http://www.PacificSymphony.org
A night of laughter, fun and music! Relive favorite childhood memories and introduce little ones to the classical side of Looney Tunes, brought to life with live accompaniment by Pacific Symphony during Warner Bros. Studios Presents “Bugs Bunny at the Symphony.” The Symphony’s Summer Festival 2011, sponsored by Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, continues when the “Wascally Wabbit” and his cohorts are let loose on the orchestra world, as “Bugs Bunny,” “Tweety,” “Sylvester,” “Pepe le Pew,” “Daffy Duck,” “Elmer Fudd” and others cavort across the big screen at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, on Saturday Aug. 6, at 8 p.m. Led by Emmy Award-winning creator and conductor George Daugherty, the concert features classic Looney Tunes: “What’s Opera, Doc?” “Home Tweet Home,” “Long-Haired Hare” and “The Rabbit of Seville,” along with a specially created montage of characters called “I Love to Singa.”
And that’s not all, folks! The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity (CJCC), located in Orange County, is bringing a mobile animation art exhibition, filled with original art revolving around the cartoons in the concert and the original list of pieces by Wagner that Jones considered for his Tunes. Also, watch out for costumed characters roaming the amphitheater and ready to have their pictures taken with concert attendees.
Perfect for families and children of all ages, kids under 14 are half price in most sections with the purchase of an adult ticket; $25 (lawn) to $99 (orchestra). Guests are welcome to picnic on the grounds of the amphitheater starting at 6 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the Symphony ticket office at (714) 755-5799, or visit the website at www.PacificSymphony.org.
“Over the past 21 years of performing ‘Bugs Bunny on Broadway’ and now, ‘Bugs Bunny at the Symphony,’ all over the world, we have found ourselves in some truly amazing places. But when it comes to ‘special places,’ there is no place that is closer to the creative epicenter of this concert than Irvine’s Verizon Wireless Amphitheater—because here, we are practically performing in the backyard of the great and legendary Chuck Jones.
“Chuck Jones: the greatest animation director in the history of the cinema…the genius whose ‘What’s Opera, Doc?’ made ‘Bugs Bunny’ and ‘Elmer Fudd’ the most beloved Wagnerian lovers in the history of either opera or cartoons…whose Rossiniesque flight of fancy, ‘The Rabbit of Seville,’ has undoubtedly been seen and heard worldwide by a considerably larger audience than the fantastic Rossini original which inspired it. He lived a stone’s throw away, in Newport Beach, and he loved Pacific Symphony, which he attended regularly with his wife Marian and his daughter Linda.”
“Bugs Bunny at the Symphony” is a rechristened and newly-created sequel to Warner Bros.’ “Bugs Bunny on Broadway,” a record-setting orchestra-and-film concert that debuted in 1990, and since is estimated to have reached nearly two million people worldwide from the Sydney Opera House to Cleveland’s Severance Hall to the National Concert Hall of Ireland. To celebrate its 20-year anniversary in 2010, Daugherty created “Bugs Bunny at the Symphony,” featuring a new fusion of on-screen Looney Tunes and live symphony orchestra accompaniment, spotlighting some of the original cartoon treasures of “Bugs Bunny on Broadway,” while adding an enlarged “cast” of Warner Bros.’ animated characters to this celebrated melding of classical music and classic animation, created by Jones, who set “the gold standard” by which all animation is compared today, according to Daugherty.
Daugherty is a frequent guest conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra, and has conducted almost every major American symphony orchestra as well as a long list of international ensembles. He has become well-respected for his unique and innovative symphony orchestra concerts and productions. Additionally, he has received five Emmy nominations as a producer, director and music director, and he won a Primetime Emmy for his ABC Network production of “Peter and the Wolf.” That production, along with Daugherty’s other television projects (including “Rhythm & Jam” and the Emmy-winning PBS series “Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat”) received a total of 11 Emmy nominations and numerous other major awards.
The CJCC was founded by Chuck Jones in 1999 to inspire joy and innovation in people of all ages, energizing them to transform their lives, their communities, and society as a whole. From July 29-Aug. 31, CJCC stages a Chuck Jones Exhibition at South Coast Collection (SOCO) in Costa Mesa, featuring animation by Jones and a Family Movie Night on Friday, Aug. 5. On Sunday, Aug. 7, CJCC attempts to break the world record for a single artist leading a drawing class at “The Chuck Jones Big Draw,” held at SOCO from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., featuring a performance work of art based on “What’s Opera Doc” by fine artist Trevor Carlton and Stephen Reis, director of “The Simpsons.” For more information on CJCC, visit www.chuckjonescenter.org.
Coming up—the fourth concert of the Symphony’s summer series takes place Aug. 27, at 8 p.m., when the iconic Duke Ellington Orchestra joins Music Director Carl St.Clair and the orchestra for an evening of American classics including “It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “Mood Indigo,” “Take the ‘A’ Train” and more. Plus, the Symphony performs Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” and Bernstein’s “Slava!” and Three Dance Episodes from “On the Town.”
Summer Festival 2011 is presented by Hoag, with additional support from The Orange County Register; American Airlines; official hotel, The Westin South Coast Plaza; KUSC; PBS SoCal; K-EARTH; and KPCC.
