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On Oct. 25, the Harvard Pops Orchestra transformed Lowell Lecture Hall into a world of whimsy and campus satire with their fall concert, “Through the Looking Glass.” Known for combining narrative theater with live orchestral music, Pops delivered a night that was both theatrical and hilarious, serving as a reminder that the orchestra pit can be every bit as alive as the stage above it.

Elizabeth L. Plank ’28, the orchestra’s alumni director, explained that preparation for the concert started months in advance, with the music always being chosen first.

“Pops is like theatrical music in the sense that we have music that we want to play, we create a list of the repertoire that we want to shape it around, and then we fit the storyline to that,” she said in an interview with The Harvard Crimson.

This year’s story followed Alex, a 19th-century Harvard student played by Danny O. Denenberg ’26, struggling under the watchful eye of his teacher, Professor Dodgson. In the concert, Dodgson — portrayed by Jacob Barandes, a Senior Preceptor in Physics and Associated Faculty member in Philosophy — critiqued Alex on his tardiness and quirky asides. Frustrated, Alex wondered, “When Will My Life Begin,” singing a rendition of the “Tangled” song arranged by Jang Choe ’26. Soon the orchestra swelled into John Williams’ “Jurassic Park” theme, sending Alex tumbling through a magical portal into Wonderland.

The story’s whimsical chaos reflected the unconventional approach behind Pops, wherein the orchestra and actors never rehearse together before opening night.

“Unless you’re part of the creative team, you don’t have access to the script until the concert,” said Choe, the orchestra’s treasurer. “So a lot of the time, orchestra members are also figuring out the script and the plot of the story with the audience.”

This process relies on coordination across writers, musicians, and actors rather than a collectively referenced script or song order, a structure not typically found in other orchestral groups on campus.

Given the timing of the concert, the orchestra had to be intentional about their repertoire selection.

“We knew this [concert] was going to be before Halloween, which is earlier than a lot of our concerts typically are, and so we had the opportunity to play a huge amount of popular music,” Plank said.

The repertoire for the night thus included a mix of classical pieces and contemporary songs arranged to fit the story.

In Act 1, Alex met the Cheshire Dragon, played by Izzy V.S. Wilson ’26, who led him to the castle of the Queen of Smarts, portrayed by Amelia Sipkin ’29. The Queen’s command of “Attention!” drew a large laugh from the audience and was followed by brass fanfare that transitioned into the orchestra’s performance of Pablo de Sarasate’s “Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20.” This featured a fast-paced violin solo by Serin I. Park ’26, accompanied by the full ensemble.

Humor is one of the pillars of any Pops concert, and often the jokes evolve as the repertoire does, sometimes until the very last day of rehearsal.

“The script is changing up until the day of,” Choe said. “I think we like to pride ourselves on the fact that the jokes are accessible to everyone in the audience and also very up to date.”

Yet not all moments of the story were as lighthearted. After the next two numbers, an arrangement of Smash Mouth’s “All Star” by Ben Fortuin ’27, and Randy Newman’s “Friends on the Other Side” — which featured Wilson and Sipkin in back-to-back solos — the Queen of Smarts revealed her grand plan to escape Wonderland. She schemed to travel to Harvard and find the author who left her “underwritten,” that is, never finished fully writing her personality. She trapped Alex and the Cheshire Dragon in her dungeon during Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” punctuated by a sharp clash of cymbals and flashes of red light.

The transition to Act 2 opened with the full orchestra playing selections from John Powell’s “How to Train Your Dragon,” matching the energy of Alex and the Cheshire Dragon as they snuck past guards. After failed attempts to recruit help from Harvard students, even after offers of beer and IOP internships, Alex convinced a passing Dodgson to come through the mirror.

“Yes, Okta, it’s me!” Alex shouted, before being finally allowed through to Harvard. A moment of calm followed with the orchestra’s rendition of Joe Hisaishi and Youmi Kimura’s “Spirited Away,” featuring a solo by pianist Josetta J. Wang ’29.

Audience participation also reached its peak during Act 2. When Alex and the Queen of Smarts finally battled in the big finale with pool noodles to Fortuin’s arrangement of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” the Queen’s “sword” went flying into the audience, prompting laughter from the front rows.

This involvement of the audience is central to Pops’ ethos.

“One of the reasons why we hold the concert in Lowell Hall is because it’s a uniquely intimate setting,” Plank said. “The separation between the performers and the audience basically doesn’t even exist.”

With its semicircular seating and low stage, Lowell Lecture Hall allows the audience to sit just a few feet from the performers. The hall’s compact layout makes it easy for actors to move through the aisles and for musicians to engage directly with the crowd.

As the Queen lamented never learning the rest of her story, Professor Dodgson revealed that he was the author who left her incomplete. His final act of writing gave her character not only intelligence but also a heart, transforming her into the Queen of Hearts. Alex, the Cheshire Dragon, and the newly dubbed Queen of Hearts were then joined by the full cast in concluding the show with the surprise song, HUNTRYX’s “Golden,” which shared a message about learning to embrace your true self.

“I really try to just not care about embarrassing myself,” Sipkin said after the performance. “Once you realize that you have to give 100 percent, then that’s when you’ll be very successful.”

Looking ahead, Pops continues to build on its history while preparing for future performances. The Harvard Pops is the second oldest collegiate Pops orchestra in the country, and will be celebrating its 30th anniversary with a concert this spring.

“One of the great things about [Pops] is that it’s always evolving. We’re excited about how that translates to what’s next for the group,” Choe said.

The group’s spontaneous approach to the stage was reflected in their range of musical numbers and performance styles, which contributed to the lively atmosphere throughout the performance — a key part of the Pops experience.

“[Pops] is one of the most special ways to connect with people on an artistic level,” Plank said. “That’s what brings me back, and I think that’s what brings the audience back too.”