Matt Bomer, J.J. Abrams, Sela Ward and others attend the festive season opener at the Hollywood Bowl
Some in the audience confessed to having an obsession with Steely Dan. Others said they came for love of one of Los Angeles’ most iconic music venues.
Yet for opening night patrons, support for the Los Angeles Philharmonic may have been the primary objective for attending Saturday’s start to the 95th Hollywood Bowl summer season.
No matter the reason, celebrities, L.A. Philharmonic supporters and other concertgoers turned up for the sold-out show, and the event raised a record-breaking $1.7 million for the Philharmonic’s education and outreach programs. (Click here for Times pop music writer Mikael Wood’s thoughts on the season opener.)
The evening: Before adjourning to their box seats, V.I.P. patrons began their evening with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres on the outside patio of the venue where they had their pictures taken at booths set up by title sponsor Wells Fargo and reception sponsor American Airlines. (Patron tickets ranged from $650 each to more than $15,000 for premium boxes of six.)
The show: Thomas Wilkins, conducting the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, featured compositions by Philharmonic’s Composer Fellowship Program alumni Anderson Alden and Katya Richardson, followed by the L.A. County High School for the Arts Vocal Ensemble singing the classic Stephen Sondheim tune “Children Will Listen” from “Into the Woods.” Steely Dan, led by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, then performed a program of its timeless hits.
The crowd: We wandered Saturday’s concert crowd and ran into a few people you might spot at a show or concert later in the season.
Although she said she usually spends the summer elsewhere, actress Sela Ward said she’s in town this year, partly because of the “Independence Day: Resurgence” premiere event Monday. (In the film, she plays the president.) “I’m excited to be here,” she said, admitting to having an “obsession” with Steely Dan and a love for the Hollywood Bowl.
She’s pleased to be portraying a female president, and Ward said she also will play a former first lady in “Graves,” a TV show slated for fall. “I think I’m getting really good at [politics],” she said.
Another familiar face we bumped into was “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” director J.J. Abrams.
“We don’t come here remotely as often as we should,” Abrams said. “But we’re here tonight and we’ve decided that we have to come here all the time. Look around. It’s spectacular.”
Matt Bomer (“White Collar”) said he and husband Simon Halls already have plans to attend a children’s program with their 11-year-old son and 8-year-old twin sons as well as a rock concert later in the season. “So we’ll be getting a multi-generational experience this year,” said Bomer.
Actor Steven Weber, well-known for his role on “Wings,” said that over the years he has taken his sons, now 13 and 15, to events at the Hollywood Bowl ranging from a tribute to Bugs Bunny to “The Sound of Music” and Coldplay.
“It’s outside,” Weber said. “It’s an iconic structure. It’s beautiful. The acoustics are great and tonight is particularly fantastic. … l used to live behind the Bowl. I would always come here to see the bands from the ’70s and ’80s.”
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