New Jersey Symphony Orchestra to Present THE WIZARD OF OZ with Accompaniment, 4/26-27

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents The Wizard of Oz with live orchestral accompaniment on April 26 and 27 in Newark and New Brunswick. Conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos returns to lead the NJSO in Harold Arlen's full film score as the movie screens above the stage in the Orchestra's third NJSO POPS program of the season.

The American Film Institute named the classic 1939 musical film, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, the sixth greatest American movie of all time. Critic Roger Ebert writes: "'The Wizard of Oz' fills such a large space in our imagination. It somehow seems real and important in a way most movies don't ... 'The Wizard of Oz' has a wonderful surface of comedy and music, special effects and excitement, but we still watch it [decades] later because its underlying story penetrates straight to the deepest insecurities of childhood, stirs them and then reassures them."

Of the experience of seeing The Wizard of Oz with an orchestra performing the film score live, The Washington Post writes: "having the music in the foreground of the film brought out elements and moments that usually go unnoticed. From the frightening tarantella of the Wicked Witch to the melodies of 'there's no place like home,' the threads of the film are woven together by the music."

Performances take place on Saturday, April 26, (8 pm) at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark and Sunday, April 27, (3 pm) at the State Theatre in New Brunswick. The April 27 performance is presented in collaboration with the State Theatre.

Attendees can dress up as favorite Wizard of Oz characters to participate in a pre-concert costume contest-with prize categories for adults and children-in the concert-hall lobby. Other special festivities also precede each concert. Patrons can dance to the swinging sounds of the Michael Arenella Sextet in the NJPAC lobby on April 26 and can join in on a sing-along of songs from both The Wizard of Oz and the Harold Arlen songbook at the State Theatre on April 27. In February, nearly 300 attendees of the Orchestra's Beatles-themed pops concerts with Classical Mystery Tour enjoyed the pre-concert dancing and sing-along events.

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