Last night, at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater, director Tim Burton unveiled scenes from his upcoming film adaptation of Sweeney Todd, starring Johnny Depp, and as the cheering audience could attest, this Sweeney can sing.

As part of the Film Society at Lincoln Center's special event, "An Evening with Tim Burton: Cinema's Demon Barber," the filmmaker was interviewed by the Society's program director, Richard Peña, who had collected a number of unforgettable scenes from some of Burton's most iconic films. Arranged into three categories, the clips showcased the "Blockbusters" (Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Batman, Batman Returns, Beetlejuice, Mars Attacks!, and Planet of the Apes), "Animation" (the two early black-and-white shorts Vincent and Frankenweenie, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Corpse Bride), and, finally, "Collaborations with Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

This last category gave a glimpse into Depp's inner workings ("There's no vanity there," said Burton) and segued naturally into talk of Sweeney. Though Corpse Bride, which includes several musical numbers, preceded Sweeney Todd, Depp didn't sing in the earlier film. "We did talk about his singing in Corpse Bride," the director revealed, "but he was terrified of it. He's musical for sure. It's funny that he was scared of that, but then he wanted to make a big musical."

Big indeed. "When I first read the script," Burton told the crowd, "there was less music in it. We ended up putting more in. It's a very musical piece." And not just any music. A score by Stephen Sondheim is known to provide challenges to even the most consummate musicians. And while the director's own career has given him insight into the musical world—"I think being an animator, music is always important to what you do; animation is rhythmic."—his actors weren't known for their singing. But Sondheim "was very supportive," according to Burton, and, for the director, working with the untested actors "gave it an extra dimension that wouldn't be right for the stage but was right for the screen."

And so it was revealed when Peña concluded the proceedings, and Burton gave the audience what they were hoping for. "This is the first time that we're showing a few scenes," he said. "We're still working on it." It was hard to tell what work, if any, needed to be done to these clips—"My Friends," "Epiphany," and "Johanna."

You can hear those songs and all the music on the Nonesuch release of the Sweeney Todd soundtrack December 18. The film opens in theaters across the country this December. For more information, visit sweeneytoddmovie.com.