I’d wanted to see a movie concert series for a while now. Out by me, unfortunately, they’re apparently very popular.  Star Wars sold out in seconds, and they haven’t done a Lord of the Rings one yet. I will be all over that if they decide to. My wife was able to get her hands on tickets to see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone performed by the RI Philharmonic.

As most people know, I’m not the biggest HP fan on the planet. That’s not to say I don’t like the stories. I do. I have the full series in fine condition on my shelf of Rare/First Editions. The movies are also very well done with a great ensemble cast, music, and visuals. In the end, my problems stemmed from a few problems with the story, the horrible portrayal of elves, and my own issues with some of the author’s behavior.

So getting past all that, when my wife asked me if I wanted to go, ‘Hell, yes’ was my response.

So we arrived at the Providence Performing Arts Center an hour early. Not intentionally, but we overestimated our trip from Boston to Providence. The doors were already open and there was a huge crowd going in. I’ve seen a lot of shows here and this was a first. Our tickers were in the middle orchestra about fifteen rows from the stage.

As you’d expect, there were a ton of people (not kids, oddly enough) dressed in Hogwarts robes. The souvenir stand was fairly well priced and admittedly I had wanted to pick up a scarf for a while… so I went to see what they had available. Being a collector of all things fantasy, I wouldn’t be doing very well without at least SOMETHING from Potter.

To my wife’s and my surprise, they were sold out of Ravenclaw, but had plenty of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. There was also one Slytherin scarf left… heh until I got there.

Come to find out that these scarfs were exclusive to the Concert Series, so all in all a nice score!

(Is anyone really surprised that I went with Slytherin?)

Though I have to ask my Potter fans here… is Ravenclaw popular for some reason? Kind of weird that they sold out first. Other than… I believe Cho, did that house have any real significance?

Anyway, so we get to our seats and the show begins. The band comes out on stage, the conductor gave a short speech, encouraging audience reaction (cheering/booming, applause) for their favorite characters. I have to admit, this took away from the experience a little as some people were doing it each time a character they loved/hated appeared on the screen. This made it hard to watch the movie and even harder to hear the music, which is what we were all supposed to be there for.

Honestly, the band did an amazing job. It wasn’t exactly like what was in the movie, close, but they put their own spin on it as well. There were a few times that I have to admit that I almost forgot they were there. The band was illuminated with small lights that didn’t affect the movie screen, but they were perfectly on cue.

So all in all, I’d love to do this again at some point. The tickets were insanely expensive for the type of show. I’d highly recommend, if not Potter, then one of the film concert series shows. They are absolutely worth your time!

Thanks all!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim