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Coming soon . . .
Jan. 27th, 2006 08:02 amSeveral weeks ago, RTL and I were watching TV and trying to avoid commercials when I saw a commercial for Lestat at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco. For anyone who doesn't know who Lestat is, he is the vampire of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. If you haven't read them, I think you should. And if you read them and didn't like them, don't tell me because I am a big Anne Rice fan. When I saw the commercial, I looked at RTL and said "I want to go! I *need* to go." She gave me the "yeah, it's probably really cheesy" statement. And I, doubtful of her skepticism, said "fine, I'll look it up later and go without you." Luckily I forgot about it because she had already bought tickets to surprise me with. That was so nice.
The showing in San Francisco is the pre-Broadway World Premiere. It will be on Broadway beginning March 11, 2006.
Here is what the website has to say - LESTAT, one of Anne Rice's most celebrated literary characters, is being brought to the stage by the illustrious team of Sir Elton John (music) and Bernie Taupin (lyrics) in their first-ever collaboration on a Broadway production. LESTAT is the lush and rich story of a man who escapes the tyranny of his oppressive family only to have his life taken from him. Thrust into the seductive and sensual world of an immortal vampire, Lestat tries to reconcile his innate sense of good with his primal need to exist. Based on characters and incidents from Ms. Rice's best-selling novels, "Interview with the Vampire" and "The Vampire Lestat," the musical’s book is by Linda Woolverton and Robert Jess Roth will direct.
Here is what I have to say -
I have to admit that it was kind of cool to see a show before it hits Broadway. However, I wasn't blown away.
Although, Anne Rice gave her approval for this adaptation, a very loose adaptation is what it is. Kind of a Cliff Notes of the Cliff Notes. The basic exposition from the first four books is there. If you've never read the books, it is a good start. However, for those of you who have read the books, it's a little frustrating when there are liberties taken with the timeline and a few characters who should be there are missing. I know the "based on characters and incidents" wording was all over the place, I still wanted the connection of how I know the story goes.
Given that Elton John's accomplishments include The Lion King and Aida, I had high expectations for the music. Which in truth, the music was wonderful. It was the lyrics that needed help. It never fails that there is at least one song from a show that I enjoy so much that I want to sing it for days afterwards. Not so with this one. The songs are all wordy exposition. Which, I guess is technically what opera is, just not as catchy in this rendition. OK, I'm being too harsh. The lyrics tell the story. They tell the story beautifully, but that's all they do. There is nothing left for you to take home. Who doesn't break out singing Circle of Life when they watch The Lion King? I do everytime and that is what I really wanted from the music.
The cast was AWESOME! Lestat played by Hugh Panaro was how I've pictured Lestat. Great voice too. The best voices in the cast were hands down Gabrielle (Carolee Carmello) and Claudia (Allison Fishcher). The first song that Gabrielle busted out was Nothing Here. That was spectacular, but when she sang Make Me As You Are - all I have to say is Wow! I thought she was going to be my favorite in the show. Then came Claudia singing I Want More. Great voice and that was probably my favorite song. I'm not busting it out because I can't remember the words other than "I want more".
I really liked the visual effects that were used when Lestat sucked someone's blood. (Sorry, I can't think of a better way to put it.) There were huge screens across the stage where the person's 'life' flashed before your eyes. Very neat. This was used for other parts of the show where imagery of emotions were needed. Interesting technique. The downside was that how the images were shown were not consistent. Like watching Peter Weir films, you pretty much know that it is a Peter Weir film from some of the images and direction used. In this, there were moments where the animation completely fit the image of Lestat. Then there were Harry Potter moments. Later, after reading though the rest of the who's who, I discovered that the visual concept designer worked as a conceptual designer for the Harry Potter films. They also used the screens to keep the audience on the right page so to speak. At the beginning of each scene, the chapter and first paragraph of Lestat's writing is on the screen, while Lestat reads/says the first paragraph. Which was nice to have a marker on how far into the play you were, but then I started thinking that it felt a little Jack Handey-ish. I probably would have gotten that out of my thoughts if RTL hadn't leaned over and whispered "this reminds me of Jack Handey."
I think that covers the show in it's entirety. I am glad that I was able to see it, but I'm not going to want to see it again. I'm not sure that I would even really recommend it. If you are an Anne Rice fan and simply must go, go and enjoy it for what it is. If you know nothing about the Vampire Chronicles, you will either enjoy this and want to read the books (because the play just isn't enough) or you'll be wishing for 3 hours of your life back. If anybody else saw this in SF, tell me what you thought or if you go to NY to see it, tell me what you think. I want to know if you have the same sense of disappointment that I had. It could have been good, it just didn't quite make it.
The showing in San Francisco is the pre-Broadway World Premiere. It will be on Broadway beginning March 11, 2006.
Here is what the website has to say - LESTAT, one of Anne Rice's most celebrated literary characters, is being brought to the stage by the illustrious team of Sir Elton John (music) and Bernie Taupin (lyrics) in their first-ever collaboration on a Broadway production. LESTAT is the lush and rich story of a man who escapes the tyranny of his oppressive family only to have his life taken from him. Thrust into the seductive and sensual world of an immortal vampire, Lestat tries to reconcile his innate sense of good with his primal need to exist. Based on characters and incidents from Ms. Rice's best-selling novels, "Interview with the Vampire" and "The Vampire Lestat," the musical’s book is by Linda Woolverton and Robert Jess Roth will direct.
Here is what I have to say -
I have to admit that it was kind of cool to see a show before it hits Broadway. However, I wasn't blown away.
Although, Anne Rice gave her approval for this adaptation, a very loose adaptation is what it is. Kind of a Cliff Notes of the Cliff Notes. The basic exposition from the first four books is there. If you've never read the books, it is a good start. However, for those of you who have read the books, it's a little frustrating when there are liberties taken with the timeline and a few characters who should be there are missing. I know the "based on characters and incidents" wording was all over the place, I still wanted the connection of how I know the story goes.
Given that Elton John's accomplishments include The Lion King and Aida, I had high expectations for the music. Which in truth, the music was wonderful. It was the lyrics that needed help. It never fails that there is at least one song from a show that I enjoy so much that I want to sing it for days afterwards. Not so with this one. The songs are all wordy exposition. Which, I guess is technically what opera is, just not as catchy in this rendition. OK, I'm being too harsh. The lyrics tell the story. They tell the story beautifully, but that's all they do. There is nothing left for you to take home. Who doesn't break out singing Circle of Life when they watch The Lion King? I do everytime and that is what I really wanted from the music.
The cast was AWESOME! Lestat played by Hugh Panaro was how I've pictured Lestat. Great voice too. The best voices in the cast were hands down Gabrielle (Carolee Carmello) and Claudia (Allison Fishcher). The first song that Gabrielle busted out was Nothing Here. That was spectacular, but when she sang Make Me As You Are - all I have to say is Wow! I thought she was going to be my favorite in the show. Then came Claudia singing I Want More. Great voice and that was probably my favorite song. I'm not busting it out because I can't remember the words other than "I want more".
I really liked the visual effects that were used when Lestat sucked someone's blood. (Sorry, I can't think of a better way to put it.) There were huge screens across the stage where the person's 'life' flashed before your eyes. Very neat. This was used for other parts of the show where imagery of emotions were needed. Interesting technique. The downside was that how the images were shown were not consistent. Like watching Peter Weir films, you pretty much know that it is a Peter Weir film from some of the images and direction used. In this, there were moments where the animation completely fit the image of Lestat. Then there were Harry Potter moments. Later, after reading though the rest of the who's who, I discovered that the visual concept designer worked as a conceptual designer for the Harry Potter films. They also used the screens to keep the audience on the right page so to speak. At the beginning of each scene, the chapter and first paragraph of Lestat's writing is on the screen, while Lestat reads/says the first paragraph. Which was nice to have a marker on how far into the play you were, but then I started thinking that it felt a little Jack Handey-ish. I probably would have gotten that out of my thoughts if RTL hadn't leaned over and whispered "this reminds me of Jack Handey."
I think that covers the show in it's entirety. I am glad that I was able to see it, but I'm not going to want to see it again. I'm not sure that I would even really recommend it. If you are an Anne Rice fan and simply must go, go and enjoy it for what it is. If you know nothing about the Vampire Chronicles, you will either enjoy this and want to read the books (because the play just isn't enough) or you'll be wishing for 3 hours of your life back. If anybody else saw this in SF, tell me what you thought or if you go to NY to see it, tell me what you think. I want to know if you have the same sense of disappointment that I had. It could have been good, it just didn't quite make it.
