Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Jeff Plate on 'The Ghost of Christmas Eve' show coming to Pittsburgh

After more than 25 years of touring, it’s just not feasible for Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s stage production to get any larger.

”We’ve reached the point of we can’t get much bigger, considering the schedule that we run when we do these tours,” drummer Jeff Plate said. “Eight shows in five days every week, Friday, Saturday, Sunday being double show days. We need to break down in Pittsburgh at night and then be in Philadelphia for a show the next day at 3 p.m. So there comes a limit with how much we can actually bring in to the room.”

But those challenges present an opportunity to push the bar in other ways for TSO, which is known for its blend of pyrotechnics, lasers and theatrical Christmas rock.

“Technology is always moving forward. There’s always something different with the video content, the quality of the video, the lighting schemes, etc. (Founder) Paul (O’Neill) loved this stuff. And years ago, when Paul was with us, these effects companies and these production companies, they loved it because Paul wanted everything, so we were basically guinea pigs for a lot of new effects and new looks,” Plate said. “… Every year we’d get hit up by these companies to try something out: ‘Hey, we’ve got something new that might work well with your show. I’m gonna send some people out and we’ll take a look at it.’ So it’s pretty cool to be available to these companies and to be on their list, so to speak, as these tours can really showcase their product.”

The latest iteration of the show hits Pittsburgh for a pair of shows (2:30 and 7:30 p.m.) on Dec. 20 at PPG Paints Arena. This year’s tour features a new production of 1999’s “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve” as well as a second set of hits and a 25th anniversary celebration of “Beethoven’s Last Night.”

Spawned from the progressive metal band Savatage, TSO has donated more than $20 million to charity since its inception. They’re also bringing back the signing line, where fans can get an item autographed by the band after the evening show.

In a pre-tour call from his New York home, Plate spoke with TribLive about “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve,” “Beethoven’s Last Night,” a Savatage revival and more. Find a transcript of the conversation, edited for clarity and length, below.

This show has a new production of “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve,” so what should we expect out of it?

Every year we go on tour, we change the show, regardless of the story that we are presenting. And for a number of years, we’ve presented the same story several times in a row, but every year, the show itself changes. Musically, we always change the intro of the show. The back half of the show is where we do some big production numbers, and there’s always some changes in that, too. For the most part, we try to bring something new to the stage every year, something that we’ve never done. So that’s usually for the back half of the show. Now, for this year, “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve” story that we are presenting, and we’ve done this one several times before, but we always bring some new look, a different look to the stage, some new productions, some new effects.

This was a standard that Paul O’Neill set years ago, when we first started touring, that he wanted every year to be different but also improved. I think that we’ve done that pretty successfully over the last 20-plus years. That’s why this keeps growing every year. It’s just amazing what the production team, the management team, comes up with every year. It is quite a daunting task to come up with something new for a show or a tour that happens on a yearly basis. We’ve gotta be very clever at times to try to change the look of the show and add a few things to it. But every year, this production staff comes up with something really, really cool, and I’m always very impressed with them.

With “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve,” what are your favorite memories from that film and album?

The film was done in 1999, and this was just a very interesting time for all of us involved in TSO. We had already recorded “Christmas Eve and Other Stories,” the very first TSO album, which was a huge hit. “The Christmas Attic” had also been recorded, so we had another hit with that. Paul was obviously onto something musically with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve,” the TV special, was another step forward into trying to promote the band and expose the band to more people. Along with that, there were already plans of doing shows that year. So 1999 was a pretty exciting year because we did this TV special, which has become a tradition for millions of people around the country every year – it’s running on a number of different stations and channels – but also planning for the very first Trans-Siberian Orchestra tour, which, as I mentioned, we had something going musically. There was no doubt about that. But how was this going to translate to the stage? How was Paul’s vision going to be received by the masses and by the looks of things, I guess they liked it. So it was a pretty cool time.

This year also marks the 25th anniversary of “Beethoven’s Last Night” so what stands out to you about the making of that album?

We recorded that in 2000 so this was right around that same time period where there was a lot of exciting stuff going on. So the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was born out of the band Savatage. We kind of hit a crossroad with Savatage and the popularity of the band vs. the Trans-Siberian Orchestra really becoming a legitimate entity. So there was time being split and time considered for this and that. And “Beethoven” was something that Paul had always wanted to do, this non-seasonal Trans-Siberian Orchestra record. So we had a great time in the studio with this. There were a lot of exciting things going on at the time, but it was also a time of transition. That record itself was really cool. Myself personally, I love the music. I love the story and the lyrics that Paul had written around all this. I think it’s fantastic. So we had a great time in the studio recording this one, which also opened up that door to Trans-Siberian Orchestra is not just a holiday project. It’s got much more to it than this. And Paul always had other things going on outside of this holiday bubble that we were in, so to speak. And “Beethoven’s Last Night” was just an example of that, and I’m really proud of that record.

The signing line is also coming back this year, so did you miss getting to see the fans up close and personal like that?

Yeah, the signing line is something that really helped us connect with the fan base, just something as simple as people coming through and seeing you in person, face to face, shaking your hand and saying thank you and vice versa. It just kind of started this relationship with our audience and people just love doing it. I think for all of us, seeing the families, seeing the variety of people that come through the autograph line, and how much this music and these stories touch people. It really becomes much more significant when you get to see these people in person up close. So obviously covid came along. It knocked all of that off track for a number of years, and now we all feel like we’re in a pretty good place to bring it back again. So we’re looking forward to it.

How would you describe the mix of fans that come to see these shows? It seems like there’s a contingent of metalheads, there’s families and everything in between.

Everything in between, exactly. (laughs) From the very first show that we played, as I mentioned, we came from a hard rock/metal background. And the very first TSO show that we played in Philadelphia, I remember myself and Johnny Middleton standing on the side of the stage looking at the audience and there were families. There were little kids and there were grandparents and there were people in tuxedos and women in beautiful night dresses who probably were expecting to see an orchestra. Then mixed in with all that was the black T-shirts, the Savatage shirts, the metal, it was unreal. We looked at each other, we just shook our heads and we’re like, oh my god, we’re doomed. (laughs) We went out there and played that show and not a person left, standing ovation at the end. There was an older couple in the front row, they were dressed to the nines. And I truly believe that they were there to see an orchestra. But when we started the show, the dry ice, the fog is rolling off the stage right into their lap. And I was like, oh my god, these poor people. They absolutely loved it. The dude gave me a high five at the end of the show. And I was like, wow, I can’t believe what just happened.

But that was our audience at every show, and it continues to be that. Paul’s vision was to create something for everybody, all generations, all musical genres. He wanted to incorporate story and emotion and then add that production in the live show. He just wanted to create something that was like nothing else but also was an emotional roller coaster. One instance, you’re in a place of peace. And the next thing you know, you’re all riled up. He loved to really do that with the music and the production, and at the same time, say something very important, which is we’re all here together to help each other. There’s tough times in life, there’s wonderful times in life. Everybody just needs to do the best they can do and things will work out fine. I think the story, the meaning of the show, that to me is kind of the glue that holds this whole thing together. That’s why so many different types of people come to see us, because he really is speaking to everybody. And once families realized, wow, this is safe for my kids, and my teenage metalhead kid’s gonna love this, and my parents and my grandparents are gonna love this. Within four or five years, this thing snowballed from theaters, 1,500-, 2,000-seat theaters, into selling out arenas twice a day. It’s just unbelievable what happened.

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Do you think TSO is something that’s going to keep going long after we’re gone?

I would think so. This was Paul’s vision: create something that was timeless. We are in some interesting company as far as the Christmas music is concerned. We’ve got several songs that are in the top 10 most downloaded and streamed and listened to songs ever. So this music is really, we use the word “tradition” carefully. But TSO has become tradition for millions of people across this country and around the world for that matter. So I see no reason why this will ever end, to be honest.

How did it feel this spring and summer to get to play some shows with Savatage again?

It was unreal. And as I mentioned, Trans-Siberian Orchestra was basically born out of Savatage. We’ve all been working together for all of these years. And Savatage had not done a proper tour since 2002. So the fan base never gave up on us and just through some conversation with some people mixing, promoters are calling and agents are calling. And all of a sudden it was like, guys, there is some real serious interest in the band. And we need to take advantage of this. We’re all healthy, we’re all playing well, we’re all still together. Let’s make use of this opportunity and get out there and do this. Now the catch in all of this was Jon Oliva. Because Jon is not healthy enough to go out on the road. So I give Jon a lot of credit for saying, you know what, I can’t be there on the stage. I want you guys to go and do this. We’ve been with him for 30-plus years. So he totally trusts us with his music and I’m very thankful for that.

But Jon was involved in everything we did preparing for these shows, from picking the songs to vocal harmonies to keyboard parts to segues to the sequence of songs in the set. Jon was involved in everything. But I’ll tell you what, I haven’t been so excited in a long time. It was a little nerve-wracking at first. But we were totally prepared. We put a lot of rehearsal into it. The band sounded fantastic. We brought in two other keyboard players who could sing really well. This allowed us to really cover a lot more of the orchestration within this music, and a lot more of some of the big vocal moments. We’re never going to replace Jon. He’s too much of a personality and a presence on the stage. But with these other two guys, we were able to really highlight some of the other stuff that Savatage does, and we really did it well. I’m really proud of everybody involved in this, but more so the fans. It was unreal. When we played in Germany, it was sold out. It was loud. It was so exciting. It was a great night. We can’t wait to get back there.