Lestat Review: Opening Night w/ spoilers - LONG

Posted: 1/9/06 at 3:55am

Take your pick of vampire puns. Because they all lead to the same consensus: Lestat sucks.

Anne Rice was present, but nay to Elton John. Overall, the audience and performance energy felt lackluster - not at all what one might expect from opening.

Don't get me wrong. I wanted to like it. I am a sucker for gothic musicals. The darker the better. Brooding protagonists and sweeping romance? Sure. So it was with open mind and eager heart that I attended the opening night of The Vampire Lestat.

Act One opens with an older and wiser Lestat (Hugh Panaro) circa 2006, looking back on his life. As a mortal, he fights off wolves but no one believes him, except his buttoned-down mother Gabrielle (Carolee Carmello). In a rushed song-scene, we learn he is destined for *something more*. That something more turns out to be life in Paris with his buddy Nicolas, galivanting about a theatre. Then in a sudden turn of events, Magnus (who has been watching him since he killed the wolves) turns Lestat into a vampire, and then proceeds to kill himself in a flurry of projected flame. Gabrielle pops up in Paris, dying, and Lestat changes her. They romp about town, run into the vampire Armand, and proceed to teach a lesson in civics and freedom to the vampires there. Along the way, Nicolas gets made into a vampire and goes insane. Oh, and the vampires take over a theatre and decide to perform skits and pantomimes untill the end of time. Projections then tell us Lestat and Gabrielle are searching for head honcho vampire Marius, but don't find him, but Nicolas has died, and in front of an impressive stone head (one of the few dimensional set pieces), Carolee Carmello belts out a fantastic song that lets us know that her character (unlike anyone else we've met so far) is changing through conflict, thus causing drama and intrigue, but sadly we won't see her again untill curtain call. Apparently at the end of the act, Lestat, left alone, buries himself in the earth, only to be rescued by Marius. I only know this because it had to be explained to me. Act Two: Marius instructs Lestat to live a human lifetime, so he does, in the New World, and the events of Interview with a Vampire commence, taking us through Claudia's death, Louis departure, and Lestat being hurled off the roof of the Theatre, only to be recovered by Marius, who leads him to drink from Ashaka, Queen of Vampires, as everyone lives happily ever after in a bizarrely chipper song entitled "From The Dead".

The score sounds like it was written by two completely different sets of people. Act One has some truly melodic moments and gorgeous orchestrations as befitting a dark story of love and torment, while Act Two is rife with Elton John sass-numbers and pop ballads ("Embrace It", "Sail Me Away"). The latter is one of my biggest personal quibbles in the show. Sung by Lestat as he sails back to France, it's a quiet moment set against a tilted perspective of a ship's prow and the backdrop of a projected ocean and an old fashioned map and compass rose. A moment of genuine introspection that would be lovely if we hadn't just seen Lestat be a controlling ass for the past twenty minutes and get doused in fire. But he survives to sing the song, how? Because the projections told us so.

I had high hopes for the visuals, and perhaps from a different vantage point, the projections are better executed. But some of them, particularly the Entr'acte and Lestat's fall from the roof, looked like a motion simulator film. Note to Robert Jess Roth: when you insert a scrim every twenty minutes that says "ten years later" or "six months later", you really stop caring about happens to this person, because clearly, their life events are only important for about ten minutes out of every ten years, then it's time to leap forward again. It also doesn't help that by nature, your characters never age nor change. Sidenote: I swear the "Welcome To The New World" costumes are the "One Short Day" costumes, dyed black and white.

If Drew Sarich was a revelation as Armand, Jack Noseworthy must've been... must've been something atrocious. Carolee Carmello milks the best with her material, but the real find here is Allison Fischer as the ever-young Claudia. Both "I Want More" and "I'll Never Have That Chance", despite being lyrically and musically trite, are well-delivered, and each of her scenes carried a momentum the others lacked. Though that could be that through a combination of talent and gasp, decent writing, we come to care about this character and the dramatic conflict they are facing, especially because she makes us feel there's HIGH STAKES INVOLVED.

Linda Woolverton's book tries too hard to condense these events into a forward-driving musical, but instead we're given Lestat's three hour search for enlightenment, which never quite comes to fruition. Hugh Panaro simply "is"; I found him neither remarkable nor offensively bad, but not someone I would care to spend another evening with. I guess that's the crux of the vampire's life - must everything end in fire or madness? I can't say I have the answer; just living this vampire's life in three hours was enough to drive me to a little of both.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:17am

Oh, man.

It's kinda sad to know not much has changed between the first week of previews and opening night.

But is that horrible "In Paris" duet between Nicolas and Lestat cut? Because it needed to either be killed or shortened.

Did Akasha lower half her breastplate for Lestat? I wanted to scream.

[jimmirae]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:23am

I trust they are working on fixing all these things right now, and with your review, they may even see it and have some things to use from one who saw it opening night. Thanks for your non diss honesty and here's to this productiom being tuned so it is perfect when it opens in New York.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:29am

Yeah, Rey... I'm getting scared. I'm trying desperately to maintain hope, but I guess I'll wait for the reviews in the newspapers tomorrow to decide whether or not the show is doomed.

Like you, I'm beginning to get really concerned for the future of San Francisco as a venue for Broadway debuts. It's not saying the best thing when "Lennon" and "Mambo Kings" are the pre-cursor to a bomb from "Lestat"...

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:31am

Jimmierae, they've had THREE WEEKS of previews and it looks like hardly anything has improved significantly. What are they going to do with the time left? You seem so confident. It's kinda creepy.

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:44am

Ashaka no longer lowers her breast, instead she extends her wrist and Lestat drinks from it. Nicolas and Lestat still sing about the joys of living in Paris, which is matched only by the tedium of the joys of living in the New World.

As I understand from my friend who's seen it twice before, Act One has changed (and somehow gotten longer).

Posted: 1/9/06 at 1:03pm

Don't blame San Francisco for any of those bombs..in the case of Lestat, blame those who, through ego, lack of imagination, pandering, sheer stupidity, etc..have churned out a confusing, overbloated, lifeless, subpar musical. The source material is filled with near endless possibilites, but the best they could do at the moment is bloodless and bland.

[Anna_Elizabeth]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:19pm

What I saw Sunday evening is definitely better than what I saw first preview and then 2 weeks later.
There have been major scene and line changes, a costume change, changes to the videos, different words on the scrims, and even a song change ending from a duet to the entire ensemble.
This opening night seemed more of a chance for everyone to see what has been happening in SF for the last month, and for the cast to enjoy what they have been working hard on. Many people in the audience didn't even realize it was opening night.
There is still a lot of work to be done, and things are beginning to make more sense, but I think it is on the right track.

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:24pm

Have there been any reviews from critics in San Fran posted online yet?

[codyjo88]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:27pm

There are sneak peeks of reviews from 2 SF critics posted on the lestat musical forum here: http://forum.lestatmusical.com/index.php?gettopic=277

I would say it's not looking good, could be love/hate tho, we will see...

A Tip Of The Hand From Reviewers?

Updated On: 1/9/06 at 04:27 PM

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:29pm

Projections. Goody.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:31pm

Ever been to "Body Wars"? It's like that.

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:35pm

Is the show now frozen?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:40pm

No.

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:40pm

Not being sarcastic: Are there any redeeming qualities that give this show a chance?

[codyjo88]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:48pm

Well redeeming qualities would be a personal opinion but I believe there are. The major problem is that there is a ton of material (since they choose to do both books as opposed to 1) and they are following the books very rigidly because of Anne's involvement, leaving little wiggle room that many productions would have.

On the point about the show being frozen, I thought that because it is a union house that it is frozen after the offical opening until it leaves SF, is that incorrect?

Updated On: 1/9/06 at 04:48 PM

[Anna_Elizabeth]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 4:59pm

Since it is a pre-Broadway try-out, changes can still occurr. It may be subtle changes at this point. As long as the artistic staff are still in town you can bet they are working.
And yes, there are redeeming qualities depending on what you are looking for.

Posted: 1/9/06 at 5:00pm

it's more like stillborn.

Redeeming would be to start from near scratch, with a better directing/staging team, someone who can make a cohesive narrative out of the book, better, more focused songs, attention to character development, a lead character with some life, energy, balls, fire, etc.

The source material is filled with wild passion, deep emotions, thrilling adventures and eroticism, none of which is quite evident enough in the current LESTAT.

It's a powerful, intoxicating saga that is nowhere to be found onstage.

[mollyllom]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 5:06pm

My mom went to see Lestat, and she said it was quite campy. Sounds like you guys felt about the same.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 5:09pm

I don't think a union house has anything to do with it. Miss Saigon changed its finale in 1994, Les Miz had major changes in 1997 and 2000, and The Secret Garden also went through several changes after its opening night.

[Anna_Elizabeth]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 5:54pm

It seems as if people are looking for this show to be something it isn't. I don't particularly like the source material, but I do like the different vampire myth that is presented.

I also wouldn't classify it as campy, except the two times when it's a show within a show. True, emotionally it isn't quite there, but all the subtle movements are helping. And I particularly like the emotional bond that is now developing between Lestat and Marius. That surprised me.

[tmz814]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 7:31pm

Glad to here that you liked Allison. She is a great kid and a fab actor/singer. I hope this makes it to broadway so I can see her make her debut.

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 7:40pm

I saw it in previews and I have to agree with singingbackup...The show needs to be completely re-tooled.

Posted: 1/9/06 at 7:58pm

Did some research as to the "well, WICKED got horrible reviews in previews in SF and look what happened" comments:

Found a bunch of reviews that were mostly mixed, with many saying that there was great potential, lots of stuff did work, but it needed some revisions, especially in fleshing out Elphaba, etc. (The SF Chronicle said a "Spellbinding 'Wicked' a charming vision of Oz..." among it's assessment of the show)

We'll see what the current reviews will say, but having witnessed it myself, I really can't think of anything I would even keep.

[LilBwayLady]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 11:02pm

IM SO SICK OF THIS why are you all so closed minded....how could you say drew wasnt good....i mean you must have not been listening very well....dont you people have anything nice to say...i really hope none of the cast reads any of this crap because they were all so sweet and this would break their hearts....i cant believe this