'Star Wars,' 'Harry Potter': Boston Pops to celebrate legendary composer John Williams

After a three-year hiatus, the Boston Pops will resume a tradition dating back more than 135 years when it opens its spring season May 19 at Symphony Hall for the first time since 2019.

Pops conductor Keith Lockhart said he and the orchestra are ready, and he hopes audiences are as well.

“The Pops spring season is something we all took for granted for so long,” said Lockhart during a recent telephone interview. “People’s level of comfort or discomfort at resuming activities like this varies a lot, but we have to get back to work.”

With that in mind, the Pops, which was last at Symphony Hall for Holiday Pops in 2021, has adjusted this year’s spring schedule while still planning a season that will remind everyone why the Boston institution long ago earned the affectionate moniker “America’s Orchestra.”

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“We’re doing four weeks instead of six, out of appropriate caution,” said Lockhart, who has been conductor since 1995. “We’ve programmed a season blending tried-and-true Broadway tributes with film and gospel nights and a world premiere that we believe will compel people to come back to the Pops.”

Broadway music has been a longstanding Pops staple, and this year’s season opener, “The Magical Music of Alan Menken,” May 19 and 21, will highlight the work of the Broadway and film composer behind “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Newsies” and more.

“Our Broadway programs are very repertoire-driven,” Lockhart said. “The Alan Menken tribute will feature artists who have originated his songs – Susan Egan (‘Beauty and the Beast’) and Telly Leung (‘Aladdin’) in their Boston Pops debuts, and Alton Fitzgerald White (‘The Lion King,’ ‘Ragtime’), who was with us in 2014 for ‘Disney’s Broadway Hits.’”

Lockhart is also looking forward to welcoming Tony nominee Christopher Jackson, who originated the role of George Washington in “Hamilton,” to Symphony Hall for his Pops debut, June 7-8, with a program of his favorite Broadway and pop music.

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“Christopher Jackson is not only a gifted performer, he also composes and arranges music. It’s going to be wonderful to have him with us,” Lockhart said.

Since making his Boston Pops debut in 2004, Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell (“Kiss Me, Kate”) has made several appearances with the orchestra in Boston and at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in Lenox. He returns this season for "Duke Ellington Reimagined," June 9 and 10.

“We’re thrilled that Stokes is going to be helping us explore the incredible musical legacies and fruitful 30-year collaboration of Ellington and composer/pianist Billy Strayhorn," Lockhart said.

"Broadway stars are very facile, versatile and effortlessly excellent onstage,” Lockhart said. “And Stokes is the gold standard. He’s also a huge Duke Ellington fan. His son is even named Ellington.”

In addition to Mitchell, pianist Lara Downes – who made her Pops debut in 2019 – will perform the world premiere of “A Lovesome Thing: Billy Strayhorn Suite," based on three of Strayhorn’s most passionate and poignant songs – “A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing,” “Strange Feeling” and “Something to Live For” – and arranged by composer Chris Walden.

The Strayhorn Suite is a Boston Pops co-commission with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Brevard Music Center and South Carolina Philharmonic.

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In tribute to Boston Pops Conductor Laureate John Williams on the occasion of his 90th birthday, Lockhart will conduct two John Williams Film Nights: “‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ in Concert,” May 26 and 28, and “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back,” June 2, 3 and 4.

“In 2019, we did ‘Star Wars’ with plans to do one film night each year,” Lockhart said. “But this year, in honor of John’s birthday, we’ll be doing two film nights. At 90, John is not traveling as much as he used to. He’ll be joining us at Tanglewood this summer, though, and we’re looking forward to that.”

Until then, Lockhart will take up the baton in tribute to his fellow conductor and pianist.

“Doing film scores live is an exhausting physical and mental challenge,” Lockhart, 62, said. “It takes a lot out of you. So doing two in a row is very daunting. John’s scores are worth it, though, because they’re written for orchestra, and beautifully so.”

That doesn’t mean, however, that they don’t require homework.

“The Harry Potter scores are really wonderful, and have become just as iconic as ‘Star Wars.’ This Potter score is one of the longest scores I have ever conducted, though, and there’s no coasting in it either.

“For the 700 pages of Potter, I’ll probably be sequestered watching the film for 60 or so hours,” said Lockhart, who, when it comes to Williams, wouldn’t have it any other way.

“When you’re dealing with a true creative genius, you learn new things all the time," he said. "And working with John Williams is like working with Beethoven.”

Lockhart said his legendary predecessor – winner of five Academy Awards and 25 Grammy Awards, and considered by many to be the greatest film composer of all time – is not one to impose on a creative collaboration.

“The great thing about John, given his worldwide success, is that he doesn’t offer advice unless it is solicited. He does bring you attention, though. Whenever I conduct one of his films, I’m met by his fans at the stage door, where I’m invariably asked, ‘Do you actually know John Williams?’ said Lockhart with a laugh. “I’m always proud to say, ‘Yes, I do.’ ”

Boston Pops' 137th Season

What: "The Magical Music of Alan Menken," May 19, 21; "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in Concert," May 26, 28; "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back," June 2-4; "An Evening with Christopher Jackson," June 7-8; "Duke Ellington Reimagined," June 9-10; "Gospel Night," June 11

When: May 19-June 11

Where: Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston

Tickets: $33 and up

Info: 888-266-1200, https://www.bso.org/pops/

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Boston Pops returns to Symphony Hall for eclectic spring season