NSO performance of galactic proportions
In the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre, not far, far away, the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra put on a spectacular finale for their 2017/2018 season.
The show, Spring Pops: Final Frontier, attracted multiple demographics to the auditorium, from all backgrounds and all ages, for this fundraising event.
The NSO’S theme for the night was based on the enchanting music found in science fiction television shows and films. Their carefully curated selections appealed to many generations of sci-fi fans, from those who witnessed the birth of the genre, on through the Golden Age, and the New Wave of sci-fi, continuing on to the genre’s present-day contemporary offerings.
Dressed as Tommy Lee Jones in “Men In Black,” NSO CEO Hugh Donnan welcomed the costumed crowd of “men, women, Klingons, and Andorians” to the sold-out show. Donnan gestured to a balcony, welcoming a “visitor from a galaxy far, far away” – Darth Vader, attending with a trusty Stormtrooper.
After a witty word from their sponsor, the show began with a rousing round of applause for conductor/music Director Marc David, and first violinist/concertmaster Heather Kao.
Local storyteller Dale Jarvis took to the podium, and as our captain for the night, he guided the audience through this aural journey, providing commentary on the pieces the NSO was about to perform.
Opening with “Zarathustra” from “2001: A Space Odyssey,”
the epic opening song was followed by a medley of Star Trek theme songs from the many incarnations of the series, spanning over 50 years. Next, we heard the theme from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” a John Williams classic.
I was transfixed by bassist Frank Fusari’s impressive theremin skills, then mesmerized by the projected visual accompaniments. The talented musicianship, each tune executed flawlessly, almost made me forget I was at a live show, and not
a movie theatre.
Music from “Back to the Future,” “Doctor Who,” and “E.T.” continued the audience’s symphonic adventure. No detail spared, a young boy in a red hoodie walked a bike with a covered basket across the stage during “Adventures on Earth,” a nod to the famous “ride in the sky” E.T. scene.
During the intermission, the crowd enjoyed a costume contest, sipping “imported” Romulan Ale on the concourse.
Returning to the theatre for
the second act, the NSO held their costume contest, the big prize going to a young kid dressed as Kylo Ren from Star Wars.
The first selection was “Space,” a medley of tunes from “Space 1999,” “UFO,” “Stargate SG-1,” “Buck Rogers,” and “Battlestar Gallactica.”
The theme song of 1980 sci-fi romantic drama “Somewhere in Time” followed, leading us to the evening’s final offering.
A mélange of John Williams pieces, the “Star Wars Suite”
consisted of five themes from the famed movie series. During “The Imperial March,” conductor Marc David pledged allegiance to the Dark Lord of the Sith, donning a Darth Vader mask for the entirety of the performance.
I left the ACC feeling the same way I usually do when I witness something extraordinary on a St. John’s stage: a sense of wonder, a pang of jealousy (the talent! So much talent!) and the knowing feeling that – as one legendary sci-fi character says – “I’ll be back.”