Overture, curtain, lights

This is it. We’ll hit the heights

And oh, what heights we’ll hit

On with the show, this is it.

– Theme to “The Bugs Bunny Show”

Brian Coughlin grew up in a household where his parents restricted television viewing. But among the shows he was allowed to watch were Saturday morning cartoons.

“This was back in the early ’80s, and I always remember looking forward to the times when the Warner Bros. cartoons were on from the ’40s and ’50s,” Coughlin recalls. “Even at that age I knew there was something about those cartoons that were so much more interesting, fun and well-put together than the modern cartoons that were on at the time.”

Flash-forward a few years to where the classically trained bassist found himself sitting in a hospital waiting room watching a TV playing those same cartoons with the sound off. Coughlin realized that Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd really weren’t as looney without the tunes.

“So I went back and started investigating the music without the visuals. I realized how forward-thinking the music was. The music these guys were writing in the ’40s and ’50s sounds a lot like contemporary composers would later do in the ’60s and ’70s,” he says.

In response, Coughlin and his contemporary classical ensemble Fireworks has written a program called “Cartoon” that presents music and video “created for and inspired by shorts from the golden age of Warner Bros. animation.” The New York City-based group created “Cartoon” specifically for Saturday’s Lied Center performance.

Coughlin jokes, “In some ways I’m getting back at my parents by doing all sorts of cartoon stuff now.”

Funny symphony

The first half of the show explores contemporary composers (including Coughlin himself) who were influenced by cartoon music and its colorful characters.

Fireworks ensemble has written a program called Cartoon inspired by classic animated characters from Warner Bros.

The second half features music written specifically for cartoons. This is highlighted by the works of Raymond Scott and Carl Stalling, the legends behind classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies productions.

The program includes:

¢ “Cartoon/Funky” – Brian Coughlin

¢ “Carny” – John Zorn

¢ “Looney Tunes” – Robert Paterson

¢ “Roadrunner” – John Adams

¢ “War Dance for Wooden Indians,” “Bird Life in the Bronx,” “The Penguin,” “Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals,” “Powerhouse” – Raymond Scott

¢ “Village Smitty,” “There They Go-Go-Go!” – Carl Stalling

¢ “Baton Bunny” – Milton J. Franklyn

The last three composers’ works will be performed along with screenings of the original WB animation.

“You can’t help but smile or laugh,” says Fireworks cellist Leigh Stuart. “At a lot of rehearsals I would look up and people would be about to crack up.”

The eight-member ensemble – which employs flute, saxophone, violin, cello, bass, piano, guitar and percussion – first rehearsed individually to copies of the videos. Then the group collectively had to navigate the complicated arrangements while matching it up to the antics of Bugs and Wile E. Coyote.

Stuart says, “There is something virtuosic about that music. It has so much personality to it. Even listening to it without the video you can picture what is going on.”

For Stuart, the only disappointment was that one of her favorite cartoon icons doesn’t make an appearance in the program.

“I like Daffy Duck. He’s so emotionally explosive that he’s a riot,” she says.

Jumping barriers

This isn’t the first time that Fireworks has experimented with unusual programs.

In the five years since it formed, the group crafted “Dance Mix,” which explores party music from five continents; “Pyrotechnics,” which highlights contemporary composers from John Adams to John Zorn; and “The Rite of Spring,” a rock-heavy interpretation of Igor Stravinsky’s 1913 classic.

“Fireworks was founded with the idea of trying to do something different with contemporary music,” Coughlin explains. “All the members are classically trained but have interests in other fields. We have the elements of a classical chamber group and also some elements of jazz and rock. It allows us to jump across stylistic barriers very easily.”

Coughlin says the ensemble is interested in dabbling with cartoon compositions beyond the Warner Bros. catalog. Future performances may include selections from the Hanna-Barbera studio, Scott Bradley’s “Tom & Jerry” music and also some Disney material.

“There is a large audience interested in experiencing a chamber music concert but doesn’t really have a way into the music,” Coughlin says. “There’s a misconception that it’s a stuffy atmosphere and they won’t be interested in the material. One of our goals is to break down those misconceptions and present something fresh and exciting for younger audiences.”