Who doesn’t remember the antics of that long-eared Looney Tune and his immortalised phrase, ‘What’s up, Doc?’ He’s back but this time accompanied by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra performing Bugs Bunny at the Symphony.
While the show has previously visited both Sydney and Melbourne, it will be a first for Perth with just two shows at the end of May. This unique show features classic Warner Bros. cartoons projected live onto a big screen as the orchestra plays the soundtracks live.
Emmy-award winning creator and conductor George Daughtery said his inspiration for the production stemmed from two very strong influences.
‘The first stemmed from my great memories of these cartoons from my own childhood. Many kids got their first dose of classical music from these incredible cartoons. Wagner, Rossini, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Mendelssohn — they are ALL in these cartoons,’ Daughtery said.
His second motivation was the desire to create a concert that pulled people in from all backgrounds, especially those who didn’t attend concerts.
‘This concert, just like the cartoons, has introduced a lot of adults to the incredible magic of the symphony orchestra, and then they come back to see other classical concerts.’
When considering orchestras playing cartoon music, Daughtery said there is nothing ‘cartoony’ about the music.
The music is actually extremely difficult – very virtuosic. Carl Stalling, the original Warner Bros. animation composer, was a master musician and a superb orchestrator.
Daughtery said he had tallied up almost a million people who had seen the show since its first performance on Broadway 20 years ago. And what has been the reason to this show’s outstanding success?
‘There are so many things to enjoy. First of all, there is the excitement and immediacy of the music. People who have seen — and heard — the show say that they will never be able to hear animation music in the same way, or watch cartoons in the same way. . . That is what makes them so special; you can watch them your whole life, and always see something new.’
WASO and Out in Perth are giving away two double passes to Bugs Bunny at the Symphony. To enter visit www.www.outinperth.com
