In 1977, Daniel Flannery conceived, designed and directed the original Star Wars Concert at the Hollywood Bowl, featuring Zubin Mehta conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the first concert presentation of John Williams’s landmark score. Flannery transformed the performance into a pioneering visual symphony through theatrical lighting, lasers, pyrotechnics and special effects synchronized with the music. One history describes “laser beams criss-crossing the Bowl, altering in shape as the intensity of the music altered,” while the audience of nearly 18,000 was said to be “frenzied in their adulation.” Initially condemned by one traditionalist critic as “artistic prostitution,” the sold-out concert is now recognized by the Los Angeles Philharmonic as “a resounding success” that launched a nationwide phenomenon and helped establish film music as a legitimate and enduring part of the symphonic repertoire.
