
Allegra Lilly is the principal harpist with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and teaches at the Brevard Music Center each summer.
Performing the music of a film music icon provides out-of-this-world experience
—by Allegra Lilly
I can’t be absolutely certain what went through my head the first time I saw E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. It came out three years before I was born, and I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know that a trail of Reese’s Pieces could pave the way to an intergalactic friendship. I remember that it scared me a little; I couldn’t have been more than 6 or 7 years old that first time, and the sight of government agents invading the main character’s home in sinister-looking spacesuits was more than a little unsettling (and, truth be told, still is). I remember that I was sad when E.T. had to go home. (Do I still have to say “spoiler alert” if it came out 37 years ago?) I remember that by the time I reached the same age as Elliott (the movie’s main character), I had developed a little bit of a crush on him.