The movie “Casablanca provokes” a collective intake of breath, whenever you say the name. Why? Consider this – widely regarded as one of the greatest movies all time, it was literally ripped from the headlines. Set in 1941, in a time when the news cycle was much longer than 15 seconds, Americans were hungry for news of the war. So many families had sent fathers, brothers and sons, daughters and sisters, to support the war effort. Many knew people who had emigrated to America via Lisbon from the jumping off place of a small market town on the coast of Africa. A wild town, where you did what you needed to do to get where you wanted to go, is the backdrop, with the sweep of a world at war nipping at its heels. Add in to the mix the world-class cast, the brilliant and memorable lines and the timing of the release and you have the makings of a historic event.
The filmmakers bought the rights in 1942 and released the film January 23, 1943, when Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were in Casablanca, negotiating the surrender of the Axis powers after Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. Rushed into release to capitalize on the publicity and news of that historic event, the film was not expected to fare well against the myriad of other releases. Yet, this magnificent story garnered three Oscars and a lifetime of memorable lines. What could possibly make it better? The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (STNJ) playing Max Stein’s score, under the baton of Constantine Kitsopoulos in the newly renovated State Theater of New Jersey.
From the moment you enter the State Theater, the smell of popcorn permeates the air, as the people assuring our continued good health and taking our tickets smile to welcome us back to in-person events. Well, “smizing,” smiling where we can only see their eyes, and I felt very welcome and very happy to be at a live event. Another new wrinkle in the balcony level is the superb all-gender bathrooms. Many of us grew up sharing bathrooms with other genders in the home and this means that lines move quickly to get you back from intermission.
What’s not to love about the large, pearlescent black and white luminosity with New Jersey Symphony positioned almost traditionally where a pianist or organist would be in silent movie days. The breadth of the opening overture of Stein’s score swept us away to another time, another place, another world. Every day, every breath could be your last, and the world was at war. Against this backdrop, a rugged Humphrey Bogart and a willow-resilient Ingrid Bergman are gems against the black velvet night of Casablanca.
In our computer-generated imagery (CGI) age, it is easy to forget how much was done with highlight and shadow and how important camera angles and the brilliant talent of these actors were to the oldest art, storytelling. I have attended many other concerts with scores played by NJSO, in the State Theater, yet the subtlety of the advent of the music took me by surprise on more than one occasion. I left the theater with every sense heightened, and the resonance through my personal history of imagining my grandmother going to see this film while my grandfather was fighting in this war, as she wondered whether he would return.
Whenever you get a chance to see New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, take it. Taking friends to see them play a live score under a film like “Star Wars: A New Hope,” in May, and watching their worlds collide may be the event of the season. Get your tickets now at https://www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/star-wars-a-new-hope-in-concert.