The
Kunzel puts fun into ‘Halloween Spooktacular’ on PBS
BY JANELLE
GELFAND
The
Erich Kunzel has done it again. The Pops maestro’s second
television special is a “don’t miss.” Full of family fun, Halloween high jinks and special effects, it’s sure to put
Cincinnati Pops Holiday: Erich Kunzel’s Halloween Spooktacular will air today
on PBS.
This first-ever Halloween special of a symphony orchestra will be carried in every PBS market
in the country except
Producers Phillip Byrd and John Meek have worked magic to squeeze
the Pops’ two-hour variety show, taped Oct 25-27 in Music Hall, into a compact, quick-moving hour. Except for finishing touches
still being added (including stereo and sound effects), the photography is artistic, the lighting stunning and the overall impression
professional.
After an opening view of Music Hall’s exterior and Mr. Kunzel’s signature animated short,
the show opens with its first special effect: Mr. Kunzel and musicians “morph” into costumes.
From coffins
and bloody daggers to Macarena-dancing kids from the School for Creative and Performing Arts, it’s highly visual fun. Dazzling
lighting turns Music Hall’s interior into a gleaming jewel. Superb camera work catches the excitement as it happens: zooming
into the orchestra for close-ups of made-up musicians in The Overture to Phantom of the Opera, or cutting to a crashing, two-ton chandelier. (“Terrified” audience members play roles well.)
Kids will enjoy shrieking witches making their gory
brew to “Night on
Guest stars include former Dukes of Hazzard star Tom Wopat, who croons a smoldering
“Riders in the Sky” medley, and Benson’s Robert Guillaume, a weak Phantom but a wonderful storyteller. He narrates “The Legend
of Sleepy Hollow” against storybook illustrations by Daniel San Souci and an original score by Steven Reineke that takes its cue from
Disney.
Illusionists, the Pendragons, do the impossible with flair, and