"The Nightmare Before Christmas" playing in Brooklyn
BROOKLYN, New York (WABC) -- It's become a beloved holiday classic so it's hard to believe "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was not a hit when first released almost a quarter of a century ago, but it's enjoyed a long, second life in the years since.
The movie is now center stage again in Brooklyn. The animated film is playing on the big screen at the Barclays Center for two nights and a member of the original cast will sing along with a choir and full orchestra.
Danny Elfman is performing his own music live, in sync with the original film which is, he told me, "incredibly difficult to the point that we thought it might be impossible when we first started to do it."
He plays 'Jack Skellington,' who is 'The Pumpkin King' of 'Halloween Town,' but he is 'entranced by Christmas.
The story was conceived by Tim Burton, who enlisted Elfman to write the songs. This came at a good time for Danny who told me he, "was searching for something else, just like Jack, so when Jack came to me, I started writing it from my perspective."
At the time, he was most famous as the lead singer of the rock group Oingo Boingo, and he wanted out because, "I was never comfortable just going out on-stage in front of an audience. I always had stage fright."
So, after singing on the soundtrack of "Nightmare," Elfman stepped away from the spotlight and became a respected composer for movies like "Justice League."
It was a job more suited to his nature because he explained he likes "that part of film composing that's perpetually in the shadows."
Now, the former rock star is conquering his stage fright to reunite with an old friend -- his alter ego "Jack" -- who has stood the test of time to inspire another generation of kids, and Danny says, "that feels the best to me."
Not bad for a movie that was considered too scary for kids when it first came out. The live presentation is at the Barclays Center through December 7th.
The movie is from Disney, owned by the same parent company as ABC 7.
