Tag Archives: Hollywood Studio Symphony

Live-to-picture “Handmaid’s Tale”

On Thursday I was pleased to be part of the advance showing of the season-ending cliffhanger of Hulu’s acclaimed The Handmaid’s Tale. It was a special screening that included a live-to-picture performance of the score by Adam Taylor (22 musicians from the Hollywood Studio Symphony conducted by Peter Rotter). Afterwards, I conducted a Q&A with the composer about his unusual musical choices and dark soundscape for the chilling dystopian drama. Here is an overview of the event and my interview with Taylor. The Montalban Theatre was packed with nearly 1,000 Handmaid’s Tale fans; star-producer Elisabeth Moss and several of her co-stars were also on hand.

“The Godfather” live in concert

godfatherliveJan2015The latest in the increasingly popular “live-to-film” concert trend is The Godfather, which had its Los Angeles debut on Saturday with Justin Freer conducting the Hollywood Studio Symphony while the 1972 classic unspooled on-screen.  This preview story gave me a chance to look back at the Oscar music controversy that occurred in early 1973 — and to hear from a musician who actually played for legendary composer Nino Rota on the The Godfather Part II in 1974, then played in Saturday’s concert, which I reviewed here for Variety.