Background: Phillip Pessar via Flickr | Foreground images: Universal PicturesDerivative work: Logovectorizer and MGM via Wikicommons
Fontainebleau Miami Beach is an iconic Miami institution in many ways. Even if you have never stayed in the legendary 5-star oceanfront resort, the landmark has appeared on the big screen in Goldfinger, Scarface and The Bodyguard, while its famously theatrical interiors have their own stories to tell.
But this Halloween, the big-screen drama is coming to life in a different way. Surrounded in the atmospheric glow of candlelight, some of the season’s most recognisable classics will come to life, performed by a string quartet. It’s one hell of a spooky night with one of Miami Beach’s most famous backdrops setting the scene.
Candlelight: Halloween Classics
A Miami hotel designed for a grand entrance
The original “Stairway to Nowhere” at Fontainebleau Miami Beach | Sourced from Wikicommons
When the hotel opened in 1954, architect Morris Lapidus had impressive theatrical plans. The eleven-storey resort was designed around sweeping curves and dramatic spaces, and its original ballroom could accommodate around 3,000 guests.
Perhaps the most famous example is the “Stairway to Nowhere”, which leads guests upwards to a small cloakroom before bringing them back down into the lobby. It was designed to give guests the chance to make a grand entrance and show off their evening attire, very much in keeping with Fontainebleau Miami Beach’s reputation for spectacle.
From James Bond to Sinatra, Fontainebleau has a Hollywood history
Fontainebleau Miami Beach’s guestbook reads like a roll call of entertainment history. Frank Sinatra became a regular, while Elvis Presley, Jerry Lewis, Paul Anka and Sammy Davis Jr. were among the performers who appeared at the hotel.
The hotel’s connection to Hollywood is just as impressive. Fontainebleau Miami Beach appeared prominently in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, and went on to feature in films including Tony Rome, Scarface, The Bodyguard and Analyze This. According to the hotel, it has appeared in more than 20 films and television shows over the years.
So while Halloween might bring ghosts and monsters to mind, Fontainebleau Miami Beach already has plenty of stories from its decades in the spotlight. This October, the setting gets a new soundtrack.
A legendary venue for a concert this Halloween
And this is where Fontainebleau Miami Beach’s flair for drama comes into play. Candlelight: Halloween Classics will bring the Listeso String Quartet into the resort, with thousands of candles surrounding a programme packed with music that has been making audiences uneasy for decades.
It’s all about sinister tricks in the music’s composition. Saint-Saëns’ “Danse Macabre” uses the historically “diabolical” tritone to announce Death, while the uneven 7/8 rhythm of the Tubular Bells passage from The Exorcist never quite settles. Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet builds tension through insistent strings and dissonance, while the repeating figure in the Stranger Things theme gradually takes on a darker quality.
Pexels | Konstantin Mishchenko
Alongside these pieces, the programme includes John Carpenter’s Halloween theme, Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho Prelude, the Beetlejuice theme, “Night on Bald Mountain” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King.”
And thankfully, Halloween isn’t all ominous strings. “Thriller,” “Ghostbusters,” The Addams Family theme and a medley from The Nightmare Before Christmas bring some more playful energy to the evening.
There’s also another chance to catch Candlelight’s Halloween programme at Scottish Rite Temple MIA, giving Miami audiences two iconic settings to choose from for a night of spooky music and classic Halloween anthems.
For a Halloween celebration away from the usual party chaos, this concert offers an evening of music inside a venue with years of stories behind it.
Candlelight: Halloween Classics
Candlelight: A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics
Fontainebleau may not have a resident ghost, but its history is hardly short on drama. From James Bond’s deadly encounter in Goldfinger to decades of late-night celebrity revelry, the hotel has plenty of stories lurking in its past. Time to add yours to it this Halloween.