Conductor Sarah Hicks has called it “a demented video game.”
While audiences at Minneapolis’ Orchestra Hall are enjoying the marriage of music and film when the Minnesota Orchestra performs a film score — with the movie shown on screen above — Hicks has about a half-dozen different prompts coming at her simultaneously via a video screen. They combine to make certain that the orchestra’s 85 to 100 musicians are staying in perfect sync with the film.
And there have been no train wrecks, yet. In fact, audiences have been so appreciative of the orchestra’s cinematic offerings that they almost invariably sell well — despite costing ticket buyers considerably more than a trip to the movie theater.
This fall, the Minnesota Orchestra will devote four concert programs to film music, starting with four screenings of the original 1977 “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope,” Hicks leading the orchestra in John Williams’ score (Oct. 1-6).
“We usually do five or six a season,” said Grant Meachum, director for “Live at Orchestra Hall.” “We’ve found that one in the summer works very well, like ‘An American in Paris’ recently. There will always be a film at Halloween — ‘Hocus Pocus’ this year — and one at Thanksgiving, this year being ‘Back to the Future.’”
Hicks also will conduct a program of John Williams’ movie music. It’s all part of a big fall for film music in the Twin Cities, with a visit from one of Hollywood’s most successful composers, Hans Zimmer, and an evening of collaborations between composers and filmmakers with live orchestra.
“Overwhelmingly, we’ve found success in the film presentations,” Meachum said. “And not just for the big titles like ‘Harry Potter’ or ‘Star Wars.’ We’ve found the audience is willing to come with us on titles that might not be as commercially viable, such as ‘The Princess Bride.’
“The very first time we did ‘Star Wars,’ there was a crackling of energy in the hall, and you could feel it onstage, too,” Meachum said. “Something was about to happen. The orchestra played the 20th Century Fox fanfare and people cheered. Those opening bars of ‘Star Wars,’ you could tell the musicians were fired up to be playing that and hear that reaction coming back.”