A LotR nerd's dream come true
I'd never heard of Ravinia. Was I living under a rock? Maybe. But when I heard its name my mind immediately jumped: So Elvish! How fitting that my first trip to Ravinia was for a showing of "The Return of the King" featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In truth, they had me when they said the movie would be played on giant outdoor screens. To then also have a live orchestra play the gorgeous musical score along with the movie was like, okay, you can lead me to the Grey Havens tomorrow. (Translation: I can die happy.)
Not only were there violins, flutes, drums, and horns playing along with Howard Shore's three-time Academy Award winning score, there was a choir and soloists with voices so pure and sweet it was surely orc mischief (Translation: Too good to be true). But it was true! One soloist, we heard from a fellow fan, actually travels the world singing at Lord of the Rings concerts such at the one in Ravinia.
Music and angelic voices aside, it was a dream to just be among people for whom it's the norm to talk candidly about Wood Elves and proudly sport t-shirts bearing the White Tree of Gondor. The guy camped out next to us let out fist pump after fist pump at key moments, and I lost count of the number of times the crowd erupted in cheer — everything from when Merry and Pippin first appear on the scene to the predictable outburst at Eowyn's "I am no man." Oh that such events happened on the regular! We Tolkien nerds would flock to the scene, desperately seeking any way back to Middle Earth.
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