I love the “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise. I always have. By conservative estimates, I’ve probably watched the first movie 20 times. When studying or writing, I am the kind of person who needs music with no lyrics, so my solution has been listening to movie scores, especially the one written for the first “How to Train Your Dragon.” I listen to it so frequently that pieces of the score have appeared in my Spotify Wrapped. Twice. And now, I will never watch it again.
That isn’t because of ridiculous recent controversies regarding the franchise, or because I consider myself to be too “mature” to watch an animated children’s movie or anything of the like. But simply because, after attending “‘How to Train Your Dragon’ – Jacobs Live at the Movies,” I’ve been spoiled by the experience, and I doubt any other rewatch of the film could ever come close to rivaling it, and I’m all the better for it.
The Jacobs School of Music hosts “Jacobs Live at the Movies” every performance season at the Musical Arts Center, when it hosts an orchestra to play the scores of films live. Past movies have included other childhood classics like “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” in the 2023-24 season and “Jurassic Park” in the 2021-22 season. The movie nights bring large crowds, with both showings for “How to Train Your Dragon” being sold out this weekend.
The idea of showing films in concert is not unique to the music school, with orchestras all over the world doing so. Additionally, the production of “How to Train Your Dragon” at Jacobs is just one visit within a larger tour, “’How to Train Your Dragon’ in Concert.” The tour is traveling across the country and running until March 15.
The appeal of watching a film in concert has almost nothing to do with the visual allure of the film. In fact, the movie was merely projected on a pull-down screen set at the back end of the MAC stage, slightly larger than what you’d see in a classroom.
The orchestra sat onstage for the entirety of the concert, which is a departure from a typical show at the MAC, with operas and ballets requiring full use of the stage and restricting the accompanying orchestra to the pit. Multiple times throughout the show, I caught myself gazing at the musicians rather than the film because of their dynamic stage presence.
I came into the performance with very high expectations, as I had seen multiple TikToks about performances like it, but was a bit nervous that the bar had been set too high and the show wouldn’t live up to everything I wanted it to be.
Thankfully, my anxieties were never realized. As soon as the overture started, I was transported into the world of Berk, almost feeling dragons overhead and the Nordic air.
The orchestra began playing the familiar Universal Studios theme. Most probably know the theme by heart, but there was something about hearing the 81-person orchestra playing it live that made me truly take in the score in a way that just isn’t possible through a home or theater viewing.
When the deep brass led into the light lilt of the "This is Berk” intro, I felt tears prick in my eyes. So often when watching a movie, the score and accompanying songs fall into the background, as they were composed to do. But when played in concert, the music truly takes precedence in a way that isn’t abrasive or distracting but gives you greater appreciation for the entirety of the work overall.
The original score had been adapted for the “in Concert” series to make it more prevalent in some scenes, but even so, music is much more present in movies in general than one may think. There were multiple conversations between characters that would have been framed in a completely different way and not as impactful without the soft orchestral accompaniment.
There were times where the orchestra was perhaps a bit too dominant to hear dialogue during important scenes, but that issue had already been considered, and thus the film had subtitles to follow along.
Especially by the second half, I couldn’t believe the skill and endurance the musicians onstage had for playing for essentially 90 minutes straight. In the first half, I was a bit confused as to how the orchestra was so in sync with the film, before I spotted a small screen playing the movie in front of acclaimed conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos.
At the conclusion of the film, I made a decision. After watching a performance with such artistic efforts behind it, it would almost be an insult to the memory of the night to rewatch the film. Watching “How to Train Your Dragon” with a Jacobs orchestra was an experience beyond anything I could have imagined, and I will be content with never watching the first movie again. Though, I will probably watch the others until I am lucky enough to watch those in concert as well.
