LESTAT - The New Carrie!- Page 12

[Shawk]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:02pm

I'm especially fond of the one of Jim Stanek and fans, as well as Hugh Panaro's supermodel pout in #11. :)

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:03pm

That one cracked me up. =)

[starlyricist]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:05pm

Urgh. I have tickets to this spectacle in exactly two hours. And WHY did I not get standing room to Three Days of Rain?!

I'm scared.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:06pm

I'm rather fond of this picture, myself. (I saw it on the Panarophiles' board, if anyone was wondering...)

http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=smybeq

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:23pm

starlyricist, don't worry you might like it. Just keep an open mind.

Then again you might think it's crap.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:24pm

Hello Fellow Vipers! Better to be a viper than a shill!

Pat Craig of The Contra Costa Times:
"The greatest danger in the new Elton John-Bernie Taupin musical, based on The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, is death by boredom… It's a great story, but, as directed by Robert Jess Roth (with 'musical staging' by Matt West), the new show doesn't capture the romance or the otherworldly qualities of Rice's novel. It's more corny than scary, and it doesn't approach Rice's sense of authenticity. Hampered by cheesy production values and an uneven cast, the staging is unconvincing at best. Linda Woolverton's book, which turns much of the spoken dialogue into hackneyed cliches, doesn't help. And the John-Taupin score — the famous songwriting duo's first effort for the stage — gives it the kiss of death."


Karen D'Souza of The San Jose Mercury News:
Toothless
VAMPIRE MUSICAL `LESTAT' IS PLAGUED BY LIFELESS PERFORMANCES AND SCORE
"For a vampire musical, Lestat lacks teeth… Shaking his mane like a lion, the actor [Panaro] strikes one to-die-for pose after another as the flamboyant vampire. If pouts could kill, watch out. But he never finds the pulse of this role. His Lestat is neither fierce enough to scare us nor valiant enough to move us…. The worst sin of all may be that the show takes itself so gravely seriously; a little camp would have given it some tongue-in-cheek juice…The score is likewise bland… Only rarely, as in the child Claudia's songs, does the musical hit a vein… Unless its creators can find a way to infuse more intensity, Lestat may be dead on arrival on Broadway in the spring."


Chad Jones of The Oakland Tribune:
"The biggest problem in director Robert Jess Roth's jumble of a production — and the one that isn't likely to change anytime soon — is the score…. The two primary female characters steal the show. It's as simple as that. But this musical isn't called Gabrielle or Claudia. It's called Lestat, and that's such a shame… Panaro — with a generous assist from Linda Woolverton's cursory book — makes Lestat less an empathetic monster and more a target of ridicule. Panaro does have a beautiful singing voice, but John and Taupin have failed to provide him with a defining number."

Robert Hurwitt of The San Francisco Chronicle:
"Didactic, disjointed, oddly miscast, confusingly designed and floundering in an almost unrelentingly saccharine score by Elton John, Lestat opened Sunday as the latest ill-conceived Broadway hopeful in the Best of Broadway series (following on the heels of Lennon and Mambo Kings)... It's too much story, with the authors almost desperately shoehorning some of Rice's plot turns, narrative flights and interminable vampire creation myths into a song here, an overstuffed confrontation there or the large-scale video animation sequences that blanket the set. The characters prove even more problematic, but then, despite her creative departures from Rice's novels, very few of the figures in Woolverton's script have much character… The chorus and orchestra perform flawlessly under Brad Haak's musical direction. The songs, however, range from mildly interesting to, for the most part, banal and virtually undistinguishable."

'Lestat' proves to be bloodless
Marcus Crowder, Sacramento Bee Theater Critic

Bloody awful
‘Lestat’ stage adaptation proves anemic
Tiger Hashimoto, The San Francisco Examiner

'Lestat' offers little to bite into
Charles Brousse, Marin Independent Journal
The temptation to drive a stake into the feebly beating heart of "Lestat," the new "non-vampire vampire musical" (to quote one of its creative makers) that officially opened a short tryout run at San Francisco's Curran Theatre on Sunday, is irresistible. Better to do the deed immediately, before its financial maker, Warner Brothers Theatrical Ventures, has time to ship the coffin off to Broadway. Once there, who knows what mischief may ensue if the undead rise to drain coin and high expectations from unwitting ticket buyers? Lyricist Bernie Taupin, who has collaborated with John on many other ventures, shares responsibility for this woeful lack of musical vitality. For the most part, his songs rely on clinched couplets and interior rhymes whose relentless sentimentality is often unbearably cloying. If only they contributed to our understanding of the characters or moved the plot along, the absence of originality might at least be partially excused. Unfortunately (when they can be understood within the singers' over-amped deliveries), they do neither...Panaro is always on the move, shoulder-length blond hair flying, as he spans centuries and continents. Although the opening scene finds him at a laptop computer typing the first lines of an account that he promises will set the record straight, by the end we have gained little illumination beyond the fact that he is seemingly indefatigable...While the orchestra is splendid and the production's technical values (light, sound, costumes) undoubtedly satisfy the creative team's vision, in the end "Lestat" is an ill-conceived project. Please pass the hammer and wooden stake.".

[fishergirl819]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:25pm

I'm so sad they took the Stanek picture when they did...my friends and I had been talking with Jim for a while, and I am literally just off to the left of the shot talking to Drew Sarich...I wanted to say hello before he left, and that's when they took the picture of Jim and everyone.

Personally, my favorite stagedoor picture is this one that I took - - he's coming after Hugh to overtake the video blog. Haha.

[bwaylover2]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:26pm

kat
i totally agree with you lestat will be the next vampire flop there has been at least three attemped vampire musicals they should have given up after the third .

[bwaylover2]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:31pm

they need to give up on the bad vampire musicals all togeather they need to make somthing better then vampires singing

[Shawk]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:32pm

Bless Jim Stanek's dorky little heart. I bet he'll keep the lightsaber somewhere in his dressing room with all his action figures.

[fishergirl819]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:37pm

He told us he has four light sabers now. We wanted him and Hugh to duel (as both received light sabers as presents), but Hugh had to "get home." Pfft. Haha.
Updated On: 3/30/06 at 06:37 PM

[bwaylover2]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:38pm

i wanna know what the projections look like just wondering

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:43pm

Stylistically, similar to those in the trailer, although none of them are actually in the show.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:48pm

i know this sounds totally retarded, but I wouldnt call LESTAT a flop just yet. I'm just going by last week's first preview, and the Palace was like 96% full. Maybe just because it was the first preview, and I haven't heard how the attendance has been throughout this week, but it did a lot better than I thought it would have.

end stupid LESTAT thought.

[Shawk]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:56pm

Well, the name "Elton John" isn't going to hurt, and Anne Rice's novels are well-known, not to mention that there are people who see the new thing no matter what the buzz is. We'll see how it goes after the reviews...

[bwaylover2]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:06pm

i would the the color purple again then spend money to see vampires singing and dancing on stage

[jarretSF]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:08pm

On the names alone it broke records in San Francisco (although as previously discussed on these boards it did run a week longer and have slightly higher prices than the shows it beat). That doesen't mean it will be a hit though. Names may sell tickets at first, but when word is out this ones a stinker, we'll see closing notices posted in no time.

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:13pm

So, does anyone agree that coming up with "Interview with the Vampire: The Musical" would have been a smarter move, at least business wise?

[bwaylover2]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:17pm

lizzie
i agree bad musical are fun to talk about and to laugh at how bad they really are

[Shawk]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:28pm

I think at the least, Interview has a more coherent beginning, middle and end, with conflict and motivations that make sense. Trying to reconcile several of Rice's books and make Lestat the protagonist obviously proved to be problematic.

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:46pm

And also "Interview..." is known for the movie, I think it could've been a better choice, but still, after so many flawed singing vampire productions, I wonder why anyone would invest millions on belting blood suckers...

[EAD1974]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 8:41pm

I don't see how just making it Interview with the Vampire would have helped, aside from it was a movie. Interview was not even originally a bestseller, it was The Vampire Lestat that was her first run-away smash as an author, and Lestat is easily her most well known protaganist. Well, aside from Jesus...

[Shawk]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 8:50pm

Well, the movie did pretty well. For non-Rice fans like me, when I think of Lestat, I think of the brat prince. I don't think of a guy who battles with himself over whether killing is wrong. I think the show tried to tie the two together, but didn't succeed.

This is not to say that the story of Lestat's life and, er, un-life couldn't have been compelling, but I do think the musical could have benefited from a narrowing of focus, which just doing Interview would have provided.

[idinarocksmysocks!510]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 9:08pm

actually the video blogs on broadway.com make it look very interesting. i'd like to see it.

[EAD1974]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 9:39pm

Yeah, narrowing the focus might have helped, I don't know. If they chose to narrow it down to The Vampire Lestat portion, It would just be the First act extended, which is the one people have the most problems with. If they chose to just make Interview, the story would have been tighter, but that's an instance where the lead ( Louis )is Really, REALLY whiney...It might have been too much. Lestat's whiney-ness is nuthin' compared to Louis'. Still, it's got to be more fun to play Lestat in IWTV, where he's just a total bastard.