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  • HB
  • RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN AT THE MOVIES
  • Aug. 16, 2002
  • JOHN MAUCERI & THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL ORCHESTRA

    Your Favorite Movie Musicals on the Bowl's Big Screen!

    AUGUST 16 & 17, 8:30 PM

    August 16: Sponsored by Renaissance Hollywood Hotel;
    Media Sponsors: KLON 88.1 FM, K-EARTH 101 FM

    August 17: Lexus Passionate Performance; Media Sponsor: 94.7 THE WAVE

    In celebration of Richard Rodgers' centennial year, the Hollywood Bowl presents a special concert dedicated to the music and films of the acclaimed American musical team of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II on Friday and Saturday, August 16 and 17 at 8:30 p.m. Principal Conductor John Mauceri leads the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and Cal State Fullerton University Singers (John Alexander, director) in the timeless scores of the most popular Rodgers and Hammerstein films, including Oklahoma!, Carousel, The King and I, South Pacific, and The Sound of Music synchronized with scenes from the films projected on the Bowl's big screen. This concert is produced in cooperation with Twentieth Century Fox and The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization.

    After long and highly distinguished careers with other collaborators, composer RICHARD RODGERS (1902-1979) and librettist/lyricist OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II (1895-1960) joined forces to create the most consistently fruitful and successful partnership in American musical theatre. Oklahoma!, the first Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, was also the first of a new genre - the musical play - representing a unique fusion of Rodgers' musical comedy and Hammerstein's operetta. A milestone in the development of the American musical, it also marked the beginning of the most successful partnership in Broadway musical history, and was followed by Carousel, Allegro, South Pacific, The King And I, Me And Juliet, Pipe Dream, Flower Drum Song, and The Sound Of Music. Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote one musical specifically for the big screen, STATE FAIR, and one for television, CINDERELLA. Collectively, the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals earned 35 Tony Awards, 15 Academy Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes, two Grammy Awards, and 2 Emmy Awards. Despite Hammerstein's death in 1960, Rodgers continued to write for the Broadway stage. Richard Rodgers died on December 30, 1979, less than eight months after his last musical opened on Broadway. In 1990, Broadway's 46th Street Theatre was renamed The Richard Rodgers Theatre in his honor.

    JOHN MAUCERI's accomplishments extend nationally and internationally, not only to the world's greatest opera companies and symphony orchestras, but also to the musical stages of Broadway and Hollywood, before large television and radio audiences, and in recording studios and major publications. Mauceri has received substantial recognition for his work as one of the principal forces behind the movement to preserve two of America's great art forms, the American musical and music for the American cinema. He is equally at home conducting artists ranging from Plácido Domingo (during a live broadcast of the Grammy Awards) to Madonna (with whom he recorded the soundtrack to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita), from Garth Brooks (an inaugural inductee into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame) to the Smashing Pumpkins (for the 1996 MTV Music Awards). Carol Burnett, Chicago, John Denver, Rodney Gilfry, Jonathan Pryce, Jane Eaglen, Jennifer Larmore, Patrick Stewart, Tito Puente, Charlotte Church, and Trisha Yearwood are among the multitude of artists who have performed with Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Mauceri's first recordings with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra reached the "Top Ten" in Billboard's crossover chart, and one received Germany's highest award, the Deutsche Schallplatten Prize. To date, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra has made four successful tours to Japan and one to Brazil. Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra have presented an astonishing number of premieres, and under Mauceri's tenure, opera and ballet returned to the Bowl's stage. In addition to his Hollywood Bowl position, Mauceri has served as music director for the Pittsburgh Opera since June 2000. The only American ever to have held the post of music director of an opera house in Great Britain and Italy, he served as music director of the Scottish Opera, and recently completed his three-year tenure as music director (direttore stabile) of the Teatro Reggio in Turino.

    Artistic Director of the Pacific Chorale since 1972, JOHN ALEXANDER has consistently received acclaim from critics and audiences for his inspired conducting. He has conducted his singers with orchestras internationally and, closer to home, with the Pacific Symphony, Pasadena Symphony and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Equally versatile whether on the podium, or behind the scenes, Alexander has prepared choruses for numerous conductors including Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Slatkin, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, John Mauceri, Lukas Foss, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas, Gerard Schwarz, Max Rudolf, Carl St. Clair, JoAnn Falletta, and Jorge Mester. Alexander is nationally recognized for his leadership in the musical and organizational development of the performing arts. In 1993, he was elected to the board of Chorus America, the national service organization for choruses. In June 2001, he began serving a two-year term as President of Chorus America. Alexander also provides board consultations to choruses nationally and frequently serves on the artistic review panel for the California Arts Council. Alexander is the composer of several choral works, all published by Hinshaw Music, and is the editor of the John Alexander Choral Series, which includes some of his own compositions as well as music by Frank Ticheli and Jan Sanborn.

    The UNIVERSITY SINGERS OF CALIFORNIA STATE FULLERTON have secured a distinguished reputation as one of the finest collegiate vocal ensembles in the United States. The University Singers have performed with such famous professional orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Zubin Mehta and Carlo Maria Giulini, the Pacific Symphony led by Carl St. Clair, and the Long Beach Symphony. Upcoming highlights from the ensemble's 2002-2003 performance schedule include a fourth consecutive national tour with the Boston Pops Orchestra led by Keith Lockhart. The University Singers have also performed for numerous national choral conventions including the American Choral Director's Association and Music Educators National Conference. The Singers have also toured extensively throughout the world, and in 1987, represented the United States at the first symposium of the International Federation for Choral Music in Vienna. Past directors of this ensemble include founding director David Thorsen and Howard Swan. The ensemble is currently led by John Alexander, who became artistic director in 1994.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    Friday, August 16, 8:30 PM

    Saturday, August 17, 8:30 PM


    Rodgers and Hammerstein At The Movies

    Hollywood Bowl (2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood)

    HOLLYWOOD BOWL ORCHESTRA

    JOHN MAUCERI, conductor

    CAL STATE FULLERTON UNIVERSITY SINGERS, JOHN ALEXANDER, director

    Produced in cooperation with Twentieth Century Fox and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization.

    (program subject to change)

    Oklahoma!:   Overture/Main Titles/"Oh What a Beautiful Morning," Dream Ballet

    Carousel:   Heaven Effect and Carousel Waltz, Bench Scene/"If I Loved You," Soliloquy

    The King and I:   Main Titles, "Getting to Know You," "Song of the King", "Shall We Dance"

    South Pacific:   Main Titles, "Younger Than Springtime"

    The Sound of Music:   Opening/"The Sound of Music", Main Titles, Salzburg Festival, and Final Escape

    August 16 Sponsored by Renaissance Hollywood Hotel

    August 16 Media Sponsors: KLON 88.1 FM, K-EARTH 101 FM

    August 17 Lexus Passionate Performance, Media Sponsor: 94.7 THE WAVE

    Tickets ($3 - 90) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl box office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at hollywoodbowl.com. For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.

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  • Contact:

    Elizabeth Hinckley, 323/850-2047; David Barber, 323/850-2023