When Keith Lockhart became the Boston Pops conductor in 1995, the orchestra had a pretty obvious fan base and repertoire.
“When I came in, sales at the Boston Pops were over 60 percent group sales,” Lockhart told the Herald. “A lot of (the sales) were 50 people at a time from the Rotary Club in Gilford, New Hampshire.”
Now, to be clear, Lockhart would love for 50 people from the Rotary Club, any Rotary Club, to come see something on the 2024 calendar, which starts May 10. But he’s happy the Pops now reaches a wide-ranging audience with wide-ranging tastes.
“If you looked at who was in the audience and what they were expecting to hear in 1995-96 and now, without looking at the incremental steps over time, the differences are flabbergasting,” Lockhart said.
Maybe because today’s Pops defies expectations. Oh, sure, in every season there’s guaranteed to be nights devoted to Broadway, classic jazz, and blockbuster film scores. But even those standards have been tweaked.
The 2024 season’s Broadway program takes a look at modern masters with numbers exclusively from 21st-century Tony-winning musicals, including selections from “The Band’s Visit,” “Kimberly Akimbo,” “Hadestown,” “A Strange Loop,” and “Hamilton.” They’ll be lots of jazz but it will typically show up in surprising spots (Glenn Miller swing in “The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to V-E Day;” Branford Marsalis’ concerts exploring an overlap between jazz and classical). No “Star Wars” scores, but John Williams will be represented at a “Jurassic Park” night.
“I’m excited about a lot of things, Sutton Foster, Harry Connick Jr, and I’ve worked with them before and they are gold standard performers,” Lockhart said. “But I’m really excited about the ‘Eyes of the World’ program. I love that we are doing our first ever Pride Night concert with Thorgy Thor.”
Lockhart admits he’s not a big “RuPaul’s Drag Race” person, but he’s been wowed by drag queen Thor’s talent — “She’s just stunning, and you’d expect her to be fun and a little over the top, but on top of that she’s a really, really incredible violinist,” he said of the “Drag Race” alum.
All in all, the season is packed with the sublime and odd. There’s a in-concert film screening of “Encanto” with a live soundtrack. Marc Martel & One Vision of Queen join the orchestra for a symphonic blowout of the rock gods’ catalog. And the Gospel Night spectacular Grammy-winning a cappella group Take 6 ends the season.
“Some people want to be challenged, some people want to be entertained, so it’s amazing to me how much we’ve moved away from one-size-fits-all programming and toward something very bespoke,” Lockhart said. “Fortunately, the Pops is a flexible enough vehicle to encompass all these worlds. And I have to say, (these types of seasons) makes it more fun for us.” #
For tickets and details, visit bso.org.
