JURASSIC PARK IN CONCERT
Where: The Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St.
When: Thursday (Nov. 9) and Friday (Nov. 10), 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $32-$108 from the Royal McPherson box office (250-386-6121) or rmts.bc.ca
The Victoria Symphony is heading into its pair of live-to-screen performances this week riding a Harry Potter high.
The symphony did boffo box office last month with its performances of the score to the film franchise based on the books by J.K. Rowling, in addition to music from the The Lord of the Rings and others. According to the organization, more than 2,500 tickets to the two performances were sold in what amounts to one of the most successful weekends by the symphony in recent years.
“What was remarkable was how many kids were there,” said principal pops conductor Sean O’Loughlin, who led the symphony for both performances. “It was awesome to see the next generation being exposed to this great artform, and to see the effect that had.”
Movie lovers — including young ones — have another reason to return this week as the inaugural Film in Concert series gets underway tonight, with the orchestra, under the baton of O’Loughlin, performing the original Jurassic Park score by John Williams during two screenings of the Steven Spielberg film. A digitally remastered version of the blockbuster will be shown on a large screen set up behind the orchestra, with upwards of 70 musicians playing Williams’s music live as it appears in the film.
“It’s my job to synch-up everything,” O’Loughlin said, shortly after arriving in Victoria on Tuesday from his home in Los Angeles. “My palms are sweating already and we’re not even at the first rehearsal. It’s a lot of work for me, I’m not going to lie.”
The good news is that O’Loughlin, a New York native, is well-versed in the area of film, having led several orchestras in North America through live-to-screen presentations. He also conducted a similar program in July, guiding the Shippensburg Festival Orchestra in Pennsylvania through a live screening of Jurassic Park.
During one particularly exhausting sequence, where the musicians performed for 14 minute minutes without pause, “the audience actually applauded,” O’Loughlin said of the summer screening. “It was an organic response to the orchestra playing their butts off.”
The digital print of Jurassic Park being used this week has all the original music wiped clean from the film, leaving only the dialogue and sound effects. He’ll use a monitor placed by his music stand for reference throughout the performance, which allows him to match his conducting pattern to scenes in the film. That is less daunting than the alternative: in 2019, O’Loughlin was forced to use a stopwatch during the Victoria Symphony’s performance of a live screening of The Wizard of Oz.
O’Loughlin has a working knowledge of Williams’s catalogue, which should help. He transcribed many of Williams’ film scores in his youth — he was a big fan — and once worked in Los Angeles for a publishing company which had Williams as a client. “He is one of my inspirations. I learn so much from listening to his music, and studying the scores he writes.”
The Victoria Symphony will be randomly selecting a winner at each concert, who will receive a page of sheet music from the Jurassic Park score that has been signed by Williams. That’s no small prize: With 53 career Academy Award nominations, Williams is second only to Walt Disney, adding further appeal for the Jurassic Park fanbase in Victoria.
“What’s remarkable about this is, even after 30 years, how well it holds up,” O’Loughlin said. “We’re familiar with Jurassic Park, it has been in our fabric for 30 years now. But you’ve never seen it in this iteration, with the live score being performed, as the movie is being presented.”
