“Helen Mirren takes the celebrity spotlight at the concert part of next month’s Academy of Music 162nd Anniversary Concert and Ball,” writes Peter Dobrin in Wednesday’s (12/19) Philadelphia Inquirer. “The English actress … hasn’t yet worked out exactly what she will be doing with or alongside the Philadelphia Orchestra for the Jan. 26 fund-raiser…. Mirren’s father, a Russian named Vasily Petrovich Mironoff, played viola with the London Philharmonic, ‘and although she says she doesn’t have a musical bone in her body, she certainly grew up in that world,’ [Academy chair Caroline ‘Cackie’ B. Rogers] said…. Her participation here will likely be … along the lines of Al Pacino’s at the 2015 iteration of the Academy bash, when he recited a monologue from Shakespeare’s Richard III while the orchestra played parts of the Walton score for the 1955 film…. Previous guests for the Academy Anniversary Concert have included Sting, Billy Joel, and Paul Simon…. Proceeds from the event are split between the orchestra and restoration of the Academy of Music, which is ongoing.” The Philadelphia Orchestra owns the Academy of Music, which was its main performance hall until 2001, when it moved into the nearby Kimmel Center.
Posted December 20, 2018
