Hollywood Bowling with the Dodgers
The pictures probably tell the story better than anything else as to how uplifting and inspiring the Hollywood Bowl's salute to the Dodgers/annual Fourth of July show came off Wednesday night.
Dodger fans were there to be seen and share in the experience of a spectacular two-hour performance by the L.A. Philharmonic (all wearing Dodger home jerseys), conducted by Rob Fisher (wearing his No. 24 Dodgers jersey with his name on the back) with a guest appearance by Randy Newman, who, after shaking hands with Fisher, nearly tripped and fell on the first-chair violinist.
"I nearly destroyed a $2 million violin," Newman remarked.
==The highlights: Vin Scully's narration of a revised "Casey at the Bat," where "Gibby" pulls off the Hollywood finish in rewritten stanzas of the classic baseball poem put to music; a piece of music from the movie "Field Of Dreams" playing while the video monitors showed Dodger highlights of the past -- and included an appearance on stage by many former players, including Maury Wills, Ron Cey, Tommy Davis and Al Downing; Newman, who opened his three-song stint on the piano by playing "I Love L.A." solo, conducting the orchestra with pieces of music he scored from the movie "The Natural," including the fireworks spraying down from the Hollywood Bowl roof at the appropriate moment when Robert Redford's home run hit the light standard; a terrific rendition of the Danny Kaye song "D-O-D-G-E-R-S (Oh, Really? No, O'Malley!); and an appearance by Tommy Lasorda in two rounds of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" with Nancy Bea Hefley playing the organ.
Scully was also in the audience and gave a wave to the crowd, although we suspect he'll be joining the team when it lands in San Francisco on Friday.
The fireworks, of course, are a production all to themselves, and punctuated the final performance of "The Stars and Stripes Forever!" medly, plus an encore of "America the Beautiful."
The only minor glitch: Hefley's ballpark organ music was tough to hear over the orchestra warming up its instruments before the show began, and her playing during the intermission was hardly audible.
Hopefully, that's something that can be fixed before the next two shows -- tonight and Friday at 7:30 p.m.
More photos, maestro:
==A Dodger fan in the proper holiday attire:
==One of many LA caps seen enjoying a pre-show "tailgate" in the box seats:
==With a 7:30-ish start, the dusk setting provided an entirely different atmosphere for the performance's first hour:
==Once the sun began to set over the hills, the brilliance of the stage lighting took effect:
==The fireworks over the bowl's roof probably could be seen better from seats further back, but they were brilliant none-the-less up close as well:
Tickets to the final two performances are available at Ticketmaster (menu linked here) with seats going for $12 to $149 (if available). Friday's show appears to be sold out, so check alternative sources. An usher advised me going through the bag check that ticketholders won't be allowed to bring alcohol into the bowl Friday -- purchases have to be made at the concession stands.
ALSO: Go to this link to read about pyrotechnician Eric Elias , who has been doing the Hollywood Bowl's firework shows for 30 years.
The story says that It typically takes a crew of between 22 and 28 people to set up a Bowl fireworks show, working nonstop from 7 a.m. until nearly show time. For an elaborate blowout like the three-day "Ball at the Bowl With the L.A. Dodgers," which concludes Friday, the crew will have to return each night to reload.
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