By Lauren Jennings |Sports Editor|
‘Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas and all through the bowl, fans were cheering for Tim Burton’s story of ole.
For three nights only spanning from Oct. 28 – 30, the Hollywood Bowl presented The Nightmare Before Christmas (NBC) in concert, live to film.
Voice actors Danny Elfman, Catherine O’Hara, Ken Page and Paul Reubens reprised their singing roles as Jack Skellington/Barrel, Sally/Shock, Oogie Boogie and Lock.
Before the orchestra took the stage, fans were given the opportunity to trick-or-treat, take photos with cutouts and enter a costume contest.
The contest featured 30 fans dressed to the nines with some fans dressed as characters from the movie and others dressed as characters from other Burton films.
Judges picked the top three which featured a female rendition of Jack Skellington, a man dressed as the Pumpkin King from one of the opening NBC scenes and a four-year-old Beetlejuice.
Audience members voted vaudeville style, cheering as loudly as they could for their choice.
The young Beetlejuice won, taking home a prize from Hot Topic.
The real fun began as the stage became foggy and the lighting went from bright to an eerie green and purple.
The members of the orchestra and choir took their seats and tuned their instruments before plunging into the score of the film.
A group of five appeared next on the stage to sing the opening song, “This is Halloween.” They were joined by a choir sitting at the back of the stage.
Randy Crenshaw, Angie Jaree, Greg Proops, Fletcher Sheridan and Baraka May Williams made up the five featured singers.
Crenshaw voiced multiple characters in the film including Mr. Hyde and a vampire.
Proops has starred in multiple shows and movies, including playing three roles in NBC. Sheridan is known for being a vocalist on many movie soundtracks.
Jaree, Sheridan and Williams are known for being vocalists on many movie soundtracks.
Elfman, the took the stage to a large round of applause. He sang “Jack’s Lament” with the orchestra backing him and the film on a screen above him.
He was clad in a pinstripe suit, similar to that of his character’s outfit in the film.
Once Elfman had concluded his ballad, he left the stage to prepare for his next scene. The movie’s audio picked up from where the orchestra had finished and the event continued.
Elfman returned to the stage a few minutes later as his character Skellington discovered Christmas Land in “What’s This?”
“Our favorite part is when Jack first discovers Christmas Land,” said Tim Burton fanatics, Jami Raye and Drew Dorsey.
Elfman, Reubens and O’Hara took the stage next to sing “Kidnap the Sandy Claws” as the Boogie Boys: Lock, Shock and Barrel.
Reubens opted for a black suit, a bright orange shirt and a colorful, light up spider necklace.
O’Hara chose a simple black number that she paired with a black and gold witch hat.
“I loved that Catherine O’Hara was there,” said Raye.
With the conclusion of the song, an intermission was held to allow the singers a moment to catch their breath and the spectators a chance to stretch their legs.
Before the show officially resumed, violinist Sandy Cameron performed with the aid of the orchestra, a saxophone player and a bass player.
Her costume had notes of Skellington and Sally with lots of stripes and shreds of random fabric pieces.
Shortly after Cameron’s performance, Page took the stage to reprise his role as the film’s villain, Oogie Boogie.
Page appeared in a white suit with a green shirt, reminiscent of his characters burlap outside and his bug filled insides.
O’Hara came back to sing the heart wrenching “Sally’s Song.”
She swapped her witch outfit for a dress similar to Elfman’s Skellington suit and added some stitches to her neck a la Sally.
At the conclusion of the film, Elfman and O’Hara made one last appearance for a duet.
They slowly made their way across the stage, eventually taking each other’s hands and sang to each other.
Raye and Dorsey dressed up as characters from the Tim Burton classic “Beetlejuice.”
“We wanted to keep up with the Tim Burton theme without being Jack and Sally,” said Raye.
Although it’s by no means new, the Nightmare Before Christmas will always have a place in the hearts of Disney lovers, Tim Burton fans and Halloween enthusiasts everywhere.
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