"A breath is simply a bridge to your next breath"

As pilot seasons winds down for the fall, I have started exploring the vast world of online TV series.  I have an epically long list of TV shows I need to watch and so many of them are from various streaming platforms.

Today, I decided to try out a pilot from Amazon Prime that came highly recommended to me from a friend: Mozart in the Jungle. 

I heard it had Bernadette Peters in it, so I was pretty much sold instantly.  Not sure who Bernadette Peters is?  She's the fiery red head who has rocked Broadway for the past 40 some years and was in the movie musicals, Annie and Cinderella with Brandy (potentially the most racially diverse casting of a musical before Hamilton came along ;-)

Bernadette, right, in NBC's Smash

Also, the poster for this show is quite an eye-catching spectacle.  With all the pastel colors, should it be called "Mozart in Wonderland"?

The NY Symphony has never been sexier

As the episode began to load, the first title card that flashed across the screen was Amazon Comedy.  By the end of the pilot, I think this is a mistake to label this series that way.  It is a 30 minute episode, but comparing this show to something like 30 Rock or The Grinder only does it a disservice.

Don't get me wrong, there are funny moments in this show, but not ones with howling out loud laughter.

I loved when the sexy upright bass player, Cynthia, tells her new friend, Hailey how a man's profession determines how he'll be in bed.  They cut away to various sultry scenes of Cynthia having sex with a violinist and a percussionist.  

It took me about a scene and a half to tell these two apart... The red lipstick on Cynthia helped

Another funny highlight for me is when some of the symphony players run to play in a Broadway pit and we see the show: Styx Oedipus Rocks!  As I see the marquee and hear the song, Come Sail Away, I can immediately see the Rock of Ages parody.  Also, the star is none other than Constantine Maroulis from American Idol!  Halfway through the scene, red marks appear under his eyes for when he gouges his eyes out.  Why isn't this a real musical?!

Constantine, right, as Oedipus. Jason Schwartzman, left, head writer

My overall impression of this pilot was one of subtle intrigue.  I wasn't jumping out of my seat in excitement, like when I watched the pilot of The Grinder two weeks ago, but again, I don't believe Mozart in the Jungle should be directly compared to comedies.

This show is going to explore behind the scenes of the NY symphony and what it is like to be a working instrumentalist.  As a creative type, I find this world somewhat familiar and yet foreign at the same time.  I wondered throughout the scenes if the actors were really playing their instruments (it seemed to me they might be) although watch my wiser friends who did high school band and orchestra correct me. 

The writing is very smart and straightforward.  Not once was I confused by a character's motivation nor did I think "that would never happen!"  Even when the main character, Hailey, has a crazy house party where they take shots and then play different classical pieces on their instruments until someone plays a wrong note, I was 100% on board.

There are a few quirky and playful moments in the script, which I wonder if that's simply the style of the two head writers and cousins, Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman.   Jason, pictured above, is also an actor who has appeared in almost all of Wes Anderson films (my favorite being Moonrise Kingdom) so I wonder if Wes's quintessential style has rubbed off on him.  And yes, in case you didn't already know, Jason and Roman are part of THAT Coppola family with relatives Francis Ford, Sophia and Nicholas Cage.  Talia Shire, Adrian from the Rocky movies, is Jason's mom!!  

A face only a mother could love...

When they introduce the new conductor, Rodrigo, they show him conducting rather frantically as the backdrop changes just as frantically.  While this type of moment never repeats in the pilot, I found it amusing rather than jarring.

Looks like they borrowed backdrops from a 90s Hanson music video

The performances across the board are fantastic.  I can already see Gael Garcia Bernal is going to be a perfect cast for the eccentric conductor genius, Rodrigo, and his bitter predecessor, Thomas, played by Malcolm Mcdowell, will go toe to toe with him nicely.

I'm excited to see all of these actors since I know almost none of them and thus have no prior baggage going into this series.

The pilot ends on a cliff hanger as whether or not Hailey will be considered for the NY Symphony.  I most definitely will continue to watch this show as the pilot made it seem both intriguing and effortless.

I give this pilot 8 out of 10 frantic conducting backdrops.