THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS IN CONCERT
JA C K’S B A C K !
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas reinvented the animated musical for a whole new audience. In its 25th anniversary year, Kelly Apter speaks to composer Danny Elfman about the joys and challenges of performing the score live
rag doll Sally and Oogie Boogie man Page who we’ll see on stage – backed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (in Glasgow) and then the London Philharmonic Orchestra. But even Elfman, the man responsible for composing theme tunes for Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and The Simpsons, to name but a few, fi nds the live concert a tricky proposition.
‘It’s really hard,’ he says. ‘Technically, it’s very diffi cult, very exact. If I move in front of the conductor, I’m on my own. But I love just charging about, it’s too diffi cult for me to stay still behind the podium, so I frequently take a gamble and hope that I can stay in synch properly.’
The Nightmare Before Christmas In Concert, SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Mon 2 Dec. Read more of this interview online at list.co.uk
I t’s October 2013 and Danny Elfman is standing backstage at the Royal Albert Hall, glued to the spot. Out front, a packed house is waiting for him and Helena Bonham Carter to deliver songs from the fi lms of Tim Burton, penned by Elfman.
‘I hadn’t sung live in 18 years and I kind of froze up,’ recalls Elfman. ‘I was like “I can’t do this, I can’t go out there, the audience will hate me.”’ Sitting next to him, ready to play the part of Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Bonham Carter said a few choice words that brought Elfman to his senses. ‘It was exactly what I needed,’ he says, ‘and I walked through the door and did the show. The audience was so warm and supportive, it’s a night I’ll never forget.’
So it would seem we have Bonham Carter to thank for everything that followed. Leaving the venue that night, Elfman remembers thinking ‘yeah, I could do that again,’. And so The Nightmare Before Christmas In Concert began to take shape.
this deliciously ghoulish homage Having previously doubted the potential of to Christmas, Disney had slowly begun to understand its appeal in the years following the fi lm’s 1993 release. So when the idea was mooted of screening it with a live orchestra and Elfman, along with original cast members Catherine O’Hara and Ken Page, singing the fi lm’s ten numbers, they got right behind it.
‘The second time around, Disney – much to their credit – got it,’ explains Elfman. ‘They said now we understand, which they didn’t back then because there was really nothing for them to relate it to. But then they really got behind it, which helped lead to its second life.’ That ‘second life’ has meant eight live performances at the vast Hollywood Bowl in recent years, something Elfman is still incredulous about.
‘When they fi rst told me we were doing it at the Bowl, I said that’s insane,’ he laughs. ‘We should be doing this in a 500-seat theatre not a 17,000-seat venue. And of course, me being mister pessimist, I was expecting to go out and play to 250 people. So when the fi rst night sold out and they added a second, I was stunned. Because it was hard to know how strongly people felt about the fi lm.’ As Elfman discovered, the fi lm has become As Elfman discovered, the fi lm has become something of a cult classic over the past something of a cult classic over the past 25 years. Burton’s deliciously off-kilter 25 years. Burton’s deliciously off-kilter narrative coupled with Elfman’s catchy narrative coupled with Elfman’s catchy lyrics and melodies make for a potent mix. lyrics and melodies make for a potent mix. Although Chris Sarandon was the original Although Chris Sarandon was the original spoken voice of Jack Skellington, the spoken voice of Jack Skellington, the King of Halloween Town who decides King of Halloween Town who decides to give Christmas a makeover, it was to give Christmas a makeover, it was Elfman who sang his songs.
So it’s him, along with O’Hara (of So it’s him, along with O’Hara (of Schitt’s Creek fame) who voiced Schitt’s Creek fame) who voiced Schitt’s Creek Schitt’s Creek fame) who voiced
P H O T O :
Catherine O’Hara and Danny Elfman
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