Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels

Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels (also known as Wallace & Gromit at the Proms) is the name of Prom 20 of the 2012 season of The BBC Proms, which features orchestral renditions of Julian Nott's theme from Wallace and Gromit and classical music set to scenes from the Wallace & Gromit films. Wallace is performed by Ben Whitehead, the actor who performed Wallace in the episodic adventure game series, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures.[1] Due to its popularity, it became a full touring show in 2013, premiering at The Plenary in Melbourne, Australia on 9 February 2013.[2]

Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels
Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels logo.
Written byRichard Hansom
Nick Park
Merlin Crossingham
Directed byHelen Mansfield (for BBC live broadcast)
Creative directorMerlin Crossingham
StarringNicholas Collon
Tasmin Little
Ben Whitehead
ComposersIain Farrington
Julian Nott
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersJane Carter
Helen Mansfield
Helen Argo
EditorOliver MacFarlane
Production companyAardman
Release
Original release29 July 2012 (2012-07-29)
(Live and BBC Radio)
27 August 2012 (2012-08-27) (Television: BBC One)
13 February 2013 (2013-02-13) (Touring Premiere)

Plot

Musical Marvels features new animated footage of Wallace and Gromit that are shown between the orchestral pieces. The animated scenes are made to interact with the conductor on stage through an invention called a Maestromatic. This is a conductor's stand with a plate of cheese and crackers and a chute which receives letters and compositions from Wallace, who is said to be below the concert hall. A new musical composition by Wallace is slated to be played by the end of the night, called "My Concerto in Ee, Lad". Wallace invented a mechanized petrol powered piano called the pianomatic to play the tune, but the invention backfired on itself and the piano, along with his concerto, was destroyed.[3] Gromit ended up saving the night by composing his own musical piece, "A Double Concerto for Violin and Dog", which he played on a priceless Stradivarius violin found below the concert hall over the monitor with English classical violinist Tasmin Little.[4] In the end, Wallace congratulates Gromit for a job well done, gives him a bouquet of flowers from a mechanized flower dispenser, and sits down on the Stradivarius violin.

Program

Cast

Production and release

Musical Marvels was performed live at the Royal Albert Hall on 29 July 2012. It featured the Aurora Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Collon who also narrated and 'communicated' with Wallace. It was broadcast live on BBC Radio, and then a later video broadcast was made on BBC One on 27 August.[4]

Due to its popularity, it became a full touring show in 2013. It premiered at The Plenary in Melbourne, Australia on 9 February 2013. It was performed at other venues throughout 2013 including the Sydney Opera House, with the animated short film A Matter of Loaf and Death screened at each performance.[2]

References
  1. "Telltale tidbits". The International House of Mojo. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  2. "2013 Mojo Tidbits". The International House of Mojo. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  3. "Prom 20: Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels! – review". The Guardian. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  4. "Wallace and Gromit take over Prom". BBC News. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
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