Dance of the Vampires - Paris Production

Just saw the video posted on this website with the two French leads singing Total Eclipse of the Heart, and so far it seems promising. Let's just hope this one won't be a disaster like the Broadway version. And hey, who knows; maybe a successful Paris run will convince them to give the show another shot at an English-language production in London!


Paris Cast of New DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES Perform 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'

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Updated On: 4/30/14 at 01:22 AM

Based on the promo clip of the French version of "Total Eclipse," I don't have high hopes that they have the right guy in the lead. His voice sounds more pop than I'm used to in the role.

That said, I also understand the necessities of producing. As SparklyPinkVest said, the French theater scene is not the same as the UK or the US. People don't turn out in droves for musicals, and when one is a successful fluke, they produce a barrage of the same type of material. (If Le Bal des Vampires is somehow a success, I expect a lot of musicals with Eighties pop scores and a Gothic sensibility to sprout wings all over Paris.) The gentleman playing what the US unfortunately knows as the Crawford role is Dumè, a French pop singer/songwriter and (apparently) actor. As with stunt casting over here, this is designed to put butts in seats. It's a smart choice business-wise; artistically, that remains to be seen.

But I'm giving the guy a shot, especially with Polanski returning to the director's chair on this one rather than letting his deputy, so to speak, stage it, as in a few past European productions. And I've sat in on an audition or two in my time that was horrible until I asked them to read for another part, or I saw raw talent there that got molded with further rehearsal. So I'm cautiously optimistic.

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Updated On: 4/30/14 at 08:10 AM

Well, it's enjoyed some success in Europe, so I just hope that Paris does as well as can be expected for that market.

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Would love to see Hollande do the Orlock role.

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I thought the music and voices where nice. I would go see them. Then again, I love the big lush bombastic musicals. Notre Dame De Paris was one of my all time favorites. And we forget that one of the most beloved musicals of ALL TIME... Les Miserables was originally French. I just wish i could get my hands on a copy of the Dance of the Vampires. I have always wanted to see it. I have the music and the demo of the English version but never have seen it (except on the youtube)

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I actually really enjoy their voices even though his voice isn't as dark and rich as previous Krolocks. I saw Tanz der Vampire in Berlin and it remains one of my all-time favorite musical theatre experiences. If Paris uses the original staging and script (as nearly every production in Europe does), I don't see how it won't be a hit. But if they try to turn the show into something entirely different, as what happened on Broadway, expect to be disappointed.

I did see Notre Dame de Paris in London and feel asleep in the second act. A couple of decent songs, but everything else just looked like a horrible mess. I've seen videos of numerous other French musicals (Les Enfants du Soleil, Autant en Emporte le Vent, Tintin: Le Temple du Soleil, Le Mille et Une Vies D'Ali Baba, Romeo et Juliette). I enjoyed Al Baba and Tintin, but the others were rather dull.

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What about IRMA LA DOUCE?

"I wish Polanski would stage the show on London so we might get an English language cast recording."

This!

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I actually have a soft spot for the score of the French Romeo and Juliet (so much that I spent years tracking down the AWFUL Don Black translated UK flop version's cd). I enjoyed it a lot in Montreal, though it's obviously a very "french" style musical.

Vampires is one of those European shows that strikes me like it would sorta work in France, actually....

That said, there are signs that they are still trying, for example the description of...

...this YouTube video.

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No great loss, and they've replaced him with another French star, so all's well that ends well.

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If he needs someone to take care of him he can fly here.

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"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

It's very similar production-wise. A few further cuts were made to the score than have been in the past few years (for example, the tail end of the Count's big second act aria) because of linguistic issues in translating from German to French.

I think a UK audience would be the ideal crowd, and I'd love to explore that production possibility myself. Who knows what may happen one day?

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