Tuesday October 20th was a red -letter day at Disney Hall. First, the evening’s concert was to be lead by Maestro John Mauceri in his first performance as conductor in Disney Hall. After conducting over 300 concerts at the Hollywood Bowl He left last year to become the Chancellor of the University of North Carolina School of The Arts. He founded the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in 1991 and they went on tour throughout the world and record many concerts. Mauceri and his Orchestra were both making their debuts in Disney Hall. For the occasion Mauceri chose to highlight some of the musical legacy of the Disney Studio, and designed an all Disney program, also a first for the Hall. The Los Angeles crowd was glad to see him again and Mauceri looked moved to be back in LA making his debut in Disney Hall.

The Concert opened with the “Concert Overture” from the Nightmare Before Christmas by composer Danny Elfman. The score was from Tim Burton’s iconic movie of the same name. The Sleeping Beauty followed this in an arrangement by Mauceri. The music is based on Tchaikovsky’s ballet Sleeping Beauty. The piece featured splendid choral work of Cal State Fullerton Singers. Next up was a “Symphonic Portrait” from Pirates of The Caribbean, prepared by Mauceri from the music of Hans Zimmer. It piece was divided into three parts: “The Living and the Dead," "Jack Sparrow" (the character made famous by Johnny Depp), and “Hoist the Colors and Drink Up, Me Hearties.” Again the Chorus from Cal State Fullerton supported this exquisite arrangement. The first half ended with a “Suite” from Lion King written by Elton John and Hans Zimmer and again put together by Mauceri. The Chorus from Cal State Fullerton provided the background voices.

The second half of the evening consisted entirely of “A Symphonic Retelling” of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Frank Churchill and Larry Morley. This very early Disney score went on to great fame and every song in it became a pop hit. Mauceri has done a superlative job of creating an arrangement of this piece in which the music never stopped. Supporting him again was the Chorus, as well as a wonderful group of actors who spoke the dialogue and sang a few songs (“Whistle While You Work” etc.). Ashley Brown, in town to play Mary Poppins at the Ahmanson, was terrific as Snow White and managed to capture in word and song the “Princess” sound. Blake Griffin was her Prince Charming, and the brilliant Ruth Williamson, in a show stealing over –the-top performance as the Queen. The Seven Dwarfs were played by Bob Bouchard as Dopey, Matt Crabtree as Bashful, Jeffrey Polk as Doc, Justin Robertson as Happy, Harrison White as Sleepy, Michael Arden as Sneezy, and a marvelous and funny Rick Wasserman as Grumpy. Jeff Lee directed with a sure hand. All told it was a great evening of Disney music and a delightful chance to see John Mauceri Again.

Article Author: Robert Machray

ROBERT MACHRAY has appeared in over 150 plays and has worked at 14 Tony Award-winning theatres. He has been nominated for and won numerous awards. Robert has a B.A. from Yale and an M.F.A. from USC. He has taught at USC, UCLA, UCSB, and Pasadena City College. …

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