“The Nightmare Before Christmas in Concert" at the Adler Theatre -- October 28.
Saturday, October 28, 7:30 p.m.
Adler Theatre, 136 East Third Street, Davenport IA
With the film following the earnest but misguided adventures of Jack Skellington, Halloween Town's beloved Pumpkin King, as he attempts to kidnap Santa Claus and take over Christmas, Tim Burton's Oscar-nominated classic will enjoy renewed stage life in The Nightmare Before Christmas in Concert, the October 28 Adler Theatre event that finds the Quad City Symphony Orchestra performing every note of Grammy winner Danny Elfman's score live alongside a full screening of the 1993 movie.
The Nightmare Before Christmas originated from a poem written by Burton in 1982 while he was working as an animator at Walt Disney Productions. With the success of Vincent that same year, Burton began to consider developing The Nightmare Before Christmas as either a short film or a half-hour television special and in 1990, he finally made a development deal with Walt Disney Studios. Production on the stop-motion-animated project started in July of 1991 in San Francisco, and Disney initially released the completed film through Touchstone Pictures because the studio believed the film would be "too dark and scary for kids." The movie was met with critical success upon release, earning praise for its animation as well as its characters, songs, and Elfman's score. While initially a modest box office hit, it has since garnered a large cult following. and the movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, a first for an animated film. The Nightmare Before Christmas also enjoyed a nationwide re-release this October to coincide with its 30th anniversary.
The concert's director Ernesto Estigarribia is the Assistant Conductor and Youth Ensembles Music Director of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. Hailed for his “expert direction” by Fanfare magazine, the Paraguayan Estigarribia previously served as Music Director of Buffalo Community Orchestra and Southeastern Minnesota Youth Orchestras, and having a passion for working with young musicians, he is also member of the conducting staff of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies. Estigarribia has conducted the Mankato Symphony, Rochester Symphony, Oskaloosa Music Festival Orchestra, Argentina's Orquesta del Centro del Conocimiento, and his home country's Orquesta Sinfónica del Congreso Nacional, where he was the first Paraguayan guest conductor to appear in the International series.
The Nightmare Before Christmas in Concert will be presented by the Quad City Symphony Orchestra at Davenport's Adler Theatre on October 28, admission to the 7:30 p.m. event is $24-76, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)322-0931 and visiting QCSO.org.
