Culture Writer
Bond and Beyond, the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra’s Nov. 22 pops concert at the Long Beach Arena, was a thunderball of a performance. Michael Krajewski, former principal conductor of LBSO Pops!— in tux, of course, and armed with full-bore wit— seemed even more popular with the audience than the master spy himself: “There are a lot of things that James Bond and I have in common. We both have tuxedos!.And we both look great in them.”
Such banter between theme songs from some of the 23 movies produced during the past 52 years kept the evening light-hearted and playful amidst the dark, seductive songs of lust and death. The playlist was sure to please with such choices as the perennially sexy “Diamonds are Forever,” made all the more sexier by Tony Award-winning soprano Debbie Gravitte, and “Goldfinger” that ended the first set on a powerful note.
Gravitte and Krajewski played beautifully off each other, much like The Man himself and any of his hundreds of “playthings” have done for decades in film— only with nary a hint of Bond’s “I’m so cool I can’t break a belly laugh” attitude. At one point, Gravitte used the full force of her red-haired sensuality on Krajewski, and all he was able to do was withdraw a handkerchief from his tux pocket and dab his forehead.
Like Bond, James Bond, the music at Saturday’s concert moved from the gliding-across-the-dance-floor “From Russia with Love” and “You Only Live Twice” to the hyper-masculine, got-you-in-my-gunsight “The World is Not Enough.”
To give even the diehard Bond fans a respite from all this intrigue and danger, the program included some of the spinoffs inspired by the debonair spy: P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri’s ultra-cool “Secret Agent Man” ; the ultra-silly theme from Austin Powers, “Soul Bossa Nova” ; and the bumbling, as-far-from-Bond-as-you-can-get Inspector Clouseau’s “Pink Panther Theme.” For a touch of the bizarre— or avant-garde, take your pick— the orchestra had fun with James M. Stephenson’s “Concerto for Cell Phone,” which swapped out the conventional concerto duo of piano and violin for orchestra and cell phone ringtones.
Rounding out the night were the more contemporary “Suite from Casino Royale and Quantum of Silence” and the theme from Skyfall for those of us— ahem!— who prefer Daniel Craig to Sean Connery.
If you missed Bond and Beyond, cry another day. You’ve got three more chances this season to experience the pizzazz that LBSO brings to its Pops! series: Feb. 14’s Ode to Ella and Gershwin, with Michael Berkowitz conducting; March 28’s Rhythms of the Night, with Matt Catingub conducting world music; and May 9’s A Classic Pops Hit Parade, featuring Steven Reineke conducting light classical fare, including works by Ravel, Respighi and Shostakovich.
For all Pops! concerts, audience members are encouraged to arrive early (doors open at 6:30pm) and bring a picnic dinner— alcohol permitted. Concerts begin at 8pm at the Long Beach Arena, 300 E. Ocean Blvd. To purchase tickets, call (562) 436-3203, ext. 232, or visit lbso.org .
