Lecrap Review - Saturday 4/22 Matinee - Spoilers- Page 2

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:01pm

When are you giving us your review, Phantom2?

You said it would be soon and I am looking forward to it.

I'd go just for Elton John's music.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:06pm

Chill, bebe. It'll be sooner than later!

[SteveWilson]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:15pm

Hi there,

In the interest of full disclosure, my name is Steve Wilson and I am a member of the cast of "Lestat".

I see that you (and perhaps others) are wondering whether you ought to take your family to see "Lestat".

As you can already tell from the posts here and elsewhere, reaction is all over the map. We have our fans and we have our critics. Both are right, because theatre is subjective - it all depends on what you like. All opinions are valid.

But let me assure you that every night at the Palace Theatre there are hundreds of people who have a terrific time. They laugh when we hope they will, listen when they are intrigued, and come along with us as we tell Anne Rice's tale as best we can.

These people are New Yorkers, tourists, theatre fans, theatre novices, folks from all walks of life - and they walk away happy. We hear them during the ovation and we meet many of them every night as they wait to meet us outside the stage door.

So, to answer your question - should you bring your family? I think so. Can I promise you will like it? I wish I could, but I cannot.

But neither can I make that promise for any other show, because you just have to buy a ticket, sit down and try your luck.

I can promise you, however, that you will not find a group of actors, musicians and crew working harder to create an enjoyable evening than that which we have assembled at "Lestat". We hope you come and check us out...and we hope you enjoy the show.

Regardless, come to NYC and see a show - there is nothing like it.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:16pm

Good response!

I personally enjoyed it, but I don't see why people feel the need to bash it BEFORE they saw it.

Good luck on opening!

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:17pm

I think I'll take you up on that very nice invitation, Steve.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:19pm

Your suggestions would probably make more sense if you had posted the set of lyrics for us all to see. Otherwise, may Bernie Taupin happen upon this thread and see all your wonderful suggestions. After all, Steve did!

For the record, I'm only talking about the lyrics here. Elton's music does its job and I think the show is actually fairly entertaining, for its flaws.

There's not much to get excited about in the lyrics. I think the nicest phrases the man came up with were "Sail Me Away" and "I Want More", both song titles. I feel like he's aping Oscar Hammerstein or throwaway lyrics for operetta with lines like "The thrill to hunt in such exotic places! To almost taste those beauties in Siam. The brown skinned boys of Mykonos and Rangoon. The shy Chinese behind their painted fans!"

Okay... example. One song pretty much covers them all, they're all about the same. The opening to "The Crimson Kiss" goes:

"For so many years we've shared this path together
Kindred spirits in search of history
For you the holy grail is where we come from
But it's a different road I crave these days for me
You dwell so on the dawn of our creation in search of ghosts from our mythology
But for now the wonders that the world can offer mean more to me than ancient family trees."

First of all, it's redundant. Not only did we find out all this information immediately prior to the conversation beginning, but the words are redundant. "We've SHARED this path TOGETHER. KINDRED spirits.. I CRAVE... fOR ME..." etc... and the text is redundant. She's saying the same thing over and over. "You want to find our mythology, but I want to LIVE Lestat, I want to LIVE!" And this whole segment takes nearly a minute. A minute to introduce the song. But once it's introduced...

She goes on to simply describe places. It's a list song. The first tenant of a list song is that it must be clever, or at the very least interesting. This song accomplishes none of that. That is pretty much the function of every song. To tell us what we already know for a minute and then to go and list off irrelevant details. And the song is almost 5 minutes long. And the music is completely boring. Carolee is practically screaming to find any energy at all. There is a subtext to the song, if you really look for it. Apparently she's saying that she appreciates how their relationship has changed since they became vampires. You would never know this though because there's never anything to indicate why or how she would feel this way because their relationship only becomes sexual.

I do agree that he writes some nice poetry for the pop music, but I think Bernie could stand to listen to a few more cast recordings. He's capable of fine writing, but here he relies on lame pedestrian imagery and mixed metaphors. I don't understand why he constantly writes in a passive voice. It makes the song impossible to follow and it makes the songs sound utterly written rather than as if the character were actually speaking words from their heart. You can always hear the writer.

There are a few times when you can tell that the characters are really speaking to him though. In the song "I Want More", which is frequently mentioned, he manages to give a character a distinctive voice. The lyrics are clumsy but still, the song works. It's a song that tells a story with a dinstinctive voice, although I don't know if I'll ever forgive him for using the line "This cat wants her cream". The same goes for Claudia's other song.

Here's a nice turn of phrase: "Should I be the little miss and while away the hours? I think not! I'd rather HUNT than cut up paper flowers."

Not only does it feel right to the time period (the phrase while away feels appropriately old, the reference to a typical little girl thing being doing crafts to pass time), but the word "hunt" has a surprisingly blunt sound (since you expect there to be a rhyme with miss here) and the rhyme of hours/flowers is appropriate. There, I found something positive. In fact, this is probably the only song in the show where you feel like the audience is actually engaged in what's going on. Good job on this one.

What isn't helping him is that the lyrics don't always sit on the music well. I often feel that the words are at odds with the music. It just doesn't flow. I don't know if this is Bernie or Elton's fault, or the fault of both.

To me the lyrics have to hold the meaning, poetry, philosophy, etc... of the musical. The music is the beating heart of the show, but the lyrics think for the show. The lyrics for Lestat rarely get underneath the surface of what was a relatively philosophical story. Dressing one character like Buddha does not add philosophy. That's why I have a hard time being positive about them. Bad lyrics is bad lyrics.

I do appreciate the production values and the performances though. The show was worth 25 bucks for that.

Updated On: 4/22/06 at 11:19 PM

[Phantom2]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:23pm

The songs are beautiful. Hugh Panaro is in fine form. My full review will be up by tomorrow at midnight! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:25pm

Roninjoey, Lizzie posted a lyric link.

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:30pm

"I can promise you, however, that you will not find a group of actors, musicians and crew working harder to create an enjoyable evening than that which we have assembled at "Lestat"."

:) I couldn't agree more. I can't wait to see the show in NY.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:33pm

Oap, I missed that. I actually looked for it too because I assumed someone had posted a link when you wrote "Thanks Lizzie" but I guess I was scrolling too fast.

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:40pm

Yeah I agree. I had a feeling from the get-go that the reviews were going to be mixed...either from critics or fans. But you guys should go see it regardless and form your own opinions of the show. I mean I've seen shows that people loved and ended up being disappointed, and I've gone into shows without much expectation and was pleasantly surprised. So it all depends.

Either way, you'll get a treat seeing the marvelous cast perform their magic on the Palace stage. :)

~Rosalynn

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:51pm

Exactly Rosalynn, (love your icon btw!) I hate, HATE "The Producers" and yet look at everything it's won. I adore Martin Guerre and it wasn't even given a chance.

As Steve said, it's all subjective. A lot of people love the show (myself included) and honestly if some people aren't going to see the show itself and make up their own minds, then they very well may be missing a show that they could have loved.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 11:51pm

Well said. Go see it for yourself, form your own opinions, and then come back and talk about it!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 5:15am

Bump! Lestat featured in the NYT today.
NY Times

Posted: 4/23/06 at 6:30am

I believe I like this Steve Wilson person.
Congrats to you for being in a Broadway show!
HAVE FUN and just enjoy the experience, Steve!
Great Post!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 9:11am

Bravo, Steve. You and your fellow cast members are doing a tremendous job up there. I give you all so much credit for being able to do it with the multitudes of changes and criticism. Best wishes to all.
Updated On: 4/23/06 at 09:11 AM

[tmz814]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 9:54am

I am glad you enjoyed Allison. She is a great kid and such a talent. It must be so hard for this cast. They are working so hard and really giving good performances, but they must know what is coming. I hope they can enjoy the opening night party before the reviews come out.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:23am

Will Sir Elton do an Oprah & really fight for it after the reviews ? If not, will they close it immediately or just let it die naturally (or should I say unnaturally)? To quote old Bela " To be dead, really dead, must be glorious"

See it the last preview & glad at least for this Vampire musical we got Broadway Box tickets. We learned the hard way. Looking forward to it & the album to go with my mini collection of musical vampire CD's ( now at 10)

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 11:03am

Thanks, Lizzie, for the link to the NY Times article.

Like the producer Gregg Maday's "never say die" attitude.

No pun intended!

[Phantom2]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 9:04pm

FYI...my review will be delayed a day.