The Los Angeles Philharmonic officially launched its 100th season at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles Friday night with a program that showcased just a glimpse of all of the fine arts that have graced the iconic stage.
“Tonight is a very special night,” LA Phil’s music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel said as he began the show. “Tonight we celebrate the Hollywood Bowl’s 100th birthday. This magical place is famous all over the world, but it belongs to us right here in Los Angeles.”
The first half of the evening highlighted the orchestra and classical music, the ballet and all of the jazz artists that had performed at the venue throughout the years. The second half, which featured dance trio Let It Happen, DJ Novena Carmel and No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani joining the LA Phil, merged pop music and dance with classical music in such a way that brought together an audience with extremely diverse tastes.
The show began with “Centennial Overture,” written specifically for the venue’s anniversary by conductor and famed composer John Williams, who is legendary for scoring movies such as “Jaws,” “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones.” Williams wasn’t originally scheduled to perform it, but Dudamel said he wouldn’t feel right conducting it and surprised the crowd by bringing out the 90-year-old to lead the world premiere.
It was a beautiful piece of music that took the audience on an epic adventure, one as exciting as the history of the Hollywood Bowl itself. It was a fitting tribute that set the pace for a night that included the LA Phil and Italian ballet star Roberto Bolle and New York City Ballet’s Tiler Peck performing selections from Igor Stravinsky’s neoclassical ballet, “Apollo,” in a tribute to all of the wonderful dance programming at the venue.
Saxophonist Branford Marsalis, double bassist Eric Revis and vibraphonist Matthew Howard joined the orchestra for Williams’ “Escapades” from the film “Catch Me if You Can” and violinist María Dueñas stunned the crowd with Maurice Ravel’s “Tzigane.” The audience was nearly silent as the one performer commanded all of the attention with a single instrument. It was a chill-inducing moment that also revealed some of the magic of the venue that Dudamel spoke of at the start of the show. You could hear crickets quietly chirping out in the lush greenery surrounding the venue, feel the cool evening breeze and, though it was a pretty cloudy night and the stars were covered, a sliver of the moon managed to shine through.
After a brief intermission, Carmel mixed it up with music by Destiny’s Child and James Brown as twin sisters Norah and Yarah Mukanga and their younger sister Rosa Mukanga of dance trio Let It Happen impressed with their upbeat skills.
Members of the LA Phil and the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) returned to the stage and Dudamel brought out Stefani, who appeared as the orchestra queued up No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak.” Stefani smiled as she sang one of the ’90s most heart-wrenching break-up songs, which seemed to evoke even more emotion in its orchestral arrangement. She looked stunning and a bit like a Barbie doll in her frilly pink dress, matching tights and black boots, but seemed a little out of her element in this setting.
Though a seasoned performer, Stefani did stumble through some of the set. In her excitement to give a shout out to her parents and kids who were in the audience, she mispronounced Dudamel’s name twice, the second time coming out in a very cringe-worthy way. She also missed an entire line in “Spiderwebs” and flubbed words on “Just a Girl,” but she had a lot of musical firepower to back up and smooth out these missteps.
Before delivering her solo hit, “Used to Love You,” she said she became emotional upon hearing the LA Phil’s arrangement for the first time as they rehearsed via Zoom. It was an absolutely gorgeous rendition of the song that fit well with Stefani’s vocals and those lyrics filled with blasts of raw emotion and truth. She also brought out her new husband and country star Blake Shelton to perform their single, “Nobody But You.”
Though Dudamel was the one at the podium with the baton, Stefani was ready to lead the charge for the encore. As she ducked out for a costume change, members of the UCLA Bruin and USC Trojan marching bands, as well as cheerleaders and the color guard, filled in opposite sides of the stage and spilled off into several aisles among the fans in the venue. As the rival marching bands began playing, Stefani came out fierce for “Hollaback Girl.”
It was an electric moment, the entire venue coming to life as the song played out and fans of all ages spelled out “B-A-N-A-N-A-S” with Stefani. The marching bands rocked it out as the LA Phil rounded out the sound and a massive fireworks display began spewing out from behind the Hollywood Bowl shell, filling the area with light and truly kicking off the season-long celebration.
Hollywood Bowl’s 100th Anniversary Celebration
When: Friday, June 3
Where: Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles