This is another one I'd thought about doing for a long time; it was actually my first idea for the lower camp show for 1999. I'd always been fond of the exceptional stop-motion-animated film and, like The Lion King (at the time, at least), I had never heard of it being attempted on stage. Andrea didn't much care for it, though, and the opportunity didn't really present itself again until 2001. With West Side Story moved up to first, Nightmare would have to move up to second, making it the first lower-camp show we produced before Visiting Day.

As with all animated films, it would obviously be quite difficult to translate to a live stage, especially with a minimum of dialogue, but unlike Aladdin (which was briefly considered after the summer of 1998), there were enough songs to sustain the narrative without me having to write new lyrics to the existing music. What made that even easier was the fact that the movie is based on a children's book, meaning the story is essentially very simple. The costumes and makeup left open the possibility of equal parts challenge and creativity.

The most obvious hurdle that would have to be overcome in our production was the different locations in the story; we would need a Halloween Town and a Christmas Town, and since the stage in the old theatre didn't have the capacity to change sets and backdrops in mid-show (Howard and company's work on The Lion King notwithstanding), we'd have to find another way to create both. I decided to create Christmas Town on the stage itself, and Halloween Town in front of the curtain, extending the stage about twenty feet into the audience on the floor of the theatre. I figured this would work since the cast would consist of many of the freshmen and sophomores who normally sat there.

What I really should have done for this show, and I kind of knew it at the time but I just didn't get around to it, was clean out some of those Halloween and Christmas specialty stores that pop up in malls during those respective holiday seasons and slash all of their prices the day after. I found myself with essentially no Halloween or Christmas decorations to speak of, and since it was July these things were likely to be very difficult to find. Fortunately, Lori's mom in Kansas had boxes of Christmas lights and garlands that she didn't use anymore, which she generously shipped to us and became very useful on this and future shows. I was able to find some Halloween stuff at an arts supply store in Poughkeepsie, but not much, and some of it was very expensive (the foam pumpkins, for example).

Creating Christmas Town was fairly easy; we left some of the brick facing from West Side Story intact, painting a bay window with a Christmas tree inside on the front of the stage-right enclosure; we also painted some snow on the upper edge of the platform and painted the railing with red and white candy stripes. The upper portion of the back wall became a Christmas-card backdrop of a starry night sky and snow-covered hills, with an enormous Christmas tree in the center (while I would have preferred a three-dimensional tree, again at this time and place it just wasn't possible to obtain one). I also cut some boughs from one of the spruce trees on campus and spread them across the lip of the platform, stringing the lights among them. It really was a beautiful set.

Halloween Town was harder. We created a jagged black picket-fence using some scrap wood and a couple of benches; this was placed about twenty feet in front of the stage to mark its edge and allow us to use that floor space. We covered the knotty-pine facing of the proscenium with black draperies and black-painted roll paper; I would not and have not ever allowed anyone to paint over that wood. I painted an image of the movie's trademark spiral hill (similar to the plaque above) on the wall adjacent to the left-hand side of the stage; I thought it looked good there, even though only 2/3 of the audience would be able to see it. We also had two foam jack-o-lanterns, a couple of wooden headstones that had been used in the inter boys' "Thriller" skit, and a big grey-and-black sign reading "HALLOWEEN TOWN" hung over the stage-left doorway. It wasn't as spectacular as it could have been, or as impressive to look at as Christmas Town, but it also wasn't too busy or overwrought; it would do.

I think what worried me the most about this show was finding a young actor who could handle the role of Jack Skellington, which in addition to being an exceptionally difficult role to sing, has to essentially carry the whole show on his back, since he sings almost every song himself. The part was sung in the film by composer Danny Elfman, and as great as the songs are, they came across as an unseemly combination of speaking and singing where Elfman seemed to effortlessly and randomly shift from one to the other, making it hard to pick up the melody just by listening to it. Was there a freshman or sophomore boy in camp who could do it?

I had even gone so far ask to ask Brandon Dinetz, an inter, who had had a small part in West Side Story but who I knew could handle a central role, to be ready just in case I couldn't find a freshman or sophomore who could do it, but any concerns I might have had were allayed the moment I heard Michael Warren's audition. I knew Michael could sing from his audition and performance as Schroeder in 2000's You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, a part which in retrospect did not really do justice to his abilities. Michael seemed to have exceptional tonality and vocal range, and not just for a ten-year-old; I knew right away that he could sing it; the question was, could he learn it? Could he learn seven songs (seven very difficult songs at that) and carry the whole show on his back?

The answer, happily, was a resounding yes. Michael showed an uncanny ability to pick up not only the lyrics and melodies, but the aforementioned peculiarities of the songs as well. In most cases, he only needed to hear it once or twice before he got it. He was essentially able to do everything we needed him to do, and everything we asked him to do. It was a remarkable performance, one that I think has not been equaled since; for a boy that young to carry an entire show almost by himself, and do it with such talent and confidence, was simply amazing.

Which is not to say the rest of the cast wasn't amazing as well. We had a great cast on this show and everyone felt great enthusiasm for the material; it was so much fun to do. The sophomore boys in particular were very enthusiastic about this show; most of the division auditioned and maybe half of the group ended up in the cast. Brian Leigh, a sophomore, was cast in his first Pontiac stage role as Oogie Boogie, while Matt Fox took the role of Mayor. Freshman counselor Evan Strasser brought his Santa suit to camp and played Santy Claus, therefore all three Strassers performed on stage in 2001.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much in the original material for girls; the main female role, Sally, sings only two songs in the movie, including the brief duet with Jack at the end. Danielle Draizin was far and away the best singer among the girls, with an unbelievably powerful voice, and I really wish there could have been more for her to sing here; I also wish she'd come back to camp, but alas, this was to be her last show. The three Trick-or-Treaters, Lock, Shock and Barrel, were all played by girls as well (Jaimie Rubin, Laura Zukerman and Jamie Ginberg.)

I remember going into The Nightmare Before Christmas with great confidence; we were ready to do this show. I thought going in that it might turn out to be the best lower-camp show yet, on par with The Lion King. In retrospect, I think I was right.
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