pictureperfectreviews“Welcome. . . to Jurassic Park!”
John Hammond, Richard Attenborough
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f you thought after almost twenty-five years that Jurassic Park couldn’t get any better, you would be so wrong! Last month I was lucky enough to get ahold of some tickets to the last performance of the sold out Live in Concert performance of Spielberg’s dinosaur-epic Jurassic Park. Packed with thousands of Jurassic Park fans (many of whom had dressed up for the occasion!), I knew this was about to become an experience I wouldn’t soon forget!
The Royal Albert Hall’s Live In Concert Orchestra series started back in 2009, when The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was given the first of it’s now famous live orchestra treatments. Since then, the hall has hosted a whole array of amazing feature films and their unforgettable film scores – including Titanic, Gladiator and Indiana Jones, to name just a few.
Through my own ignorance, I hadn’t even realised that this was a “thing” (much to my Mum’s despair when she heard that she had they had played her all-time favourite The Godfather the previous year), so I was a little skeptical if the experience would really be worth the fairly hefty ticket price. But the thought of watching one of my all-time favourite films for the first time on a big screen was too much to pass on, and so I went with my ragtag bunch of a family with high hopes (and a considerably lighter wallet).
Jurassic Park in Concert, Photos Christie Goodwin/Royal Albert Hall
Even before the film started, the atmosphere was electric, and when the musicians finally began to play the film’s iconic opening theme, you could feel the quiet hush fell over the bustling six thousand people spread out in the standing and seating areas. And by the time the mid-way interlude came, it is safe to say that there wasn’t a closed-mouthed person left in the entire hall!
The film itself was as brilliant as I remembered – and the fact that I was internally reciting the film line for line didn’t seem so embarrassing when everyone around me seemed to be geeking out just as much I was! And the orchestral addition only seemed to add to an already exceptional experience. It was also a wonderful opportunity to see all the hard work and manpower that goes into the creation of such iconic music right in front of you.
Jurassic Park in Concert, Photos Christie Goodwin/Royal Albert Hall
A lot of people have asked me if it was difficult to concentrate on the film with the orchestra moving about in front of us, but it really wasn’t. The only way I can think to describe it is that it was like watching the film in ultra HD in a small empty room, with a top-notch sound system blasting it’s echo-y goodness directly into your ear holes. In retrospect, I think if you were watching the film for the first time it may have been a little harder to concentrate on the story, but otherwise it was an excellent experience and the music genuinely gave me goosebumps from beginning to end!
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Playing For A Full House At The Royal Albert Hall (© Paul Sanders)