At DMC we pride ourselves on our geeky interests and obsessions. So, when someone mentioned in a weekly company status meeting that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was going to be at Ravinia Theater to play the soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in time with the movie, we had no dearth of interested employees.
With twenty-two committed attendees, we eagerly anticipated the Friday night extravaganza, ordering a spread of sandwiches, wraps and hummus from Mariano’s, deliberating about desserts, and coordinating our coolers of beer and wine for the event days in advance.
I arrived at the venue at 5:08 p.m. just shy of two hours before the start time, to claim a plot for our mini army of LOTR fans. Upon arrival, the park was already packed, but I found a prime spot directly in front of one of the large screen televisions that have recently been set up in the lawn area. Armed with only two folding chairs and a backpack full of books and National Geographic magazines, I did my best to hold the space until my battalion arrived. I was quickly losing ground as angry fans protested the unfeasibility and unreasonableness of my holding space for twenty-two people. After a while though, my neighbors became sympathetic and began loaning me umbrellas, coolers, tables, a tarp and even a jacket to help me out.
Finally, the beer, food and the rest of DMC arrived for the event.
Not only was the music flawless (no surprise there), but the perfection in musical cuing with the movie was artistically entrancing. We shared our nerdy knowledge of LOTR trivia and argued about who the biggest LOTR fan was, using specs such as how many times we had read the books, how many Tolkien books we had read that weren’t part of the famed trilogy, if we had ever dressed up as LOTR characters for any LOTR events, what kind of memorabilia we owned, and more. We ultimately came to absolutely zero conclusions, and agreed to revel in the vast expanse of our collected interest.
With a three plus hour movie in tow, the event ended around 11 p.m. and we all dispersed to our respective cars and trains.
It was a perfectly nerdy evening, and it was great to connect with friends who have the same passion for an artwork so well crafted as the Lord of the Rings.