Omaha Symphony Will Bring Tim Burton's BATMAN Film To The Holland

It's the film that cemented Tim Burton's status as a director of graphic novel proportions, the movie that turned Danny Elfman from Oingo Boingo rocker to dramatic film composer, and made a serious superhero out of Michael Keaton. It's 1989's Batman, presented by the Omaha Symphony live in concert, Saturday, February 15, 7:30 p.m., at the Holland Performing Arts Center.

Led by guest conductor Thiago Tiberio, the Omaha Symphony will perform Elfman's Grammy Award-winning score live-to-picture with the film on a screen above the orchestra.

Based on the DC Comics character, Batman stars Michael Keaton as Gotham's caped crusader and Jack Nicholson as his nemesis, The Joker. In Gotham City, crime boss Carl Grissom (Jack Palance) runs the town, but has been losing to a dark vigilante - Batman. After Grissom has a falling out with his right-hand man, Jack Napier (Nicholson), Napier apparently falls to his death in a vat of chemicals, but soon reappears as The Joker. After killing Grissom, The Joker begins his reign of terror against the city and one Bat in particular. The film also stars Kim Basinger as reporter Vicki Vale, and Billy Dee Williams as City Attorney Harvey Dent.

Director Tim Burton hired Danny Elfman to compose the musical score. Although Elfman had collaborated with Burton on Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice, he had never worked on a production of Batman's budget and scale. His music was successful, however, and his Batman theme in particular has become iconic, winning the Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition in 1990. "The Batman Theme" has also been used in numerous other Batman media, including Batman: The Animated Series, the Lego Batman films, 2017's Justice League, and the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover episodes as part of the Arrowverse on the CW network.

In addition to Elfman's score, the film also features several songs written and recorded by Prince, such as "Batdance" and "Scandalous." Producers of the film initially wanted Elfman and Prince to collaborate on the score, but Burton and Elfman refused. Batman was one of the first films to spawn two soundtracks, one featuring Elfman's score, and the second featuring Prince's songs. Both were commercially successful.

Guest conductor Thiago Tiberio is a young and energetic new talent with a budding international career. A multi-faceted musician, his classical, operatic, and film music career includes work with orchestras in Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Australia, Japan, Brazil, the United States and more. He is a specialist in musical synchronization to film, having conducted orchestras in scoring sessions during most of his career. He produced the adaptation of the film Love Actually to its live-to-picture concert setting as arranger, orchestrator, and music director.

Tickets to Batman (1989) in Concert start at $19 and can be purchased by visiting omahasymphony.org or calling Ticket Omaha at 402.661.8587. Student Rush tickets are available one hour prior to the concert start time, for $10 each with a valid Student ID (up to two tickets per ID).

Movies Series Presenting Sponsor is University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Artists, dates, time, prices and availability are subject to change.

The Omaha Symphony is a non-profit organization that presents more than 100 live orchestral performances from September through June. In addition to MasterWorks, Symphony Pops, Symphony Rocks, Movies, Symphony Joslyn, and Family series concerts, the Omaha Symphony's nationally recognized education and community engagement programs touch the lives of more than 40,000 people each year. For tickets or information regarding the Omaha Symphony, call 402-345-0606 or visit omahasymphony.org.

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