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» NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Opening night Friday, December 12th at 7:30PM, Sat. Dec 13th 7:30, Sunday Matinee, Dec. 14th 3:00PM, Friday, Dec. 19th 7:30PM, Closing night - Saturday, Dec. 20th
at 7:30PM $12 advance, $15 at the door, group prices are available. BSP (Backstage Productions) 323 Wall Street, Uptown Kingston 845.338.8700.
Enter a world filled with magic & wonder - and all things that go bump in the night. It has to be The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Based on the classic book and film written by TIM BURTON and DANNY ELFMAN, Nightmare is the children’s morality tale turned classic through the
ingenious orchestration of Burton’s unusual characters in a place called Halloween Town.
Tim Burton knows a thing or two about loveable freaks — his movies have been full of them. From Batman to Edward Scissorhands and James (of Giant Peach fame),
his films are populated with folks trying to live in a world that can neither understand nor accept their quirks.
Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, fits nicely into Burton's stable of misunderstood protagonists. Jack resides in Halloween Town, where it is the
sole purpose of every citizen to deliver Halloween every year. The stringy Skellington is in charge of the festivities and has always wowed
the town with spooky thrills and chills. But lately, he's grown tired, lost his appetite for the same old scares, which he makes clear in
the musical lament: "I would give it all up if I only could." Jack knows it is his duty to create terror and mayhem every October, again and
again, and again. He doesn't have a choice in the matter.
Jack's restlessness initiates a chain of events that leads to his discovery of a whole new world - Christmas Town, every bit as amazing as Oz.
In a musical monologue that showcased Danny Elfman's talents, Jack's eyes are bigger than their sockets as he takes in the wonders of
Christmas - wonders he has never seen. The results are predictably disastrous, as the horrors of Halloween are mixed unevenly with the joys of
Christmas. The two holidays - while dazzling in their own way - are two very different experiences. "Shock and Awe" are simply not consistent with Christmas.
But Jack can't see it, so overjoyed is he at the prospect of doing something completely different.
Every character in the story is weird but lovable - that is, except for Oogie Boogie and her henchmen. Oogie Boogie is Halloween Town's
opposite of Jack - a jealous troll who takes the frightshow business too far. This paves the way for Jack to take over Christmastown.
Sally, the lonely rag doll with Frankensteinian stitchings tries to tell him, this is not a good idea. Sally secretly loves Jack but her shyness holds
her back - even in the face of her undeniable spunk. The Evil Scientist keeps Sally locked up in his tower, but she regularly finds ways to escape,
sometimes by hurling herself to the ground, and then stitching by hand whatever comes off in the crash. Against Sally’s advice,
Jack enlists three mischievous trick-or-treaters -Lock, Shock, and Barrel to help him kidnap Santa Claus.
And then there's the Mayor, a portly toylike figure whose head spins around whenever she gets flustered, revealing two faces: the first is all joy
and happy pronouncements; the second is a gloomy pessimist - secretly doubtful of her public pronouncements. There are lots of creepy ghouls who
are hilarious, including a vampire who shuns even the moonlight as if worried about the ozone hole, The Clown With the Tear Away Face,
Zero, the Witches, the Lumplings, The Mummy, The Werewolf and The Devil.
Jack eventually realizes his mistake but has to contend with the evil Oogie Boogie before he can make things right and restore the
Christmas holiday. Like other tales of existential despair, the answer lies in finding what's right inside us. Other subplots, such as Sally's urge
to be free (and The Evil Scientist's futile attempts to contain her) further reflect the show's theme of being true to yourself. In an early scene, when Jack
tries to "pitch" this new project of taking over Christmas, his contemporaries can't wrap their minds around his vision. Every new fact he gives
them about Santa Claus is met with a stinging series of questions- each designed to ferret out whether this new project fits their cookie-cutter
minds. It's amusing to watch Skellington give up and say, "Might as well give them what they want," as he turns Santa Clause into "Santee Claws."
From beginning to end, The Nightmare Before Christmas is an operatic delight, with big emotions and big payoffs in humor, insights
and message. It is fueled by new music and lyrics by Sean Matthew Whiteford and an unforgettable Grammy nominated soundtrack featuring
ten ghoulishly delightful songs including “Corpse Bride” and “Big Fish” by Oscar nominee Danny Elfman (once the brains behind Oingo Boingo,
the new wave band of the eighties with the best horn section imaginable) who is now known for his 100 credits. The cast will excite and thrill you,
the choreography is energetic, the songs are contagious and there's the reinvention of innocence through darkness - a story memorable for all time.
A wonderful musical/ fantasy/ semi-scary comedy.....