Lestat Reviews — Page 4

3Penny definitely did better than this!

Awwwwwwwwww does this mean that there will be no Buffy the Vampire Slayer Musical?.... and I so wanted to see Sara Michelle Gellar in her Broadway debut

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I like to consider myself a fair person (unlike some "critics" here) and I sympathize for the people who may suffer at this show's fate. It seems so easy, for everyone, to sit around and judge a show without having any idea the amount of time and energy that has been invested. Not all shows succeed.

From the concept to the writing - which takes years alone - to the execution, the production announcements (which also take years) to the auditions, rehearsal processes, out-of-town try-outs and the production itself. These are huge goals and expensive endeavours coming from the combined forces of creative minds. Fair enough if you have an opinion but don't keep shoving it down my throat.

I'll be fair. I'll admit I was absolutely loathed with Dance of the Vampires and I have my opinions on that universally known. However, this is biased. I have been a fan of the music of Jim Steinman since a very small age: it was a major dream of mine to, one day, come over and see a Steinman musical onstage.. and not in the way that D.O.T.V. was butchered. I was so disappointed at what could have been an excellent opportunity to replicate the masterpiece running in Germany. But that wasn't to be...

Lestat was being built from the ground-up. I have no interest in any of the people involved with this production. I have interest with anything to do with Dance of the Vampires and will continue to make known my feelings and opinions on that failure (because I feel it's a means of exorcising my disappointment with what Steinman & his fans had to go through). I believe this is totally different.

These people have come together, all great talents (superior, by far, than the people who contributed to Dance of the Vampires). The one weak link, IMO, is Robert Jess Roth.. who I really felt was not suited to this show.

To make my point clear, I have spoken to many actors in the industry and they have told me consistently it's the fans on the message-boards who cause all the crap. 90% have never seen the show and judge it on word-of-mouth (from memory I think you only saw it in San Francisco. You have to see it in New York before you make your judgement.. not to mention repeating it ad nauseam and making me, basically, choke to death on it). I don't care what anyone says.. I'm not going to sit here and read absolute slaughter everytime I come here.

I expect to meet mature fans of musical theatres not vultures and predators who see a little snippet of something and damn it all for everyone else. And yes that's what I feel a LOT of people have been doing. It's immensely discouraging to me as a fan of musical theatre. It's all this crappy internet hype that feeds rubbish - misplaced opinions - to the real public who, subsequently, formulate uninformed opinions and lead to the demise of a musical. It's like the old "trading the red paper clip" routine on Google.. until you've traded in with a mansion in Beverly Hills.

I am a composer of musical theatre, I'd hate to think that 100% of my audience went home enjoying themselves then to have 1000% uninformed morons coming onto the web providing a load of crap that taint the rest of the public who, in my belief, will probably end up enjoying the show to a great extent. It deeply offends me and I will not keep my opinions quiet at the expense of a dozen "damnations" here and there...

I also don't appreciate being called a fool. I don't think I'm a fool at all, I think I've been through a lot and have the right to comment on things I think I understand. At least calling me a fool is an uninformed opinion because it's simply not true. Just like randomly walking in and judging a work-in-development, with no concept at how much time and money and effort has gone into it, is un-informed.

I apologize if this offends anyone but that is how I feel.

This board is one of the most cutthroat communities on the web, IMO.

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Updated On: 4/26/06 at 04:51 AM

"This board is one of the most cutthroat communities on the web, IMO"

Dude, I hate to say it, but I gotta agree with ya there. I only recently joined this board mostly to discuss Lestat as it was going through all it's changes. I've only gotten into Musical Theater in the last 4 years or so, so as I newbie I often felt like a poser posting here, as my knowledge of musical theater is FAR less than most of the people who post here. Still, I love the shows I love, and was eagerly looking forward to Lestat as the Vampire Chronicles are my favorite books of all time. But NOTHING could have prepared me for the negativaty around here, and really the downright snobbery. Not everyone obviously, there are a lot of great posters here, but this place is pretty thick with "I hates" more than "I loves". I'm far more of a horror/fantasy/comics/movie geek, and I thought THAT online community was the worst, until now! LOL Honestly, most of these of reviews have really hammered home how much elitism and snobbery there is surrounding musical theater, and it's frankly a turn off to a newbie like me. I really have no problem at all with negative reviews that criticize the songs or the staging or the performances...having seen the show in SF I also had problems with much of that. However, SO MANY of the reviews, both the professional ones and the ones here, are filled with things like "It takes itself too seriously" or "let's hope there are no more vampire musicals on Broadway after this!" and so on. Jesus, with an attitude like that about the source material, how can I think they are anything BUT biased against it? Frankly, I can't think of ANY other storytelling format, be it novels or Movies or Television, that has more elitism about what is "appropriate". ANYTHING is appropriate if done well. Hell, Schinler's List could be a could musical if done right ( OK, it would be hard, but you get my point )So many shows (like Wicked for example, which I actually love, btw ) take a complex book, gut it to it's core, and make a great musical out of it. What Wicked did was really easier; It's far easier to take something, change it almost totally for mass consumption and make a crowd pleaser out of it. What Elton, Bernie and Co. tried to do was maybe too ambitious...maybe they did bite off more than they could chew, but hell, at least they didn't compromise and decided to do it anyways. Sometimes, an interesting failure is more intriguing than a resounding success.

knows_too_much, I wasn't refering to the source material itself, but rather what was left in the lyrics, music, and book of the show. I found Interview With the Vampire itself to be a great load of fun to read and was disappointed that so much of what made it charming was missing in Lestat. I might see it again, since I can get cheap seats and I'm curious to see how it has changed since I last saw it.

In my defense, I don't think I'm unfairly criticizing the show - I try to keep my public opinions about shows I dislike civil. I haven't gone around blindly badmouthing the cast of Lestat, because I believe they are a talented ensemble stuck with what I think is bad material. I don't look down my nose at anyone who enjoyed it, either, or any show that I don't like, for that matter. People, especially with the anonymity of the internet, are generally going to be more vocal opinions. I just take it with a grain of salt and keep from labeling people snobs or nitwits for their personal tastes.

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Updated On: 4/26/06 at 06:05 AM

Before opening, I was eagerly waiting to see LESTAT on my next NYC trip in November, but after all the reviews I don't think I am that interested. Plus, it looks it won't be around by that time !
So, what do you think is going at the Palace after that ?

The BBC has posted a story summarising some of the early reviews (coz us Brits apparently like to know what Eltons up to *rolls eyes*)

Critics lay into Elton's musical

Sir Elton John's vampire musical Lestat has had its Broadway premiere - but has been savaged by critics.

Industry newspaper Variety said the show was "beyond rescue", while the New York Times' influential Ben Brantley called it "a musical sleeping pill".

The Hollywood Reporter, meanwhile, said it was "laughable" and "deadly dull".

Using the novels of Anne Rice, the musical is based on the bloodsucking character played by Tom Cruise in the 1994 film Interview with the Vampire.

Co-written by Sir Elton's songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, it opened at New York's Palace Theatre on Tuesday following a short run in San Francisco in January.


That version also received stinging reviews, although Sir Elton told reporters "80%" of the show had since been changed.

"I'd be an absolute liar if I said I'm not nervous about it being a flop," he said.

"All I know is that we've done the best we can."

Lestat's critics have compared it to two previous vampire musicals that did not survive for long on Broadway.

Theres more but I'll not waste space w/it. If you're interested:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4941488.stm

The Philadelphia Inquirer is very negative.

"Mothered by author Anne Rice, the vampires surely have their own problems, but theirs are a walk in Central Park compared to those of the Broadway actors condemned to the stage of Times Square's Palace Theatre."

" Lestat, which opened last night, is no Anne Rice. In this highly packaged, machine-milled production, Lestat is Anne Rice-A-Roni."

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/14428085.htm

"So, what do you think is going at the Palace after that?"

My guess would be either the new Bob Dylan-Twyla Tharp musical "The Times The Are A-Changin'" or "The Wiz".

rockfenris,
I think we are kindred spirits. LOL!! I know exactly where you are coming from. I agree with you %100. I am avid lover of theater and have been so my whole life. I have seen the greatest shows and the worst flops. Most of the flops deemed by the critics however I found were not as bad as they had painted them. In fact with all the shows i have seen in NYC I can hardly say that I walked out of one regretting every moment. I saw DOTV and though i understand your frustration, I had no prioe knowledge of the show or its reviews. I just happened to be in town for work and I saw Michael Crawford was in a show so I went on a whim with no expectations.......I had the best time. I totally got the intention behind the show...it was meant to be tounge in cheak. I was blown away by the overture and it set the tone perfectly. I walked out of there more impressed than I did walking out of Dracula, that is for sure. And I love Wildhorn's work. I even met him and talked with him before the show.

Listen, everyone knows the horrible reviews Lord of the Rings got in Toronto. I saw the show and loved it. I just dont trust negative people anymore on boards and critics. Kudos to the USA Today reporter, they spoke from their heart and not to try and be negative for the sake of it. I am coming to the city this weekend and I am also coming back in August. I already have my show picked out for this sat. but I hope to see Lestat for myself in August. Hey, it could make. LOTR has and has even extended its run. Go figure.

Hey, Rock,
Do you have that song from Batman. I have been following the progress of that concept for years. I would love to hear it!

Variety is Negative:

"Die young. Live forever. At least half that tagline likely will prove prescient in describing the fate of "Lestat" on Broadway. Warner Bros. deserves some respect for remaining committed to fixing a beleaguered project, pumping considerable financial and creative resources into the vampire musical since its critical hammering during the San Francisco tryout in January. But ultimately, the studio's nascent theatrical division has done no favors to the lost souls wandering the Palace Theater stage. After "Dance of the Vampires" and "Dracula," it might be time to nail the coffin lid shut on all belting bloodsuckers.
The show may be much improved, but it's still sadly beyond rescue. While its fundamental problems are manifold, chief among them is unwieldy, densely plotted source material that resists this kind of presentation; and a profound mismatch of that material with the creative talent involved.

In his first theatrical pairing with lyricist Bernie Taupin, Elton John's songs lean mainly toward lush, bloated ballads in the Andrew Lloyd Webber or Frank Wildhorn musical vernacular, occasionally dipping into a pop mode that only dimly recalls the songwriting team's evergreen collaborations of the 1970s. Rarely does the music adequately reflect the dark complexity or propel the busy narrative of goth-lit priestess Anne Rice's pulpy "The Vampire Chronicles" saga.

The more significant drawback, however, is a director, Robert Jess Roth, and writer, Linda Woolverton, ill-suited to the project. Having collaborated on Disney's long-running "Beauty and the Beast," Roth and Woolverton employ a storytelling style still stuck in the simplistic strokes of that kid-friendly show, lurching episodically from one incident to the next without getting under the skin of Rice's undead characters.

Denied psychological texture and anything beyond a cursory grounding in Rice's elaborate vampire mythology, this condensed tale -- set in the 18th century and lifted primarily from "Interview With the Vampire" and "The Vampire Lestat" -- seems merely silly, a collision of over-earnest melodrama and unintentional camp."

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117930323?categoryId=33&cs=1

Newark Star-Ledger is Negative:

"A vast border of black and purple crepe frames the stage where "Lestat" crash-landed last night.

Better to drape the Palace Theatre marquee in all that funereal bunting, since the new musical it proclaims is dead on arrival.

From a frantic opening, as the blood-spattered title figure exults over his massacre of a wolf pack, to an abrupt finale as he declares his immortality 250 years later -- and, oh, the tedium makes it feels twice as long -- "Lestat" is a lifeless, joyless botch of Anne Rice's "The Vampire Chronicles."

Damned beyond redemption by Linda Woolverton's unimaginative adaptation, which sketches a series of repetitive plot points, the musical is shrouded in a bombastic score by Elton John and Bernie Taupin that echoes only with emptiness.
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Will this relentless cycle never end? Bats in the belfry, Bela, will this monotonous pop-operetta never end?

Noooo ... because here comes yet another thundering power ballad from John, shackled to clanking lyrics by Taupin, such as Lestat's "Sail Me Away" lament: "I'm tired, I've been torn, a cruel, wretched storm/Churns like a gale in my bones/Oh sail me away, carry me back to my home." And here's a gem from a different aria: "Tear the wings off angels that would lift me from your heart." Such fustian wordplay might wing upon a Victor Herbert melody of 1906 vintage, but today they drop like chunks of blue ice from the nowhere of John's shockingly banal music.
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Hack director Robert Jess Roth's gloomy bore involves melting video images, criss-crossing scenic panels and resounding sound effects that suggest a minimalist spookhouse. Actually, the scariest thing about "Lestat" is that Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures reportedly dumped more than $12 million into this terribly under-cooked Rice pudding. "

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/ledger/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/11460297097720.xml&coll=1



The Daily News is Negative:

"Otherwise the material itself is flat - never truly imaginative, never betraying a sense of irony, which might act as a leavening agent (as in the 1977 nonmusical "Dracula," with Frank Langella's unforgettable performance).

The supporting cast is strong, especially Michael Genet as a senior vampire. Derek McLane's sets - especially a brooding Sphinx - are full of the appropriate phantasmagoric charm. Susan Hilferty's costumes are similarly lush.

The mediocrity of "Lestat" might be an obstacle for the average theatergoer, but it should provide none for fans of Elton and Rice."


http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/411989p-348456c.html


Journal News is Negative:

""Lestat," a new musical that opened last night at the Palace Theatre, is almost bad enough to be good.

Almost, but not quite.

This show has been worked on so much since a disastrous tryout in San Francisco that what's left is the beat-up skeleton of a musical. It has been cut down so much that there's practically nothing left.
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But there's not much scenery to speak of, either in Paris or New Orleans. Most of the $12-million budget for this show seems to have gone into the costumes by Susan Hilferty, and the hallucinogenic projections each time somebody gets it in the neck.

Perhaps "Lestat" is a missed opportunity. Or maybe it's just a doomed effort to translate Rice's hopelessly dense prose to the Broadway stage.

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060426/LIFESTYLE01/604260301/1031

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Jimnysf, I think everyone's issue is the way you deal with your loathing of this show. I've spoken to people who haven't even seen the show, and have no respect for your opinion because of the way you present yourself.

Walt, I see you have finally surfaced, again. As I said, enough with the personal attacks. Since you decided to go there, I will say this. (To quote from your personal attack on me, one of several you have made I might add) I don't respect your opinions either because of the way you present yourself. So there.

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Updated On: 4/26/06 at 11:37 AM