Robert Wuhl is best known as the creator and star of the television comedy series Arli$$ (1996–2002) and for his portrayal of newspaper reporter Alexander Knox in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989).
Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Robert about working with Tim Burton on Batman, his appearance in Supergirl and the legacy of Arli$$.
You may not know the name Matthew Patrick Davis yet but he is making a name for himself very quickly. He recently made headlines when his stage version of “Jack’s Lament” for “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” showed up on online. He has also been behind some very funny stage productions with the UCB Theatre including “The Shining! The Musical!” and “Jurasic Park: The Musical!”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Matthew about his work and what he has planned next.
Mike Gencarelli: Let’s talk about your stage version of “Jack’s Lament” for Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas”? Have you been contacted at all or do you have plans to expand it?
Matthew Patrick Davis: As a 6’8” physical actor who grew up loving Tim Burton, Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo, playing Jack in a live adaptation of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” has always been a dream of mine. A couple years ago, I put up a few scenes from “Nightmare” in my acting class. The class freaked out and got super excited about it, so that’s when we decided to shoot some of it, and that’s where the video comes from. If this video could accomplish anything, I guess it would be for it to be a viral thingy and get the attention of the people that own the rights and actually have the power to make it a legitimate piece of theatre: Tim Burton and Thomas Schumacher, the President of Disney Theatrical Group. It would obviously have such mass appeal, and I think could be something insanely great.
MG: Tell us how did you come up with the ideas for “The Shining! The Musical!” and “Jurassic Park: The Musical?”
MPD: I write the movie musicals with my friends Joe Chandler and Zach Paez; friends from high school who are now television writers in Los Angeles. We just pick movies that we love, and musicalize them into part parody, part tribute. “Jurassic Park” was a movie that was very formative in our youth; as 14 year olds, we would often be found doing impressions of the Raptors or the Spitter in a Denny’s parking lot somewhere. “The Shining” is another one of our favorite films — we just enjoyed the juxtaposition between the darkness of man slowly going insane and trying to murder his family, with the light-heartedness of a musical.
MG: Any plans to ever perform these again or record and release them?
MPD: We perform the movie musicals semi-regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles, so there will definitely be another performance sometime in the future.
MG: What do you have planned next to turn into a musical?
MPD: We’ve done four movie adaptations, (JP, The Shining, The NeverEnding Story, and The King of Kong) so next, we would love to do an original. So we’ll do that, and/or do one of the movies we’ve always talked about doing, i.e. T2, Top Gun, Glengarry Glen Ross, Braveheart, The Sixth Sense, etc.
MG: How did you end up as the Sprint Zombie for their commercials?
MPD: It was a pretty standard commercial audition process, just like any other. I got lucky with this one, in that they ran it so much, and it was actually a funny spot that I was really pleased with. The director said that one the reasons they hired me was because they like the way I added the “cool, cool cool cool…” in the audition, so I guess that’s something.
MG: What else do you have planned for 2014?
MPD: I’m going to be releasing an album of some of my songs that can be found on my YouTube page. I’ll be writing more songs and musicals. I’m hoping to take my one man show to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC — it’s called, “Matt Davis Gets A Girlfriend:” A One Man Musical about One Man’s quest to not DIE ALONE. Also, I’ll be doing the revival/reboot of the musical Side Show at the Kennedy Center in DC in June and July, having just done it at the La Jolla Playhouse.
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Warner Bros. Pictures is proud to announce the release of Dark Shadows on DVD and Blu-Ray October 2nd 2012; Media Mikes would like to giveaway a copy of the film on Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray™ + DVD). If you would like to win one of these great prizes, please leave us a comment below or send us an email and let us know your favorite character from the series. This giveaway will be open until October 5th at Noon, Eastern Time and is only open to residents of the United States. Only one entry per person, per household; all other entries will be considered invalid. Once the giveaway ends, Media Mikes will randomly pick out winners and alert the winners via email.
From the incredible mind of Tim Burton comes the hit film Dark Shadows, based on the classic television series! Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) has been trapped for two centuries by an evil witch (Eva Green) who just happens to be an ex lover. Barnabas now has to struggle with the ever changing 1970s and save his families business! With an all star cast that includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jonny Lee Miller and more, Dark Shadows will be sure to whet your appetite for fun.
Check out the great features below:
Directed by: Henry Selick
Starring: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Ken Page
Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG
Running time: 76 minutes
3D Blu-ray Film: 5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 5 out of 5 stars
I have been a fan of “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” since the first time I saw it in the theaters in 1993. Since then it has captivated audiences and became a major cult classic. In 2006, it was put back into theaters with new added 3D technology…I was in heaven. Since then it was also released in 2007 through 2009 in 3D during the Halloween season. So when the news was announced that Disney was releasing this film on its pristine Disney 3D Blu-Ray, I was out of my mind. I have to say, I have seen this film probably 100 times but watching it on 3D Blu-Ray was like it was the first time again. I was seeing new things that I have never seen before and hearing things I have never heard before. The picture quality was so clear and bright (despite the fact that most of the film is dark and black). The music was so fantastic in glorious 7.1 surround sound, which Disney never fails to include. I think my neighbors windows shattered for sure with the volume I watched it at. Let me just say that since I received this Blu-Ray, I have in fact watched it 5 times and it is not even September yet. I might need to go out and purchase a new one before Christmas due to wear. If you do not have a 3D TV or Blu-ray, now might be the time to start things about it because this is a release that you do not want to miss.
The extras on this disc are jam packed and are similar to the 2008 release. First there is audio commentary by producer Tim Burton, director Henry Selick and composer Danny Elfman from 2008 and it was actually recorded separately. Christopher Lee reads “Tim Burton’s Original Poem”, which inspired the film and is backed by animated concept art. “The Making of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” is a six-chapter 1993 television special that covers the development, overall production and of course the music of the film. “The Worlds of The Nightmare Before Christmas” focuses on its three production settings “Halloween Town”, “Christmas Town” and “The Real World” with concept art and character designs. There are three deleted storyboards, “Behemoth Singing,” “Oogie Boogie with Dancing Bugs” and “Alternate Identity of Oogie Boogie”. There are also four fully animated deleted scenes, “Jack’s Scientific Experiments,” “Vampire Hockey Players,” “Lock, Shock and Barrel” and “Oogie Boogie Shadow Dance.” Next up is a feature called “Storyboard to Film Comparisons” it is a short comparison, nothing special. “What’s This? Jack’s Haunted Mansion Holiday Tour” shows how The Haunted Mansion attraction gets a “Nightmare Before Christmas” redux. Fans of Time Burton will be happy to have the “Frankenweenie” and “Vincent” shorts, even though they are not in HD. Lastly there are the film’s teaser and theatrical trailers and a gallery of “Nightmare” posters. These are some amazing special features even though nothing is new for this release.
