COMEDIAN JOHN HODGMAN, OF “DAILY SHOW” FAME, JOINS KEITH LOCKHART AND THE BOSTON POPS AT THE VAN WEZEL PERFORMING ARTS HALL TONIGHT, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, AT 8 P.M., TO READ HIS OWN HUMOROUS NARRATION TO BENJAMIN BRITTEN’S THE YOUNG PERSON’S GUIDE TO THE ORCHESTRA; THE BOSTON POPS PROGRAM, “A BRITISH INVASION: THE BOSTON POPS PLAYS THE BEATLES,” ALSO FEATURES FULL ORCHESTRAL ARRANGEMENTS OF BELOVED SONGS BY SUCH ICONIC BRITISH BANDS AS THE BEATLES, THE WHO, AND LED ZEPPELIN

COMEDIAN JOHN HODGMAN, OF “DAILY SHOW” FAME, JOINS
KEITH LOCKHART AND THE BOSTON POPS AT THE
VAN WEZEL PERFORMING ARTS HALL TONIGHT, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, AT 8 P.M., TO READ HIS OWN HUMOROUS NARRATION TO BENJAMIN BRITTEN’S THE YOUNG PERSON’S GUIDE TO THE ORCHESTRA

THE BOSTON POPS PROGRAM, “A BRITISH INVASION: THE BOSTON POPS PLAYS THE BEATLES,” ALSO FEATURES FULL ORCHESTRAL ARRANGEMENTS OF BELOVED SONGS BY SUCH ICONIC BRITISH BANDS AS THE BEATLES, THE WHO,
AND LED ZEPPELIN

Tonight at 8 p.m., comedian, author, and actor John Hodgman, of “Daily Show” fame, joins conductor Keith Lockhart and the famed Boston Pops in Sarasota at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, reading his own original humorous narration of Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. The performance in Sarasota is the second stop on the Boston Pops’ five-city “British Invasion” Florida tour.

The program, “A British Invasion: The Boston Pops Plays the Beatles,” also features music of beloved British rock bands of the ’60s and ’70s that forever changed America’s musical landscape, including the Beatles, The Who, and Led Zeppelin. Such popular Beatles songs as “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Yesterday,” and “Eleanor Rigby” will be given the orchestral treatment, as well as The Who’s “Tommy Overture/Pinball Wizard” and Led Zeppelin’s classic “Stairway to Heaven.” The concert also includes favorite classical compositions from the British Isles such as Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 and Handel’s Suite from Water Music.

In addition to tonight’s concert at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, the Boston Pops’ “British Invasion” tour makes stops in Orlando at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (2/3); Jacksonville at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts (2/4); and West Palm Beach at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (2/6). The orchestra kicked off its Florida tour at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts yesterday evening (2/1). The Boston Pops is the most recorded and arguably the most beloved orchestra in the country, beginning with the establishment of the modern-era Pops by Arthur Fiedler and continuing through the innovations introduced by John Williams and the new-millennium Pops spearheaded by conductor Keith Lockhart.

 

WHAT: Keith Lockhart, special guest John Hodgman, and the Boston Pops perform “A British Invasion: The Boston Pops Plays the Beatles” in Sarasota

WHEN: Thursday, February 2, 8 p.m.; Conductor Keith Lockhart available for interviews 7:45 p.m.

WHERE: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota, Florida