Lestat Last Night 5/25 Pictures added!

[All_For_Laura]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 7:00am

Amazing as always. The cast was in great shape. Poor Hugh had a cold, but you couldn't tell. He was amazing. As with everyone else. I was in row B on the aisle all the way up front in the orchestra and what a difference from mezz row o! I have pictures (a little blurry) and more but I will post later. Allison was amazing too and everyone remembered me at the stage door.

Updated On: 5/27/06 at 07:00 AM

[tophertilson]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 8:06am

Poor cast. I hope they will take comfort in the fact that they are too good to be unemployed for long.

TT

[Anakela]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 9:37am

I saw it for the first time last night.
Hugh was great- you were right, I couldn't tell that he had a cold- but I was blown. away. by Carolee Carmello's voice. Just- wow. The whole cast was great, and I know I saw this mentioned in another thread here about how this is not a compliment, but it really 'wasn't that bad'- I was expecting something much worse based on everything I'd read about it so far.

[Esparzafan]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 10:04am

I saw it last night for the first time, too. I'm still completely stunned by how awful it was. I don't listen to the opinions of critics so I had a completely open mind but I'm positively floored at how horrific this production was. WOW!

[All_For_Laura]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 10:26am

IMO, the cast is amazing, but the book needs a lot more reworking to make a successful show. I took my father last night, who is very sophisticated and really dislikes unclassy theatre, thoroughly enjoyed the music, just hated the plotline. At the stagedoor I talked to everyone for a while, mostly Carolee, Jim, and Allison. I gave Carolee a letter with a picture of us from 5/7 and I gave her all my support for the tony. She blew me away once again, and blew my father away as well. My third time seeing her live. (Once in Parade, twice in Lestat). I really hope they are all back in shows soon! So sad to see it close.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 10:34am

Carolee is the best thing about the show. I am lucky enough to have seen her in Parade, Mamma Mia, Saving Aimee and Lestat (twice). She is truly an amazing performer and I am eager to see her in another leading role on Broadway. I don't think she will win the supporting actress Tony this year, but I'm glad she was nominated. She really deserves to win a Tony in her lifetime and I certainly hope she does.

[Anna_Elizabeth]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 1:35pm

I agree. Carolee deserves to win a Tony in her lifetime. And I'm sure this cast will find other jobs soon, if they haven't already. It was a shame that the material wasn't up to their standards.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 1:45pm

"It was a shame that the material wasn't up to their standards"."

It wasn't up to anyone's standards! It should have never even left San Francisco without a new creative team but this is what you get when big corporations with no prior experience are in charge of producing shows on Broadway.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 2:12pm

Drew Sarich is equally amazing. He's the ultimate Armand.

I'm really surprised that more vampire lovers didn't come out to support this show, especially all of the Anne Rice followers. She posted a very honest review a while back.

Updated On: 5/26/06 at 02:12 PM

[jimnysf]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 2:16pm

"She posted a very honest review a while back.".

LOL! LOL! LOL! Honest review? I would say she is a bit biased since she got paid. You have got to be kidding!

[Phantom2]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 2:17pm

I doubt she lied. Trust me, she don't need the money.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 2:22pm

"I doubt she lied.".

Then she must have been under the influence of some substance. Maybe if everyone else in the audience was on the same thing, they would have posted similar "honest" reviews. Since they were not, the majority saw it for the mess that it actually was.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 2:25pm

A lof of people on this board enjoyed it. The problem is that not enough of the general theatre going audience went to see it based on the critics reviews which is really a shame. Who do these critics think they are...the Surgeon General?

I see a show and draw my own conclusion. In the case of Lestat, I loved it and will be playing the CD for many years to come.

Updated On: 5/26/06 at 02:25 PM

[jimnysf]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 2:33pm

"I loved it and will be playing the CD for many years to come"."

I don't think it was just the critics that killed it. It had poor word of mouth from the majority of people who saw it. That is what will kill a show. "Mamma Mia" was not a critics darling yet it is still enjoying a healthy run. "Wedding Singer" got bad reviews but even those critics stated that the audience enjoyed the show. The grosses for "Wedding Singer" increased. "Lestat" had falling grosses because it was, this is too easy, "gross".

As for the CD, who knows if it will even get released? They might just decide they've poured enough money into this already without the added expenses of marketing and distributing a cd for a closed show. Glad you liked it, though. Not everyone likes the same things which is what makes life so interesting.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 2:39pm

Vampire musicals are not everyones cup of tea, just like vampire movies aren't. I figured it would have found it's audience, especially in NYC. Sad to see it go.

Updated On: 5/26/06 at 02:39 PM

[jarretSF]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 2:40pm

Jimny - You hit the nail on the head. It wasn't the critics that killed this show. It was the show itself. I, personally like Elton's music, even Aida. This was not up to snuff. And the book. Wow was it bad. I will admit the few clips I have seen of Broadway (on Ellen when Elton was on recently, and one or two others) look better than anything on the SF stage. But promotional clips are what they are, and while they made it look a lot better, in person the improvements were probably very minisule. It was a BAD show.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 2:44pm

The whole cast of this show is amazingly talented.

I am sure after many listens to the CR, the music will grow on me.

My biggest problem is the production itself is a total mess. And it really ruined everything for me. Not to mention the book is atrocious.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 2:50pm

Sorry, but I have to disagree. I thought the story flowed nicely. The songs were beautiful (i.e, The Crimson Kiss and Sail Me Away) and the set was incredible. The talented cast made it all come together, but I guess I'm in the minority with Anne Rice.

Updated On: 5/26/06 at 02:50 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:14pm

Since the show, according to many, was so atrociously bad, maybe they should have the theater fumigated before Mame moves in

I agree with Phantom2

[Phantom2]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:31pm

Thank you Mr. Roxy.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:47pm

LOL! I was starting to think Mr Roxy and Phantom were the same person. :)


But I guess I agree, too. At least about the fumigation part.

Updated On: 5/26/06 at 05:47 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 5:51pm

Where are the pics?

[Elphaba984]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 6:04pm

Hey all. I saw Lestat a few weeks ago. Personally I liked it. Hugh Panaro was amazing. Carolee Carmello was AMAZING as always. I loved her ever since I heard her in Parade and finally saw her last year in Mamma Mia. Drew Sarich... wonderful job as Armand. The entire cast was just amazing, even though the show itself needs some work (they did have some songs that were pretty decent). Not to mention this has to be the nicest cast on Broadway that I've met. Everyone took the time to sign my playbill and even have a conversation with me. Drew actually talked with me for 5 minutes about makeup... very werid but awesome.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 6:16pm

"...even though the show itself needs some work"

That has to be the understatement of the year! :)! Some work?

[Phantom2]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 6:22pm

jimnysf- You didn't see the Broadway production so you cannot judge.