I have a feeling that Lestat will bomb...

Profound thoughts.

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I, for one, am looking extremely forward to it :) I saw Hugh Panaro as the Phantom, and I'm sure he will be an excellent Lestat. Elton John doesn't write bad stuff, so the music should be great, too.
As for whether or not it will actually be successful, I think it's too early to tell. I'm sure I'll like it. But, then again, I like Dracula The Musical, too...

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lol- that was hilarious Lizzie!

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So what's going into the Palace next?

Hey, Lizzie, have you heard Billy Elliot?

No, but I've seen Lestat -- twice.

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How could you bear it? Unless you liked it.

BTW, Broadwaydude, The Lion King has been running forever because it's based on the most popular Disney movie ever made, is Disney, and has Julie Taymour's innovative direction. Billy Elliot I have not seen but apparently the choreography and stage craft are the best part (as well as the talented kids) and Sir Elton's music the weakest part (same goes for The Lion King. I like the songs he DIDN'T write). The greatest mystery of my life is why people like Aida, but I'm afraid I'll never be able to solve it (although you really can't knock the power and appeal of chicks who can sing really loud).

Elton John is a very big name, and he has written some great music, but it doesn't mean he's doing much of that for the stage : Not going to lie, I think he's lazy. Do you think Sondheim craps great scores? No, he puts in tons of work on it. I don't know if Sir Elton thinks he's THAT amazing, but maybe he should put some more imagination into his scores. I haven't seen Lestat yet so I don't want to jump the gun, but what I've heard from it I'm afraid I did not like much!

Now for my part I do not think Lestat will bomb. I think it will somehow make it to Broadway and people will inexplicably love it. It'll have a respectable run for a commercial venture, and then disappear into the world of regional theater, and in a year people will be listing "The Crimson Kiss" and "I Want More" as favorite songs and gushing over Elton's lyrical music on this website and people like me will write snarky posts in reply :P

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god negative before you have even seen teh show, thats pretty bad.

I am excited to see it .... and its way tooo early to tell.

Note my comment about loud female singers. As for a good love story, Aida isn't one, but it's a schmaltzy obvious love story with nothing new to say, so people love it.

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Sadly, so do I.

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AIDA was the VERY first musical Cast Recording I ever HAD....and was my very first time I ever really experience Elton John outside of "The Lion King"...I never listened to his music before then. I think he does a good job in my opinion.

How can you even dare compare him to Sondhiem....HELL NO..you just can't do that. There both in a league of there own. They both have GREAT music on there own terms. But to compare them is way not cool cause I personally respect them both.

I like Sir Elton's style of Musical heatre....its different...and I like different. Sondhiem...is classic..and I like him as well.

I think LESTAT will do well, I have never had the chance to see a Vampire musical and I really think this one would work if people would quit basing it on other vampire musicals.

DOTV..should still be around but thats probably just me on that one.

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DOTV.....is my guilty plessure and I never got to see it.

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I saw it on the 10th, and plan to go back at the end of the out of town run to see what, if anything, the team changed. It was an ok effort at the point I saw it, and it was very obvious it was a show still in progress.

I sat through the show very comfortably; while it wasn't the best thing I'd seen, it was FAR from the worst I've ever seen. I felt no need to run from the theater screaming and trying to find gasoline to burn the theater to the ground. My biggest complaint with the show was the lack of sets and a cohesive story. As for the sets, I found it distracting. Instead of concentrating my attention on the actor singing at the time, I found myself imagining what I thought should be there. That's not something a show wants it's audience to do.

I hope the team tightens the story line and brings a little more set design to the show before it hits New York. The Projections were not enough to make up for lack of actual set pieces. There was the occasional chaise lounge, mountain piece and curtain, but that was about it.

I'd never read the Vampire books, and didn't have a problem following the story being presented. However, there were just too many story lines. It made it difficult for the audience (IMO) to "root" for anyone in the show. I was also unclear as to the "problem" Lestat had. Was it finding companionship? Or was it getting to Marius and learning from him? Was it getting over his arrogance? Or was I supposed to be hoping that he and Armand would get along?

As for the music? The entire first act was devoid of anything that sounded like Elton John's theaterical music. It was a mix mash of what I describe as "dialogue singing", something I don't enjoy. Talk or sing. Make up your mind. It wasn't until the opening of ACT II that I heard anything that sounded remotely like Elton John's influence. I think the song was called "Welcome to the New World". The only song I enjoyed in the show is the same one other's have mentioned..."Crimson Kiss". Carolee delivered that song beautifully. She was the hit of the show, actually.

I don't know about how it will do in New York, and I definitely won't wish it an early demise. After seeing shows like "Titanic" and "Blood Brothers" make it Broadway, I'm not gonna guess about Lestat. I wish it the best of luck and hope it can overcome it's weak spots. I'm happy we in SF were able to watch the show evolve. It's not something we get to see often here, and I hope to see more pre-Broadway shows here every year.

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