LESTAT -- Dare I Ask?- Page 2

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 7:03pm

It seems to me that Elton must be "over" this show because he doesn't seem to wanna put much effort into the show. I mean if you're going to start something you might as well finish it.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 7:07pm

Yeah. I was with 7 other friends that night, and we all felt the same way. One of us even said, "I get the impression that Elton phoned that one in and cashed the check."

[Becky2]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 7:08pm

I was just excited about being able to Hugh Panaro perform again. And for some reason the bad reviews are just increasing my curiosity.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 7:10pm

Just be prepared for a pigeon-toed Lestat who walks like he's carrying a load in his pants.
Updated On: 1/25/06 at 07:10 PM

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 7:11pm

So..... just in case this show doesn't make it to Broadway, would anyone be willing to mail a poster to me? I need it to hang next to my Dracula, Dance of The Vampire, and Carrie posters. If so, PM me. Thanks!

[justme2]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 7:36pm

Becky2,

I was just excited to see Carolee Carmello, live. She did not disappoint, though her role is kinda "Fantine like"...meaning she disappears from the stage after a great number in Act one, then we have to wait ages (literally! the shows takes place over ages of time) to see her again!

What a fantastic voice that woman has.

[BobbyBubby2]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 8:13pm

Well being new to San Francisco I decided to pop on down to the Curran Theater and purchase a ticket to Lestat. Having only seen Interview with The Vampire, I was really interested in seeing how they were going to make this show into a musical. I knew before going in that some of the leads that I knew of were going to be great. I saw Hugh Panaro in the ill-fated tour of Martin Guerre and that he was fantastic and he needed a show to show off his wonderful talent. I also was excited to see Carolee Carmello, having never seen her perform live I knew that any chance to see her was going to be a good one. Now for my initial observations about the show:

The sets were very very sparse. I did not like the projections as they seemed to interrupt the story instead of helping the story along. More specifically every time Lestats' narrative was being typed across the scrim *SPOILER ALERT* Right after Claudia tries to kill Lestat and the house is set on fire, the scrim comes in and interrupts the action. It felt like a total anti-climactic scene and it ended up feeling stupid. What could have been thrilling ended up being idiotic. I listened to some of the audience members around me groan when that happened. The first narrative was fine...after that they were just annoying. But as I was saying the sets needed to be something different. They were just sorta blah and really non-effective.

The music and the book. I think these were probably the weakest part of the show. First off, I'm a fan of Aida it's not the worst thing ever but some of the music is great. After saying that, I feel that this was probably some of the worst music I've heard (except for 2 songs or so) it needs to be completely redone. Like Elton just stopped trying for some reason and like some people stated before (HE PHONED IT IN). All of Act One felt like it was contained between 4 notes. AND most of it sounded like sung recitative. Nothing memorable. The best songs of the show are probably Gabrielle's Crimson Kiss, Claudia's I Want More and Welcome To The New World. Other than that it just felt bland and boring. Hugh Panaro is a wonderful tenor but Elton didn't write anything that would or could show his voice off. Every time he sang I felt that Lestat could have chosen the higher note or something. It just lacked anything interesting to bring the audience in. Sail Me Away in the 2nd Act was boring. It could have been the chance to have Lestat's one chance to shine, but once again it felt like it was limited to 4 notes sung over and over again. Something needs to be seriously redone about the book. Are we supposed to really even care about these characters? There was a lack of compassion anywhere in the show, even in Claudia's I'll Never Have That Chance, it just felt like it was a time to stop in the show and sing a song. It felt very very forced. I believe at the end of the show the audience didn't really care about these characters or even that Lestat decided to share his story. It felt like we were being flung through these characters' lives at breakneck speed and we didn't even get a chance to even try to understand where they were coming from or where they were going except for the fact that they were vampires and that's it. I think if we were given a chance to actually care about what they were doing, we would feel more for them.

Quick actor notes:

Hugh Panaro: Beautiful voice, underused. Not exactly sexy and just sorta bland in a way. He walks around meaningless and without a purpose and we don't really care. His wig makes him look like Fabio and by the end we're just like please please just stop moving and do something we'll actually give a **** about.

Carolee Carmello: Beautiful woman, and once again underused. We don't get a chance to feel pity for the woman she starts out as and when she gets to that point after she transforms we see a glimmer of what her character could be. But most of the end of act one she wanders about the stage trying to be vampire-like and then her character decides to leave. I felt like I wished there was something more for her to care about. She's a wonderful talent and totally underused.

Claudia (I forget her name): She comes the closest to being what this show could have been. Wonderful character and her song I Want More is funny. Such a shame that her death was lame and the night that I saw was badly timed. But she's great and hopefully will improve with time.

Everyone else I really didn't care about because they really didn't do anything for me. It's like they came and went and that was it. Too much was crammed into the three hours we sat in that theater.

Parts of the show that really bothered me were:

1) There were certain times during the show where Lestat would be travelling between places and just bite someone without a reason. I mean of course because he was a vampire but it felt lame and they didn't have anything to fill in. It reminded me of Jekyll and Hyde when Hyde went around killing everyone in the fog.
2) Of course the typed narrative and those damn projections.
3) That chia pet looking wig of Carolee's. Couldn't they have designed something a little better than that? And Lestat's wig: he reminded of Fabio after awhile.
4) The act one number where the underground vampires rebelled. It felt like that number in "Side Show" where they rebelled against the Owner.
5) The lack of ANY special vampire effects. No fangs, no blood, no flying ( I take that back...the meaningless entrance of Marius where he flies in from the ceiling a la Defying Gravity and says COME) and we're like what the hell was that.
6) Origin of the Species: it felt like they were trying to cram everything into that one number. I heard the old man next to me say: Who is that and what are they doing? If I could barely understand what they were saying, how did they expect the general audience to?
7) Claudia's Death: Who said it was okay to set her en flambe behind a scrim that didn't come down in time to do so. It took us a little to realize that was actually happening to her and by that time we just realized it was projection gone awry and what looked like a body set on fire jiggling in her chair around the stage.
Those ugly grey costumes (I guess signifying those who were not vampires).
9) The lack of any distinct ensemble characterization.
10) The end of the show felt like they wanted us to care, but in fact I think we were still reeling and wondering what it was we just saw. They even tried to sing acapella (some audience members tried to clap along but it ended up feeling awkward like what do you do?) The audience the night that I saw didn't even stand up. I decided if they would have done a Lestat Megamix maybe they would have...maybe we would have understood with another quick recap..or three...


I know there are things that I left out but this was just a recap of what I remembered. Some people may not agree with my review, but to each his own. This show needs a major rehaul before it gets to Broadway. I know Aida had one...let's hope that this one does too.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 8:21pm

I understand that he doesn't speak like that now, however, and his singing is fantastic.

The yuppie/sleazy/affected/Eurotrash accent is gone, but now Marius talks like George Takei.

Also, Hugh used to kinda walk like a praying mantis/chameleon/stork (I assume trying to capitalize on "Lion" in Lestat's surname), but as of the last time I saw it, some of it was toned down. Unfortunately, not enough.

[Shawk]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 8:30pm

Bobby, your post pretty much sums it up.

[I guess what could be considered a SPOILER follows] Has the "effect" for Claudia's death ever worked correctly? I don't think I've talked to anyone who saw the show and that scene worked the way I assume it is supposed to work.

Updated On: 1/25/06 at 08:30 PM

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 1/25/06 at 11:21pm

I think Claudia's death work the night I saw it. It was actually one of cooler effects in the show.