Now, for instance, last week brought us a marvelous and understated tribute to Stephen Sondheim with high level Broadway performers. You read about it here and, for me, a very high bar was raised for other Bowl nights to top.
A week later, there was this Walt Disney Animation concert in celebration of the studio's 100th birthday. And, as far as I was concerned, the Sondheim bar still remains aloft. Indeed, this Disney concert was a bit like the Main Street Electrical Parade during a blackout.
Oh, don't get me wrong. It was reasonably entertaining on a nice summer's evening. The star caliber of the performers (none of which I ever heard of) were somewhere between Disney on Broadway and assorted Disney cruises. Serviceable was the best word I could describe them all.
I had high hopes since the great LA Phil conductor Thomas Wilkins was hoisting the baton. Sadly, he had little to say even during a moment where his movie click track stopped working. Instead, we had those others participating in exercises of sheer vapidity. Added to the frustration was a script that was cloying and worse than some of the banter you hear from Oscar presenters.
Meanwhile, these "hosts" were introduced by this pre-recorded voice that sounded suspiciously like the guy who tells you to keep your hands and legs inside the car on the Space Mountain ride.
Yes, this was programmed Disney entertainment at its best. And worst.
Perhaps the biggest injustice was with content. Allegedly saluting 100 years of Disney animation, the evening oddly focused on just the last 30 years with its dull succession of girl-oriented cartoon features that simply used the same story and just changed the ethnicity and race from film to film. I didn't recognize 75 percent of the clips.
Save for a live orchestra scoring of the famed "Sorcerer's Apprentice" from "Fantasia," this evening barely gets two-and-a-half mouse ears. As a palate cleaners, I came home and re-watched some of the Sondheim numbers on YouTube. And relished again what was an up evening at the Hollywood Bowl.
Dinner last night: Salad.
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