‘Barbie’ to become a touring concert experience this summer

The Oscar-nominated film, with live accompaniment by an all-women orchestra, comes to Shoreline Amphitheatre in July.

Ryan Gosling, left, and Margot Robbie star in “Barbie.”

Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Barbie has her own wardrobe, her own car and her own line of skiing apparel. Now she has her own symphony orchestra as well — and fittingly, it’s an all-female ensemble.

“Barbie the Movie: In Concert,” a screening of the Oscar-nominated, top-grossing film with live orchestral accompaniment, has announced a 37-city tour for July and August, including a July 25 stop at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View.

The score for the film will be performed by the Sinfonietta, a network of orchestras with divisions in New York and Los Angeles made up of female musicians, the majority of whom are women of color. For this tour, the ensemble has been rebranded as the Barbie Land Sinfonietta.

Orchestrator and conductor Macy Schmidt will lead the Barbie Land Sinfonietta, an orchestra of female musicians, the majority of whom are women of color, in “Barbie the Movie: In Concert.”

Photo: Rebecca J. Michelson

Macy Schmidt, the Egyptian American orchestrator, conductor and producer who founded the New York-based flagship orchestra known as the Broadway Sinfonietta, is scheduled to conduct.

Sacramento filmmaker Greta Gerwig’s live-action feature was part of a 2023 cultural phenomenon known as “Barbenheimer,” marking the simultaneous opening on July 21 of both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” director Christopher Nolan’s biopic of the American physicist and UC Berkeley professor who oversaw the creation of the first atomic bomb. 

Among the eight Oscar nominations garnered by “Barbie,” three are for music, including one for best original song for “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell.

Ryan Gosling plays Ken in “Barbie.”

Photo: Warner Bros.

“I’m Just Ken,” the song performed in the film by actor Ryan Gosling, was also nominated, and won best song at the 2024 Critics’ Choice Awards in January.

Gosling was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance. But in a controversial decision seen by Gosling and many observers as a snub, neither star Margot Robbie nor director Gerwig received a nomination.

Tickets are scheduled to go on sale Friday, March 8, with a presale Tuesday, March 5 for Citi cardholders via www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket prices have not been announced.

Reach Joshua Kosman: jkosman@sfchronicle.com

  • Joshua Kosman
    Joshua Kosman

    Joshua Kosman has covered classical music for the San Francisco Chronicle since 1988, reviewing and reporting on the wealth of orchestral, operatic, chamber and contemporary music throughout the Bay Area.

    He is the co-constructor of the weekly cryptic crossword puzzle "Out of Left Field," and has repeatedly placed among the top 20 contestants at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.

    He can be reached at jkosman@sfchronicle.com.