Warner Bros. Consumer Products Strikes a Chord Worldwide With Bugs Bunny at the Symphony

BURBANK, Calif., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Warner Bros. Consumer Products announced today that Bugs Bunny on Broadway, the record-setting orchestra-and-film concert that reinvented a new genre of symphony orchestra concert when it debuted in 1990, will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2010 with a rechristened and newly-created concert sequel, Bugs Bunny at the Symphony. The new concert, as well as the original Bugs Bunny on Broadway, is created and conducted by Emmy Award™ winner George Daugherty, and produced by Daugherty, Emmy Award™ winning David Ka Lik Wong, and their award-winning IFX Productions.

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Bugs Bunny at the Symphony, featuring a new fusion of on-screen Looney Tunes and live symphony orchestra accompaniment, will spotlight some of the original cartoon treasures of Bugs Bunny on Broadway, while adding an enlarged "cast" of Warner Bros.' animated characters and cartoons to this celebrated melding of classical music and classic animation.

"Music has always been an important part of the beloved Looney Tunes and their appeal to a worldwide fan base," said Karen McTier, Executive Vice President, Domestic Licensing and Worldwide Marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products.  "Bugs Bunny at the Symphony is a celebration of these wonderful characters and the artistry which they inspire.  This global collaboration will be music to the ears of fans everywhere."

In keeping with the project's 20-year history of traversing the globe, Bugs Bunny at the Symphony will be unveiled in mid-2010 in a series of major performances which span the planet, including a high-profile, two-tiered world premiere occurring at Australia's famed Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra on Friday and Saturday, May 7 and 8, and at the iconic Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Friday and Saturday, July 16 and 17.  The Bowl performances, which will include a spectacular fireworks display choreographed to the animated classic, “What’s Opera, Doc?” will also mark Warner Bros.' official celebration of the concert's 20th anniversary.  In addition to these engagements, Bugs Bunny at the Symphony will make an Australian national tour in May 2010, including appearances with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Perth and The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.  The U.S. East Coast premiere will take place in Washington D.C. with The National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap Filene Center on Friday and Saturday, August 6 and 7.  More cities/venues worldwide will be announced soon.  

Bugs Bunny on Broadway first shot to fame in 1990 with its sold-out, extended Broadway run at the Gershwin Theatre.  Since that Broadway debut, the concert has delighted audiences around the world with its celebration of the world's favorite Looney Tunes characters on-screen, while their extraordinary Wagner/Rossini/Strauss/Tchaikovsky-inspired Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn scores are played live by a full symphony orchestra.  

Through Warner Bros. Entertainment's animated jewels like "What's Opera, Doc?" "The Rabbit of Seville," "Baton Bunny," "Long-Haired Hare" and "Corny Concerto" (among others), concertgoers across the globe have cheered this extraordinary big-screen and symphony orchestra concert.  Bugs Bunny on Broadway has sold-out the world's greatest concert venues and opera houses, including the Hollywood Bowl, the Sydney Opera House, Moscow's Kremlin Palace, London's Royal Festival Hall, Cleveland Orchestra's Severance Hall, Chicago Symphony's Orchestra Hall, Ireland's National Concert Hall and more than 100 other symphony orchestras.  It is estimated that the concert has played to audiences of almost two million people worldwide in the past two decades.

As creator and conductor George Daugherty points out, all of these venues and orchestras have held a very important place in the 20-year history of Bugs Bunny on Broadway.  "Bugs Bunny on Broadway made its international premiere at The Sydney Opera House in 1996, and we have been back to The Opera House with The Sydney Symphony for many sell-outs since," said Daugherty.  "We have performed the concert at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and in front of more audience members there than at any other venue in the world!"  Daugherty also points out that Bugs Bunny on Broadway made its original touring debut in 1990 at Wolf Trap and has returned there to perform the concert with the National Symphony over a dozen times since.

According to Daugherty, Bugs Bunny at the Symphony will still feature a number of Bugs Bunny on Broadway's most show-stopping cartoons, including Chuck Jones' brilliant "What's Opera, Doc?" and "The Rabbit of Seville," – two Looney Tunes classics that top virtually every published list of "The World's Funniest Cartoons."  In addition to these, a number of new, beloved characters will be featured including Tweety, Sylvester, Pepe Le Pew, as well as Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo and other stars from the world of Hanna-Barbera.

"I am so proud to have been associated with Bugs Bunny on Broadway for almost its entire history," said Steven A. Linder, Senior Vice-President, Director, Attractions, IMG Artists, which is the worldwide booking and management agency for both concerts.  "And I am equally thrilled to be part of its new incarnation -- Bugs Bunny at the Symphony.  This project, as so brilliantly conceived by George Daugherty, has been nothing short of groundbreaking and beautifully marries the musical passion of the concert hall with the artistic passion of some of the greatest creative minds in Hollywood."

About Warner Bros. Consumer Products

Warner Bros. Consumer Products, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is one of the leading licensing and retail merchandising organizations in the world.

About IMG Artists

IMG Artists is the global leader in the arts management business which combines the highest standards of management with an incomparable roster of performing artists, ranging from superstars Renee Fleming, Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell, to The Bolshoi Ballet, to the top symphony orchestras in the world, including The Cleveland Orchestra, The London Philharmonic, and The Royal Philharmonic. With offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Hanover, Lucca and Singapore, IMG Artists delivers an international suite of capabilities including the management and touring of the finest musicians, dance companies, orchestras, and attractions, as well as consulting and advisory work for sovereign clients, arts institutions, concert halls, and culturally engaged corporations. With an unparalleled degree of artistic and managerial talent, IMG Artists is committed to breaking new ground in the ever-evolving performing arts world.

About George Daugherty

Daugherty is a frequent guest conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Philadelphia Orchestra, and has conducted almost every major American symphony orchestra as well as a long list of international ensembles. He has become well-respected for his unique and innovative symphony orchestra concerts and productions.  Additionally, he has received five Emmy™ nominations as a producer, director and music director, and he won a Primetime Emmy™ for his ABC Network production of "Peter and The Wolf". That production, along with Daugherty's other television projects (including "Rhythm & Jam" and the Emmy-winning PBS series "Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat") received a total of 11 Emmy™ nominations and numerous other major awards.

LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

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THE FLINTSTONES, THE JETSONS, SCOOBY-DOO and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Hanna-Barbera.

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TOM AND JERRY and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Turner Entertainment Co.

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SOURCE Warner Bros. Consumer Products