From the moment I first entered Halloweentown a decade ago, I was captivated by \u201cThe Nightmare Before Christmas.\u201d On Oct. 24, I had the opportunity to watch a screening of Tim Burton\u2019s Halloween classic at the Jacobs Music Center. That same childhood excitement rushed back \u2014 this time with conductor Scott Terrell leading the San Diego Symphony in a live performance of Danny Elfman\u2019s iconic soundtrack and score alongside the showing.<\/p>\n
As I walked into the venue, the air thrummed with stirring voices and the symphony\u2019s warm-up. Taking my seat, the hum of conversation and soft music reverberating around the concert hall built my anticipation for the upcoming performance with every passing second. A few moments later, Terrell walked onto the stage, and the symphony gathered, ready to perform.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nightmare Before Christmas\u201d explores the tantalizing but destructive search for power. When we first set foot into Halloweentown \u2014 ruled by the charismatic yet fickle Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington (singing voice by Danny Elfman, speaking voice by Chris Sarandon) \u2014 the music rapidly scales up and down, conveying a tenseness that alludes to the impending conflict.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The score plays a crucial role in \u201cThe Nightmare Before Christmas,\u201d mapping together character arcs and plot points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In \u201cThis is Halloween,\u201d the eerie instrumentation and vocals of the symphony\u2019s performance perfectly captured the haunting mood of Halloween, just before Jack is transported to the cozy, cheerful Christmastown. Terrell\u2019s use of softer melodic tones in \u201cSally\u2019s Song\u201d highlights Elfman\u2019s lyricism: \u201cNo, I think not, it\u2019s never to become \/ For I am not the one.\u201d Sally (Catheirne O\u2019Hara) longs for Jack but deep down knows her love is unrequited, and the slower tempo showcases this reflective tone and invites the audience to consider the depth of Sally\u2019s vulnerability.<\/p>\n
One of the reasons why I enjoy the soundtrack so much is not just how the music emphasizes dramatic moments, but also the comedic ones. In every watch, I always laugh when Jack mistakenly refers to Santa Claus as \u201cSandy Claws,\u201d but I hadn\u2019t noticed how the tempo shifts and contrasting rhythms create a musical punchline until I heard the symphony\u2019s live version. Parallel to the humorous storyline, Terrell\u2019s comedic timing and effect added to the movie\u2019s timeless charm \u2014 with live instrumentation, these comedic moments shone under a visceral light.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Declaring \u201cChristmas will be ours,\u201d Jack flies to the real world with his skeleton reindeer to realize his plan to be Santa Claus. Impersonating Santa, he scares children with \u201cgifts\u201d from Halloweentown. The symphony\u2019s slow and ascending tempos emulated a sonic roller coaster of disarray, matching the children\u2019s horrified reactions toward Jack\u2019s presents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During \u201cPoor Jack,\u201d Jack reflects on his actions after his masquerade as Santa: \u201cI never intended all this madness, never \/ And nobody really understood, how could they?\u201d only to turn on a dime and declare, \u201cCause I\u2019ve got some new ideas \/ That will really make them scream!\u201d This sonic and thematic switch encapsulates Jack\u2019s capricious personality \u2014 though the musical technique of the movie and the live performance is equivalent, the live version made for an unforgettably visceral viewing experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Throughout the performance, the live symphony amplified each character\u2019s mannerisms and voices through intentional pauses and tone shifts \u2014 Jack\u2019s cryptic smile and varying vocal styles, for example, made me appreciate how the score interacts with the characters.<\/p>\n
This relationship of sight and sound speaks to the intentionality behind every musical choice: The slower beats illustrate the monotony of Halloween, whereas the rising tempos thereafter demonstrate Jack\u2019s insidious obsession with control as he plans to hijack Christmas.<\/p>\n
After a cascade of chaos, Jack and Sally are reunited at last in Halloweentown. The iconic final shot of the movie has stuck with me: As soft snow falls in Halloweentown under the moonlight, Sally and Jack embrace each other. In a full circle moment, they share one last song together: a rendition of \u201cSally\u2019s Song,\u201d wherein they sing: \u201cAs anyone can see \/ We\u2019re simply meant to be.\u201d The soft tempo, melody, and vocals shape this scene in its entirety, with the live symphony accentuating the romantic tone through gentle orchestration.<\/p>\n
The familiar image of these scenes, combined with the live soundtrack, culminated in a riveting listening and watching experience. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, almost as if I were experiencing the movie for the first time again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nightmare Before Christmas\u201d is a tried and true classic. From captivating set designs to memorable ballads, it has everything you could ever want in a movie, and it\u2019s perfect for this spooky time of year. The San Diego Symphony\u2019s performance portrayed the characters in a new light, particularly Jack\u2019s pursuit of power and his relationship with Sally. This performance showed me how the soundtrack of \u201cThe Nightmare Before Christmas\u201d is a character in and of itself; I found myself nodding along to the music, entranced by its immersive nature.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I can still hear the end credits in my mind \u2014 the last moments of an engaging live cinematic experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From the moment I first entered Halloweentown a decade ago, I was captivated by \u201cThe Nightmare Before Christmas.\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[25936,74,76,75,25937,10348],"class_list":["post-37221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-jacobs-music-center","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-symphony","tag-the-nightmare-before-christmas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}