The voice that sang Jack Skellington in 1993 belongs to the man who wrote the music, and for two nights in November he does it live with the Las Vegas Philharmonic behind him. Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, performed by the person who decided how they would sound.
Take Me to Tickets
An orchestra settles, the light goes cold blue, and the first bars of a song about a skeleton who finds Christmas come up out of the pit. Then a man walks to the microphone and sings it, and he is the person who sang it the first time, in 1993, back when nobody involved knew the film would outlive everybody's childhood. Danny Elfman does exactly that at Resorts World Theatre across two nights in November.
The music, played by the man who wrote it
Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton draws on a partnership that has run more than thirty-five years, and the program moves right across it: the brass of Batman, which won Elfman a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition in 1990, the music-box ache of Edward Scissorhands, the carnival lurch of Beetlejuice, and the score most of the room came for, The Nightmare Before Christmas. The Las Vegas Philharmonic plays it live. Imagery from the films runs alongside.
The part you came for
Elfman sang Jack Skellington's songs in the film, and he sings them here, standing in front of an orchestra instead of alone in a booth. That single fact is the whole difference between a tribute and the source. Ninety minutes is a short concert by Las Vegas standards and exactly the right length for this one, because a catalog this strong needs no filler to fill the time.
Where: Resorts World Theatre, Resorts World, north Strip. When: two nights, Friday November 13 and Saturday November 14. Run time: 90 minutes. With: the Las Vegas Philharmonic.
Check Danny Elfman tickets and dates
Before you pick a seat
One practical note that matters more here than at a straight concert. The show runs film imagery alongside the orchestra, so a clean sightline to the screen is worth paying attention to, and the theatre's seat map sits in the booking section below. The other thing is the shape of the evening: ninety minutes and no interval leaves the rest of a north Strip night completely intact.
The moment
There is something in this show that exists nowhere else. An orchestra drops to almost nothing, one voice carries a melody two generations know by heart, and it is the voice off the film. Mid-November is a quiet stretch up at that end of the Boulevard, which makes either of these nights easier to build an evening around than most weekends this autumn.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Danny Elfman Tim Burton concert worth it if you don't normally like classical music?
It tends to work well for exactly that audience, because you already know the melodies even if you have never sat through an orchestral concert. The material is dramatic rather than austere, the projected visuals give you something to watch throughout, and the running order moves quickly between films. People who arrive expecting to be politely bored usually are not.
How long is Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton?
The performance runs ninety minutes. That makes it one of the shorter ticketed evenings on the Strip, which is worth knowing when you are slotting it around dinner or a late flight. Current session details are in the booking section below.
Is the Danny Elfman concert a Halloween show or a Christmas show?
Neither, strictly, and that is part of why the November dates make sense. The program spans the whole Burton catalogue rather than one season, and The Nightmare Before Christmas has always belonged to both holidays at once. If you want a concert that carries the mood of late autumn without committing to either occasion, this is squarely it.
Can you take children to the Danny Elfman concert?
There is no stated minimum age, so children are admitted. Worth knowing before you book: the score is played at full orchestral volume, and the projected imagery comes from films that are gently macabre by design. Children who enjoy the Burton films themselves will be comfortable, and younger ones who find them unsettling on screen will find them no gentler here.
Where is Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas?
Resorts World Theatre sits inside Resorts World at 3000 South Las Vegas Boulevard, at the north end of the Strip across from the convention centre district. It is a purpose-built theatre rather than a repurposed ballroom, and it is walkable from the north-end resorts. From the centre or south Strip, a rideshare is the simpler option.
By Daniel S.
— Published by
Las Vegas Day And Night, your guide to the best entertainment in Vegas.
