ALONG COMES MARY

I love Halloween, & have had some pretty awesome adventures on the frightfully fun holiday. Whether it’s seeing The Nightmare Before Christmas in 4D at The El Capitan with my friend, Ariel, or meeting my boyfriend for the first time at The West Hollywood Street Party, it’s always a night completely for fun, dressing up, eating & drinking (& usually no pressure to see family or in-laws!). So, you could say Mike was able to pull out all the stops for me this past year; he gifted me with tickets to see Danny Elfman, Mr. Jack Skellington himself, performing all those famous Nightmare Before Christmas songs, right down to This is Halloween with cast members. Hell yeah!

For the 2nd year in a row (& easily a new LA tradition), LA Live with The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra has dreamed up a beautiful, dark, humorous, musical film tribute to Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton. From Sleepy Hollow to Mars Attacks, & even the slightly less memorable Burton efforts, like Planet of the Apes, these Elfman scores are performed by The Orchestra, with the grand finale being Elfman gracing the stage to sing all his Jack songs.

Surprisingly, I did not grow up a fan, nor even had seen, The Nightmare Before Christmas! My parents didn’t take me to see it, thinking it looked ‘too adult’. It wasn’t til my later years, when I rode the Jack & Sally themed Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland, that it sparked my interest that this looked like a great piece of work. I rented the flick On Demand, & shortly thereafter became obsessed with the songs & story of Jack feeling dis-enfranchised as The Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, stumbling into Christmas Town, & subsequently deciding to become the master of this brightly colored snowing wonderland. I, of course, related to Sally Ragdoll, hopelessly in-love with the seemingly unattainable Jack. I think all us girls have felt like her, at one time or another.

I was, though, a Tim Burton fan! Oddly enough, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure was a staple at my house as a wee one, & I have always adored the score to the movie. Following a gorgeous segment of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory music set to clips of Burton’s films through the years, the lights then went down, the bike whistle went off & in we went into those rousing numbers from Burton’s first feature-length!

With the big screens rotating between scenes from films, & close-ups of the performers, we enjoyed over 2 hours of listening to Elfman’s pieces, from Big Fish to the act 1 closing number of extensive work from Batman & Batman Returns, it was amazing to witness such pop culture films presented for the works of art they truly are, & that some might overlook in Burton’s films if they’re not one of his devoted fans. These orchestral pieces got the attention they deserve. Another ultra highlight was Edward Scissorhands, & an out of this world performance from violin soloist, Sandy Cameron. Cameron incorporates every inch of her body to play her violin, creating a sensual, slinky, breathtaking performance that left the audience starving for more. Thank goodness she returned to the stage amongst the claps & roars!

Of course, the biggest moment of the night was when The Orchestra began Nightmare, with Jack on the screen, & out came Mr. Elfman himself. Not only is Danny a musical genius, with an uncanny ear able to write everything from the Oscar nominated score of Good Will Hunting, to Dead Man’s Party for his extremely popular 80s rock band, Oingo Boingo, but he also has quite the acting ability; as he launched into Jack’s Lament, I was hardly aware that I was watching him on the stage; he had become Jack Skellington. His Cheshire Cat-esque grin as he (as Jack) says “Christmas Town???!! Hmmmm!” was downright eerie.

An interesting tid bit he also shared with us, was that many of the musicians apart of The Orchestra, have indeed been on the actual Burton film’s soundtrack; when a symphony is needed for the score, The Hollywood Orchestra is indeed called in, & some of the members date back to Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Who knew!?

While we will have to wait & keep our fingers crossed for an encore Elfman/Burton Halloween extravaganza, I did find you this video, courtesy of YouTube (not mine), showcasing some of this splendid night. Enjoy! xo