Tony- and Emmy award-winning actress Cherry Jones joins Keith Lockhart, the Boston Pops, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and special guests—actors Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris—for the world premiere performance of The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers—the centerpiece of the Boston Pops' 125th anniversary season celebration—on May 18, at 8 p.m. (repeated on May 19), at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA. Cherry Jones, who can currently be seen in the hit TV show 24 as President Allison Taylor, has appeared in Oceans Twelve, The Village, Signs, and Cradle Will Rock, and in guest appearances on television shows including "The West Wing" and "Frasier."
Ms. Jones won Tony awards in 1995 for her leading role in The Heiress and in 2005 for her leading role in Doubt, and won an Emmy award in 2009 for her role in 24. The world premiere performances of The Dream Lives On are the centerpiece of the Boston Pops 125th anniversary season, May 4-June 20.
PRESENTATION OF THE NATIONAL 9/11 FLAG
These concerts also feature a very special Star-Spangled Banner, The National 9/11 Flag – the flag that was hanging before, during, and after the attacks across from the South Tower – accompanied by members of the New York and Boston Fire Departments, as well as volunteers who travel to disaster areas to help rebuild. The presence of the 9/11 Flag is an especially appropriate accompaniment to these Boston Pops concerts premiering The Dream Lives On, as President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which for the first time officially recognized September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. Also, in the aftermath of 9/11 Senator Kennedy personally called the 177 Massachusetts families who had lost loved ones in the attack. The flag presentation includes a new film by Scott Rettberg and Megan Sleeper and edited by Bryan Norfolk.
WEEK THREE "AMERICAN HEROES" PROGRAMS, MAY 18-22, TO ALSO FEATURE
ARLO GUTHRIE, BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL, AND PATTI AUSTIN
The May 18 and 19 program, part of a series entitled "American Heroes," will also feature Arlo Guthrie singing "This Land is Your Land" and Brian Stokes Mitchell singing a new arrangement of one of his signature songs, "The Impossible Dream," with chorus and orchestra (May 18 & 19). Patti Austin joins the orchestra on May 19 & 20 for a song set that includes the world premiere of a powerful new song called "We the People," written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Roger Kellaway. "We the People" is the theme song for"Visions of America - a Photo Symphony." Acclaimed local actor Will LeBow will narrate The Dream Lives On for performances on May 20, 21, and 22.
Commissioning of The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers was made possible by generous support provided by Paul and Catherine Braverman and Robert and Evelyn Doran.
PETER BOYER, COMPOSER, The Dream Lives on: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers. Peter Boyer is active in both the field of concert hall music and the film and television music industry where he recently orchestrated music for Michael Giacchino's Oscar-winning score to Up. In addition to writing orchestral arrangements for more than a dozen feature films, Mr. Boyer has twice arranged and orchestrated music for the Academy Awards, including the 2009 telecast. His orchestral works have received well over 200 public performances by more than 80 orchestras worldwide including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the Dallas Symphony. With more than 100 performances since its 2002 debut, Mr. Boyer's Ellis Island: The Dream of America is one of the most-performed large-scale American orchestral works of the last decade. The Grammy-nominated Ellis Island was recorded with actors including Barry Bostwick, Blair Brown, Olympia Dukakis, and Eli Wallach.
