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Friday, July 14, 8pm

The Philadelphia Orchestra
George Daugherty, conductor
Bugs Bunny on Broadway

Come early to be a part of our Picnic Competition then stay after this evening’s performance to enjoy the fireworks!

Tickets: $70, $58, $30, $20
Lawn admission: $10

The Philadelphia Orchestra will perform the famous orchestral musical scores synchronized with the best of Warner Bros.’ classic animated cartoons, which will be projected on a large screen above the Orchestra.
TM & © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

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By far the most popular and enduring of the Warner Bros. cartoon scores were those that took familiar classical pieces as a jumping-off point for wildly original animated antics. It was this fascinating synthesis of cartoons and classicism that, in turn, served as the impetus for one of the most surprising musical hits in recent memory: Bugs Bunny On Broadway.

Conceived by renowned conductor, composer, multiple-Emmy nominee and longtime animation aficionado George Daugherty, the notion was both simple and inspired: an inspiration sparked by the 50th anniversary of Warner Bros.' flagship cartoon character, Bugs Bunny. The Cwazy Wabbit was a star performer in a number of classically scored cartoons, including such legendary performances as "The Rabbit of Seville," "Long-Haired Hare," "A Corny Concerto" and "What's Opera, Doc?" with musical themes taken variously from Rossini, Strauss, Wagner, Tchaikovsky and others. Gathering glorious new big screen prints of these and other Merrie Melodies perennials, assembling an impressive 50-piece symphony orchestra, digitally re-recording the inimitable voice characterizations of the late Mel Blanc, Daugherty and a crack crew of collaborators assembled a multi-media pastiche that had its debut in San Diego in the summer of last year.

Surmounted by a large screen projecting the synchronized cartoons, Daugherty conducted the orchestra in a breathless revue of the very best of Warner Bros.' classical animated romps, all but one featuring Bugs between clips. The audience was treated to performances of Wagner's "Ride Of The Valkyries," Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2," Von Suppe's "Morning, Noon And Night In Vienna" and other classical compositions which inspired the pieces, as well as such instantly recognizable signature songs as "Merrily We Roll Along." "Merry Go Round Broke Down" and "What's Up Doc." With many of the classical interpretations composed by the brilliant Carl Stalling and animation direction by Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng and Robert Clampett, and featuring a supporting cast of Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and others, the nearly two-hour cartoon concert performance was an instant and overwhelming crowd pleaser.

Response was so extraordinary that the next step was all but inevitable: Daugherty and company took their act on the road, straight to Broadway and a tumultuous, sold-out reception for 14 nights at Broadway's cavernous Gershwin Theatre. A critical sampling reveals the response to this utterly original entertainment experience: The New York Times called it "Hilarious!" "Spectacular" chimed The New York Post while Newsday crowned it "The giddiest entertainment happening between West 44th and 52nd Streets. Four carrots, highest rating!"

"The remarkable thing," notes Daugherty, "was the make-up of the audience. We had imagined that we had a nice piece of family entertainment, but it turned out that eighty-five percent of our audience were raving adult Bugs Bunny fanatics. It was phenomenal, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show or something, with people coming in costume, wearing rabbit ears."

It is, in retrospect, hardly a surprise that Bugs Bunny On Broadway should have found such a wildly enthusiastic audience among, as the phrase goes, "kids of all ages." Cartoons, classical music and the amazing amalgamation of the two are perhaps the closest thing American culture has to a universal childhood memory. Nor is it surprising that Daugherty and his magical musical melange should find itself embarking on a two-year round-the-world tour. Or that Warner Bros. Records should rush released the Original Score in a deluxe compact disc edition with in-depth liner notes from both Daughery and Merrie Melodies pioneer Chuck Jones. Bugs Bunny On Broadway, like the astonishing art form it celebrates, touches a chord of pure childlike pleasure in all of us.