Search - Terry Davies, Brett Morris :: Edward Scissorhands

Edward Cut and Pasted

Neil Elliot | W. Hollywood, CA | 12/15/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I love Danny Elfman's music. From the original Oingo Boingo to now, he has a voice of ecclectic brilliance. Matthew Bourne loved the movie...and he loved the music....and he's used a certain amount of it for his brilliant new ballet, BUT....yes, I heard that Danny Elfman was not able, because of time problems, to create a full score for the ballet, which is a shame. Yes, Terry Davies has written great music for Bourne before ("Play Without Words"...fabulous jazz riffs for an incredible ballet, available on CD), but in this case, there isn't the kind of melding that would create one entire blanket of music....it's almost patchwork quiltish....and, believe it or not, there are snatches of music that mirror (if not blatantly steal) bits of Trevor Jones' themes from "The Dark Crystal"....why couldn't Elfman and Bourne cobble together from other brilliant scores by Elfman to create an oevre that is true to the original. On a whole, the score works best with the visual ballet, but if you are really a fan of Elfman and Edward S, listen to the original sound track from the film, also available here at Amazon. In fact, get every Danny Elfman disc available and luxuriate in his imagination, skill and wit....... if you've seen the ballet, get the London recording and relive another brilliant creation by Matthew Bourne. And will this ballet ever come to DVD? Check out "Swan Lake" and "The Car Man"...."Edward Scissorhands", the London Stage Premiere Recording is definitely worth having in your library"