"And of course theres the few who love it, because it's so dark and gothic."
LOL...that is SO me...Sorry, I love the show, but I adore the books so I can't help it. ( Yes, I was one of those goth kids in high school you would have made fun of ) It's just too much of a thrill for me to see my fave characters come alive, and in a faithful rendition. Although I do see it's flaws. But I'm not gonna go into a LilBdwyLady rant to try and convince anyone..what's the point?
You like it for what it is, I have no problem with that. I wouldn't have made fun of you in HS by the way, not my style. I just don't get the people who say it is great theatre.
Some people come into our lives and quietly go, others stay a while, and leave footprints on our heart, and we are never the same.
I dunno...you can't go to the movies and see, for example, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and get dissapointed that it's not SCHINDLER'S LIST. I see a lot of that around here. Ya can't go to a Vampire/Goth musical and then get pissed because it's not < INSERT REVERED MUSICAL HERE > the only criticism that really gets on my nerves is the whole "How dare they attempt to make a serious vampire musical?? The whole idea is silly" argument. I mean, if that's your attitude, what on Earth would they have to do to make it good in your eyes?? And why bother to pay the $$$ to see it in the first place?
I'm not a big Anne Rice fan, but I appreciate her work. I went into the show here in San Francisco with high hopes, and it bored me to tears. my partner wanted to leave at intermission. One of the quotes I overheard in the Men's room was "Wow, Elton has NO feel for the source material". A lot of people walked out at intermission and kept on going down Geary St.
If you like the show great, but soak it up while it's here, because it likely will not be the vampire musical that runs for very long.
Some people come into our lives and quietly go, others stay a while, and leave footprints on our heart, and we are never the same.
Your criticism doesn't bug me..it comes from a place that makes sense. But some of the others do, for the reasons I stated before. Plus, there's the attitude of people who actively want it to fail, which only deprives the people who would like it from getting to see it. And to me that's just not really cool. I mean, I saw and hated Forrest Gump, but far be it from me to try and wish for it's failure just to annoy the masses who liked it, ya know?
Yeah, I've come across this guy's blog. And while I agree in theory on some of his points, none of them are deal breakers for me. He should be happy he got to see the Uber Faithful SF version, and just hope that the changes they make actually keep it running. If he lived through the cinematic abortion that was Queen of the Damned, he can live through whatever minor omissions/ changes the NY version makes. I mean, if I can stand the fact that Louis and Lestat didn't make Claudia "together" ( one of my fave parts of the book...I always loved the whole "2 Men making a baby together" in a truly sick way thang ) Then he can live with whatver other changes they make. Or not.
It's totally cool that people have their own opinions and whatnot.
The only thing I see is people who haven't seen both versions of this show but still feel the need to trash it.
And the funny thing is, the people who trash it seem so intent on doing it, they end up posting the most on the Lestat boards. Why is that? What makes you guys feel SO passionate about making a show go down?
I don't get it.
I can see someone totally getting into something they love; but why are you all spending for much time trying to hate something? But that's just me. Updated On: 3/27/06 at 08:28 PM
They got $100 of my hard earned money and three hours out of my life and in return they gave me trash. That's what makes me hate it so.
"I've lost everything! Luis, Marty, my baby with Chris, Chris himself, James. All I ever wanted was love." --Sheridan Crane "Passions"
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"Housework is like bad sex. Every time I do it, I swear I'll never do it again til the next time company comes."--"Lulu"
from "Can't Stop The Music"
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"When the right doors didn't open for him, he went through the wrong ones" - "Sweet Bird of Youth"
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"Passions" is uncancelled! See NBC.com for more info.
"And the funny thing is, the people who trash it seem so intent on doing it, they end up posting the most on the Lestat boards. Why is that? What makes you guys feel SO passionate about making a show go down?"
Man, welcome to the Internet LOL. People ( And not just here, but just about everywhere ) Spend far more time bitching about what they hate than talking about what they love. It's a source of continual fascination and irritation. ( The WORST example of this is the "Talk-Backs" at Aint It Cool News. And there, they resort to homophobia and sexism like there was no tomorrow. At least here it's mostly just cattiness. ) I've never once posted on a thread ( here or anywhere )about something I don't care for because it seems like such a wasted effort.
Well, I think there's a difference between, "I saw 'Lestat' and didn't think it worked and here's some reasons why" and "OMG everyone who likes 'Lestat' is a fool!" I don't see any problem with people discussing why they didn't like something, and sometimes people who love something tend to tar every naysayer with the same brush. (None of that was directed at anyone in specific, I've just seen it happen a lot on a number of different boards.)
And hey, this is coming from someone who saw promise in the SF version of "Lennon" and would have liked to like "Lestat" but just didn't.
'"Contrairiwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."'
~Lewis Carroll
You both articulate your points very well, and I do understand what you are saying actually. It's all in how someone choose to comes across I guess. Oh, and despite what Press materials may say, Lestat only covers 2 books, not 3 ( Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat.) They never touch the events of Queen of the Damned.
^ In SF, NY, or both? Because in SF there was the whole "Origin of the Species" thing about Enkil and Akasha, and then they were in the ending. This (not so sadly) has changed.
(And I think we're, well, if not on the same page, at least we're reading the same book. )
'"Contrairiwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."'
~Lewis Carroll
Both. In The Vampire Lestat, Marius reveals the Vampire Origins to Lestat and takes him to the shrine of Akasha and Enkil, where they are in their catatonic state. This happens in the SF version of the show, although at the end. In the book, this happens before the events of Interview, not after. The book of Queen of the Damned deals with Akasha awakening and wreaking havoc. The SF version never deals with any of that. Also, a bunch of new characters are introduced that are not in the show, Although the ensemble at the end of the SF version DID look like some of those characters...which makes NO sense since they have not been introduced in the narrative. As a big Fan Wank, I got a kick out of it, but I knew it must have been confusing as Hell to any casual theater goer. Glad they dropped it.
I was sitting by my phone, waiting for the news about the NY preview. I was literally giddy to hear that "Origin of the Species" has gone the way of the dinosaurs. (As well as the changes in general to Lestat's character, especially the sexual energy that was sorely lacking in SF.)
Its strange, because I have been a fan of the Vampire Chronicles (at least up to Blood and Gold, the latter books all deal with the Mayfair Witches and that's just... annoying.) for a decade now and fully expected to watch Lestat with a sneer plastered to my face, disgusted.
That said, I truly appreciated the changes they've made from the books. Had they kept the exact story, it would have been the most boring show ever staged. Nothing really ever happens in the books. They're really fictionalized biographies that move along a very straight line without any conclusive beginning, middle, and end. In theatre, you need an arc, and you need villains. (Armand isn't nearly as maniacal in the books, and even though he's my favorite character in print, I understand why they needed to change him for the stage.)
Its hardly going to go down as the legendary disaster Carrie was, and I think, if anyone who gives it the time of day (and takes their noses out of the air for the 2 hours and 40-odd minutes it runs) will walk away with more good than bad.
I'm extremely excited to see the NY changes, from what I've heard they've been 90% in the right direction. I recognized the flaws in the SF preview (its impossible not to, that's a given), but in the end, there really is more good than bad.
"Water never looked so good til you're down on the desert floor, scrapin' around for a taste of what you always took for granted."
Ok, not to jump into the fire or anything, but I think people who haven't seen the NY version of Lestat can't really comment. Now, this is not to say nobody can comment on out of town shows because most don't make major changes. But with Lestat, everybody has been saying there were many changes. So I really don't think it's fair for people to comment.
That's totally fine. After all, discrediting other people's opinions is just so much fun.
I understand what you're saying, but I genuinely think that's a rather narrow way of looking at things. Are you going to say the same thing when people who just see the previews in NY state their opinions after the show has its official opening (after countless more changes are made)?
"Water never looked so good til you're down on the desert floor, scrapin' around for a taste of what you always took for granted."
I actually forgot to say that. For instance, if someone sees it the first week of previews then a week after the opening and says there are major changes, then yes, people's early views would be somewhat discredited.
For instance, I saw Times They Are A-Changin here in San Diego. But from what I've read, Twyla is changing it constantly. So if it comes to NY and people say there is suddenly a story (which it did not have here in SD) then my criticism of no story would be completely discredited.
That's what I'm trying to say with Lestat. However, if people are coming back and saying it still sucks because of the same reasons it did in SF, then yes, the original criticisms would still hold up.