If music is love in search of a word, a symphony is Cupid angrily wrestling with the New York Times crossword. Increase your sonic vocabulary with today's Groupon: for $15, you get one balcony-seating ticket to Macon Symphony's performance of “Macon Symphony Goes to the Movies” at Mercer University's Grand Opera House on April 2 (a $38.50 value).

Playing whimsical performances that have been praised by AOL News and the Lake Oconee Breeze, the Macon Symphony Orchestra charms eardrums with contemporary gems and golden oldies of both classical and popular music. With the help of his bow-wielding compatriots, conductor John Simons will shepherd concert-goers through the symphonic frontiers of Hollywood, lassoing tunes from golden-age classics such as Gone With the Wind and modern-day hits such as Titanic.

The historic Grand Opera House frames each performance with memories of minstrel shows, vaudeville acts, and burlesque bloopers. An ideal choice for a movie-themed show, the theater hosted a concert conducted by silent-film celebrity Charlie Chaplin in 1918 and screened movies in the ‘30s and '40s, including Macon's first and only world premiere of a major motion picture, prefaced by the world’s first cat-aerobics infomercial.

Reviews

The Lake Oconee Breeze featured the Macon Symphony Orchestra:

• The concert should be energetic and moving, giving audiences of all ages a special nostalgia for famous show tunes. By becoming a little more versed in music, as well as enjoying melodies from the silver screen, audiences can learn a little bit more about the marriage of movies and music. Sarah Beth Ariemma, Lake Oconee Breeze