consider going again but maybe with a more adult crowd...
what was the coupon code
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