Getting to the Hollywood Bowl
On Sunday evening, September 10, 2011, I spent the evening at the Hollywood Bowl to hear the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra play music composed by Tchaikovsky. Although I live fairly close to the Hollywood Bowl, I would never, because of heavy traffic and difficulty in finding parking places, drive there. Instead, I hopped on a bus at Arcadia Park for the 40-minute journey.
Seat at the Hollywood Bowl
After the bus dropped me and my group off near the Hollywood Bowl ticket booth, we still faced a walk up the hill to the beginning of the escalator and then more walking to find our seats in section M of the Bowl. When I sat down, it seemed like I was two blocks away from center stage. When I turned around, I realized many others sat higher and further away from the stage than me. I ate my box lunch while waiting for the 8:30 program to begin, hoping I could hear the music from this great distance.
Several screens projected stage activity and Hollywood Bowl future events before the performance. When the program started, the sound system was excellent and the screens allowed an intimate, close feeling to the orchestra as the program progressed.
Conductor Bramwell Tovey at the Hollywood Bowl
Conductor Bramwell Tovey had us 18,000 people doing some serious laughing when he welcomed us to this Hollywood Bowl performance by stating he wished Tchaikovsky could have joined us, but he had been decomposing now for over one hundred years.
Later Tovey introduced each song with humorous descriptions of the story line for Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and the 1812 Overture. Really, I think the man could have easily made it as a comedian if he had so chosen that occupation.
Fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl
The USC Trojan Marching Band joined the orchestra for the finale of the 1812 Overture. The combined orchestra and band played a magnificent conclusion to the Overture, accompanied with a fireworks show programmed to the music’s beat. What a fabulous way to conclude the performance.
It was midnight before I arrived home, but I didn’t care. I look forward to my next bus ride to the Hollywood Bowl.