Popular Post publicist 4,643 Posted December 13, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted December 13, 2014 As mentioned in the Desplat concert thread, i went to this on Friday and will happily report that it was a great experience that gave meaning to the words 'putting on a great show', not usually synonymous with film music concerts which often enough make you happy just by barely getting though complicated pieces or having a selection that goes beyond 2-minute main title cues.The venue, Royal Albert Hall, took some 7,000 people and seemed crowded....instead of stuffed shirts the occasion drew more suspicious types of patrons like heavily made-up matrons with risqué necklines that rather seemed to have wandered out of a grotesque Burton circus setting or the expected pale emo crowd. Conducted by veteran John Mauceri (pretty entertaining fellow with great conducting chops), we had to wait for 90 minutes before Elfman made his entrance...though what he delivered was a hoot and then some.The program was enhanced by a giant screen (see below) that presented a most-inspired combination of drawings (also see Elfman Box set) and pointed use of movie clips. While i'm not he biggest fan of PEE WEE and BEETLEJUICE, people loved the oompah circus stuff and it kind of breezed by. Other scores like SLEEPY HOLLOW and BIG FISH were represented by suites that sold them a bit too short - the boy soprano in SLEEPY HOLLOW for instance seemed to interrupt this piece at the most inopportune moments, namely when it threatened to finally unleash its gothic splendor.The BATMAN/BATMAN RETURNS suite and MARS ATTACKS were easily the high points of the first parts of the evening, one for the spirited theremin performance, the other for its great presentation of these hugely influential scores that never seemed to slacken (it was comprised of the main title, Descent into Mystery, the waltz and parts of the Batwing attack, with the penguin theme and Catwoman theme following suit to close with the finale of BATMAN I) and were performed with gusto.The program became a riproaring enterprise only in the second act, though. After some hugely expendable pieces (DARK SHADOWS, FRANKENWEENIE), a wonderful suite form EDWARD SCISSORHANDS finally brought out the one brilliant combination of music and visuals and had people on their feet - who could withstand Elfman's sentimental waltz watching Johnny Depp cutting those ice figures with Winona watching him? just when you thought the evening had hit high point, we launched into a 20-minute experience of NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, that finally lured Elfman to the stage reprising his role as Jack Skeleton joined by a macabre chorus of co-singers and a sexy fiddling mistress made up like Elvira (or, in recent times, Helena Bonham-Carter) belting out all big numbers from the movie in the most delightful Broadway-cum-Oingo Boingo style (What's This?/Jack's Lament/ Jack's Obsession/Oogie Boogie Song). This had the crowd at their feet which of course brought several encores followed by a flat-out brilliant boy soprano led interpretation of the theme from ALICE IN WONDERLAND (wretched movie, brilliant theme).Fittingly at midnight Elfman made his final bow, thanking London for dragging him onstage again after 19 years...or so he told. So it was a most-spirited evening and i will go out on a limb to say that the level of perfection was the highest i ever saw at a concert devoted to movie music. That some of the music didn't come through strongly is due to the stylistic limitations set by Burton's films but it really is just a minor niggle. KK, Gruesome Son of a Bitch, ChrisAfonso and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricard 2,245 Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Sounds like an awesome experience, thanks for the review Here are a couple of clips of Elfman's performace during the Night Before Christmas suite: ChrisAfonso 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,364 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Wow..... sounds like a really awesome night!London sure gets a lot of cool events! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,715 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Thank you for a great report pub! Sounds like quite a night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Wow..... sounds like a really awesome night!London sure gets a lot of cool events!Thats why it needs JW one more time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,715 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Wow..... sounds like a really awesome night!London sure gets a lot of cool events!Thats why it needs JW one more time!If only it would happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 It would mean the greatest JWfan gathering ever! They would flock from all corners of the Earth!It would be memorable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,715 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 That much is certain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 With an army like that, imagine the power I would wield! I could restore order to the Boards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melange 446 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Thats why it needs JW one more time!We've got top men working on this retrieval objective, right now.............top.....men! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 That looks seriously naff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisAfonso 186 Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Great writeup, Publicist! I have very little to add Overall it was an awesome concert, I really enjoyed the mostly long suites for each score. The one exception being Corpse Bride - the selection of cues was very sparse, I guess owing to the fact that much of the score is songs, and the "Victor's piano" solo was quite unconvincingly played - it sounded quite forced at times and the tempo was all over the place. The extended solo violin cadenza in Edward Scissorhands, on the other hand (no pun intended), was very engaging - very virtuosic and sparkling with energy while incorporating some free variations on the score's themes, even if the acrobatics of the soloist very a bit much for me sometimes *g*.Since we had choir seats, we didn't really see much of the screen, but that was secondary for me, anyway.Hilarious moment during the last encore: Mauceri donning a Santa hat and speaking Santa's lines to Elfman in the Oogie Boogie song from Nightmare.Did anyone get an opportunity for autographs? I forgot to pack anything to sign before the trip, so I didn't even try to see if Elfman appeared anywhere after the concert... (also we were quite tired after walking through London the whole day)Some impressions:The Albert Hall was extremely packed:Applause for the solo boy soprano after the Alice in Wonderland encore:Elfman getting on stage for the final encore (Oogie Boogie's song): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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