When major music festival and summer concert lineups drop—like Coachella—we tend to say there’s a little bit of everything. But with the release of this year’s Hollywood Bowl schedule, there’s really something for everyone (especially when that something is in an iconic, alfresco and BYOB setting).
The Hollywood Bowl’s 2020 season lineup is here, and it includes a two-night stand from Janelle Monáe backed by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a team-up between James Blake and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a montage of iconic Looney Tunes musical moments, an orchestra-accompanied screening of The Princess Bride, a staging of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-scored musical School of Rock and a centennial celebration of the women’s suffrage movement.
The rest of the summer’s pop music slate is a genre and decade-spanning mix of acts that has penciling in plenty of dates in our calendar: a real chill evening with Andrew Bird, Calexico and Iron & Wine; Motown legend Diana Ross; Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard and local bassist extraordinaire Thundercat; country-pop superstar Sheryl Crow; eletro-pop duo Polo & Pan; Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty and the infectiously high-energy Robert Randolph and the Family Band; and the soulful Jill Scott. And then there’s a whole slew of orchestra-backed shows, with LA Phil-accompanied sets from Pentatonix, the B-52s and the Beach Boys, as well the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra supporting the likes of Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington, Maxwell, Brandi Carlile, Fantasia, Babyface and Cynthia Erivo.
Before we go any further, if you’re a newcomer to the Bowl, you should know that you can only grab tickets right now if you subscribe to a series. “Five or more” packages will be available soon, on March 17, but ticket sales for individual shows don’t open up until May 3. That all applies to this just-announced slate of LA Phil-produced shows (i.e. the ones where you can bring your own beer and wine), which are totally separate from the already-on-sale lease events like Hall & Oates and Alanis Morissette.
On the film side, having exhausted most of the John Williams-scored classics already, the Bowl has moved into a much more unexpected mix of movies: The LA Phil will tackle the lavish 1984 classical music drama Amadeus, while the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra is playing through The Princess Bride—inconceivable! In addition, the annual Wizarding World concert inches toward the franchise’s series finale as the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra accompanies a screening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. And an old favorite makes its return this year as the LA Phil marks Bugs Bunny’s 80th birthday with a live-scored program of classic Looney Tunes (think cartoons like the masterful Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny comedy What’s Opera, Doc?).
Speaking of returning favorites, John Williams will once again fill Labor Day weekend with his annual Maestro of the Movies show, in which he shares conducting duties with David Newman for Williams-penned scores like E.T. and Jurassic Park, along with other familiar film tunes. That won’t be Williams’ only appearance, though: He conducts violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter for an evening of rearranged themes from Star Wars, Harry Potter and more, all pulling from their Across the Stars album. Williams rounds out a classical lineup that’s heavy on crowd pleasers: Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Holst’s The Planets, Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite, Gerswhin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Orff’s Carmina Burana and, of particular note, a program of works from female composers that celebrates the 100th anniversary of the passage of women’s right to vote.
We’re practically out of breath and we haven’t even touched on the jazz lineup yet, which includes the annual Playboy Jazz Festival and resident legend Herbie Hancock, along with tributes to Dave Brubeck and Charlie Parker; a Debbie Harry-hosted homage to jazz singer Peggy Lee with the Legendary Count Basie Orchestra; and an evening of classical-bluegrass virtuosos with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile and guest Aoife O’Donovan.
Whew. There are over 50 different programs slated for the Hollywood Bowl this summer, and we’ve only touched on about half of those. Head to the Hollywood Bowl’s website to check out the full schedule or, if you want to narrow things down a bit, keep your eye on these 15 shows we’re most excited about (we’ve noted to which subscription series they belong, too).
15 shows in the Hollywood Bowl’s 2020 season lineup we’re most excited about
June
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in Concert
Sat June 27 at 8pm
Andrew Bird with Calexico and Iron & Wine
Sun June 28 at 7pm (KCRW’s World Festival)
July
Janelle Monáe with Orchestra
Fri July 17 and Sat July 18 at 8pm (Weekend Spectaculars)
School of Rock
Fri July 24 and Sat July 25 at 8pm (Weekend Spectaculars)
Sun July 26 at 7:30pm (Sunday Sunset Concerts)
Bugs Bunny at the Symphony
Fri July 31 and Sat Aug 1 at 8pm (Weekend Spectaculars)
August
Miss Peggy Lee at 100
Wed Aug 5 at 8pm (Jazz Plus)
Brittany Howard, Thundercat and Georgia Anne Muldrow
Sun Aug 16 at 7pm (KCRW’s World Festival)
Celebrating the Suffragettes
Tue Aug 18 at 8pm 9 (Tuesday Classics)
John Fogerty and Robert Randolph and the Family Band
Wed Aug 19 at 8pm (Jazz Plus)
Amadeus Live in Concert
Thu Aug 20 at 8pm (Thursday Classics)
James Blake with Orchestra
Sat Aug 22 at 8pm (Weekend Spectaculars)
The B-52s with Orchestra
Fri Aug 28 and Sat Aug 29 at 8pm (Weekend Spectaculars)
September
Maestro of the Movies
Fri Sept 4 and Sat Sept 5 at 8pm (Weekend Spectaculars)
Sun Sept 6 at 7:30pm (Special Concert)
Diana Ross
Fri Sept 11 and Sat Sept 12 at 8pm (Weekend Spectaculars)
The Princess Bride in Concert
Sun Sept 13 at 7:30pm (Sunday Sunset Concerts)