This past weekend, we went to the see the Hartford Symphony Orchestra perform the music of Harry Potter while the movie played on a giant screen. While I agree the book and the movie will always be different (and wonder why they can't just make a 20 hour movie of the story I saw in my head while I was reading), I still enjoy both the book and the movie.
Since my children are new to Harry Potter (as am I), we didn't see the movies when they originally came out in theaters. We have only seen some of them (we have only watched as far as they have read) at home, so we were excited to see the first movie on a big screen.
We arrived at the theatre dressed in Gryffindor ties with our wands ready because when at Hogwarts we must follow the student dress code. Before us hung the biggest movie screen I've ever seen with the symphony orchestra set up below it.
While I knew there was music in the movie, I never realized how much music is used to tell the story. We were all captivated. The movie somehow seemed bigger, besides just physically bigger, as the giant screen made us feel like we were there at Hogwarts with Harry. The live music brought a level of magic to the experience that we will never forget.
If you missed the first movie and want to see the movie adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" performed live by a symphony, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra will be performing in April (more info here).
Photo by Jessica Collins
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