Rodgers and Hammerstein at the Hollywood Bowl

I was lucky enough to take in a concert at the Hollywood Bowl this past week. Not only is this one of my favorite venues, the show was all music from musicals—another one of my favorite things. And speaking of favorite things, the night was dedicated to the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, the legendary duo that penned the music for Oklahoma, The King and I, and of course, The Sound of Music. And the icing on this cake was that the night was hosted by none other than Robert Osborne, film historian and host for the Turner Classic Movie channel! I loved hearing his off-the-cuff trivia and anecdotes about the movies and music, and it was great to see him live after years of watching him on television.

More than just music, the night was about movies. The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by David Newman (of the film-composing Newmans), played the musical score in synchronization with scenes from the movies played on a giant screen. The amazing thing is that this music-image combo was so seamless that we weren’t listening to the film’s soundtrack.

After playing some of the best-known songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein songbook, the evening concluded with an audience sing-along of “Do Re Mi” from The Sound of Music. This is what I was hoping for all night! Until then we had been instructed to join in the music making, but finally we were able to belt out along with Julie Andrews—and all was as it should be.