The Financial Times (UK) is up early. They give it Three out of Five Stars:
"With vampire musicals, it is customary to say that they are “bloodless” or that they “lack bite.” With Lestat, however, the latest Broadway entrant in the crimson-kiss sweepstakes, to reach for a thematic put-down would be too easy. To this $12m adaptation of the first two volumes of Anne Rice’s popular Vampire Chronicles, the book writer Linda Woolverton, the composer Elton John, and the lyricist Bernie Taupin have each contributed honourably. But the mark of too many creative hands is evident. _______________________________________________________________
A narrative shape is now discernible, and the second act is worlds improved since California. The look of the show – crosses, rock-arena projections, a stage that occasionally erupts into flame – is impressive. Occasionally, the dramatically over-intense evening threatens to compel attention. “Right Before My Eyes,” for example, which Lestat sings to a sleeping Nicolas, has the beauty of a classic John-Taupin ballad, right down to the opening piano figure. But mood, music, and characterisation more often blur.
If Lestat is regrettably inconsistent as a standard entertainment, it retains a certain pop-cultural resonance. In the 1980s, when the second and third books of Rice’s trilogy were published, its motifs (the taint of blood, the search for a cure) seemed eerily relevant to the AIDS crisis, and the homoeroticism was especially brave. Today, the 18-35 demographic may not care about the show’s lack of a conventional love story. Young adults may love the long-tressed Lestat, sung with conviction by Hugh Panaro, precisely because of his post-Bowie pansexuality – the vampire’s hunger for a fix goes beyond gender, race, or class. But the vampire-musical genre still awaits something truly transcendent.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Actually I think Brendan Lemon -- the Financial Times critic -- is American and lives in New York. If it's the same Brendan Lemon, he used to be the editor-in-chief of OUT Magazine for many years (and a writer for the New Yorker).
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
". . . the book writer Linda Woolverton, the composer Elton John, and the lyricist Bernie Taupin have each contributed honourably."
LOL!!!
"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.
"A promising new contender has arrived in a crowded pharmaceutical field. Joining the ranks of Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata and other prescription lullaby drugs is "Lestat," the musical sleeping pill that opened last night at the Palace Theater.
Adapted from Anne Rice's cult novels "The Vampire Chronicles," and featuring songs by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, this portrait of blood suckers in existential crisis gives resounding credence to the legend that vampires are masters of hypnosis. Dare to look upon "Lestat" and keep your eyelids from growing heavier and heavier and heavier.
Remember when the fiends with the fangs were fun? In the late 1970's Frank Langella had 'em swooning in the aisles as the fatally erotic title character of "Dracula." But recently bat boys have been unable to get much respect from Broadway audiences.
Somewhere along the way it was decided that vampires were meant to sing and dance, leading to a series of undignified stage portrayals that should have had the Undead Anti-Defamation League up in arms (or wings) long ago.
"Lestat," the maiden Broadway production of Warner Brothers Theater Ventures, is the third vampire musical to open in the last few years, and it seems unlikely to break the solemn curse that has plagued the genre. Directed by Robert Jess Roth from a book by Linda Woolverton, the show admittedly has higher aspirations and (marginally) higher production values than the kitschy "Dance of the Vampires" (2002) and the leaden "Dracula: The Musical" (2004), both major-league flops. ______________________________________________________________
"Ms. Rice's novels can be similarly hokey. But the prose is steeped in an unwavering, baroque musicality that carries readers along despite themselves. "Lestat," which vacillates feebly between low tragedy and lower camp, has nothing like that self-assurance. The pulpy and mostly interchangeable songs by Sir Elton and Mr. Taupin, one of the most successful top-40 teams of all time ("Your Song," "Rocket Man"), are rarely the requisite purple but instead a synthetic shade of mauve.
The musical staging by Matt West consists of halfhearted pastiches, which include a vampire mythology number that bizarrely reworks Jerome Robbins's "Small House of Uncle Thomas" ballet in "The King and I." Derek McLane's sets are surprisingly minimal, with the most arresting effects generated by the light show that occurs anytime a new vampire is created. (The lighting is by Kenneth Posner, with "visual concept design" by Dave McKean.)
As for the actors, they mostly tend to make you think that vampires are a petulant lot, always complaining in sing-song voices about how lonely they are and what a drag it is to live forever. Theatergoers who want to resist the soporific spell of this whinefest may possibly find amusement (or indignation) in dissecting "Lestat" as an old-fashioned allegory of homosexuality as a life-warping affliction."
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
They're not making it any easier to refrain from the inevitable comment that "it sucks."
One would think that, after the expensive debacles that were "Dance of the Vampires" and "Dracula, the Musical," lessons would have been learned about the unsuitably of singing bloodsuckers on the Great White Way. But the folks at Warner Bros., apparently under the impression that the association of Elton John and novelist Anne Rice would make all the difference, have bravely charged ahead with "Lestat," inspired by Rice's "The Vampire Chronicles." The result is a third entry in an unholy theatrical trinity that should hopefully discourage any future such attempts.
Depicting the travails of its title character, first seen in "Interview With the Vampire," this laughable musical extravaganza unfortunately lacks the campy excess that made its predecessors so much unintentional fun, and is for the most part deadly dull. John's score, written with his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin, has a decidedly tossed-off feel; Linda Woolverton's book veers uneasily from melodrama to lowbrow humor; and director Robert Jess Roth's staging feels more than a little skimpy. _______________________________________________________________
Roth's solo previous Broadway credit is "Beauty and the Beast," so it comes as no surprise that his work here has a distinctly cartoonish quality. Visually, the expensive production is no great shakes to look at, either, with the now ubiquitous series of projections substituting for detailed scenery.
At several points, the main action is interrupted by scenes featuring the ragtag "Theater of the Vampires" troupe, with interpretive dance, no less. "If this makes you uneasy, feel free to leave (the) theater now," warns their leader. It is advice well worth taking."
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
"The show may be much improved, but it's still sadly beyond rescue.".
"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"
-----
"When the right doors didn't open for him, he went through the wrong ones" - "Sweet Bird of Youth"
------------
---------
"Passions" is uncancelled! See NBC.com for more info.
Oh well... I kind of expected it, since the critics probably gave the death sentence even when Lestat was on the drawing board. I just hope that the cast is recognized for their talent.
For some reason, I take these reviews really personally. LOL!
"All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."
Conan O'Brien
NY Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, NJ Star Ledger and maybe a few others like NY1, NY Observer, Time Out NY, Entertainment Weekly....are some of the reviews that haven't been posted yet.
"I've lost everything! Luis, Marty, my baby with Chris, Chris himself, James. All I ever wanted was love." --Sheridan Crane "Passions"
-------
"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"
-----
"When the right doors didn't open for him, he went through the wrong ones" - "Sweet Bird of Youth"
------------
---------
"Passions" is uncancelled! See NBC.com for more info.
Sorry. Yes. Those are some of the reviews that haven't been posted yet.
"I've lost everything! Luis, Marty, my baby with Chris, Chris himself, James. All I ever wanted was love." --Sheridan Crane "Passions"
-------
"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"
-----
"When the right doors didn't open for him, he went through the wrong ones" - "Sweet Bird of Youth"
------------
---------
"Passions" is uncancelled! See NBC.com for more info.