Munk's LESTAT review- Page 2

[thespian geek]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 9:13pm

Gabrielle shows up and says something like "You promised me you would never seek to end it without us coming together"

LMAO

Gabrielle thinks Lestat was suicidal?! Ahahahahaha.. oh my God, that's hilarious.

The ending with Gabrielle may be "better", but it makes absolutely no sense. Gabrielle doesn't have the healing/old blood Lestat needs to mend like Marius does. Lestat made her, so how does that work?

Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention during the show, and they just don't mention it takes old blood to heal from wounds like that. Or maybe I'm just confused because I was in the process of reading the novels when I saw the show.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 9:22pm

I swear that "seek to end it" line was there in SF, at the end of Act 2. After she said that, they kissed.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 10:02pm

I was mistaken when I said the last line was Carmello's "Drink my blood." That happens, then, Lestat does - as said earlier - come back to say "I am Lestat, and I will live forever."

However, as he drinks here blood, there is no rising up in the air at all. It was a black out, then literally a split second later he showed up on the edge of the stage in modern clothing. What an embarrasing ending.

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 11:20pm

Gabrielle thinks Lestat was suicidal?! Ahahahahaha.. oh my God, that's hilarious.

The ending with Gabrielle may be "better", but it makes absolutely no sense. Gabrielle doesn't have the healing/old blood Lestat needs to mend like Marius does. Lestat made her, so how does that work?

Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention during the show, and they just don't mention it takes old blood to heal from wounds like that. Or maybe I'm just confused because I was in the process of reading the novels when I saw the show.

And she tells him to get up, he says "my legs are shattered!" and refuses...and then like three seconds later he's up and walking.

From what I remember from the books, although older blood's better, any vampire can help cure another vampire. Albeit not so quickly.

[thespian geek]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 12:33am

And she tells him to get up, he says "my legs are shattered!" and refuses...and then like three seconds later he's up and walking.

I will say, when he finally did get up and walk, the way it was done the only thing I could think of was "Love Is My Legs" from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Cue me trying to not laugh, anyway.

From what I remember from the books, although older blood's better, any vampire can help cure another vampire. Albeit not so quickly.

Which is why it made more sense for him to drink off of Marius, since they cut Akasha out of the story. But whatever.. I guess that's one of many parts where the power of your imagination is supposed to take hold. Or you're just supposed to completely forget how things were in the books.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 1:31am

And why was Marius made to look like The Mikado?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 2:11am

In reply to: "Gabrielle shows up and says something like "You promised me you would never seek to end it without us coming together"
Gabrielle thinks Lestat was suicidal?! Ahahahahaha.. oh my God, that's hilarious."

I don't think that they did that to show that Lestat was suidical, per say. He's completely broken emotionally and physically at this point after multiple failed relationships and what seems like a fruitless "lifetime" in New Orleans. Not sure about the Broadway version, but this line came right after "Crimson Kiss" in SF when Gabrielle decides to leave. It's a nice tieback to Act 1...going full-circle. And echoing the line perhaps allows Lestat to remember the promise to his mother and gives him the motivation to endure immortality. I like the change...it's rather dramatic. *shrugs*

~Rosalynn

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 2:55am

Corny, more like it.

I think Marius is supposed to be the vampire Buddha, considering his dress and bald head and etc. I dunno.

I hated how they turned this into Lestat's journey for redemption. It was redundant, and not very well executed. Obviously that's a terribly interesting topic and a lot of better writers have written about it, but Bernie Taupin just kills it. Kills it.

[thespian geek]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 2:57am

Maybe it's something I would need to see. The original line is still after Crimson Kiss, you're right, but seeing that it's said in a context that could very well come across as Gabrielle thinking Lestat's trying to kill himself... is just laughable to me.

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 3:24am

>From what I remember from the books, although older blood's >better, any vampire can help cure another vampire. Albeit not >so quickly.

Which is why it made more sense for him to drink off of Marius, since they cut Akasha out of the story. But whatever.. I guess that's one of many parts where the power of your imagination is supposed to take hold. Or you're just supposed to completely forget how things were in the books.

Oh, I wasn't disagreeing with you. It does make more sense for him to drink from Marius, as he does in the book at one point. When I saw the show, Marius basically had a cameo...five seconds at the end of Act I; a short scene at the beginning of Act II. That was all.

of course, there's nothing in that show that matched the books. I am still upset about Armand and don't even get me started on Marius...horrid. The only character they really seemed to keep faithful to the book was Claudia to an extent.

[thespian geek]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 3:30am

I am still upset about Armand and don't even get me started on Marius...horrid. The only character they really seemed to keep faithful to the book was Claudia to an extent.

What was so wrong with Armand? I liked him more in the musical than I do in the book. LOL Claudia (and Louis - IMO) were the most like their book counterparts, though, I'll agree.

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 4:40am

Just about everything was wrong with Armand. In the book he's a teenager; he's not pure evil, and Marius does adore him. He's supposed to be more of a Javert-type character...he believes in the coven because that law is all he has. They could have made him really intriguing but instead they made him a stock villain...I liked some of the musical-Armand's flip comments but that was so OC for the book.
Updated On: 4/12/06 at 04:40 AM

[thespian geek]

Posted: 4/12/06 at 4:50am

I didn't find musical!Armand to be completely villianous, personally. And I was in the process of reading The Vampire Lestat when I saw the show.

Though I'll agree on the bit about Marius actually liking Armand in the story - I hated the fact that in the musical, Marius dislikes Armand because he's made out to be a complete psychopath (even though he's not all that sane in the books, either)...whereas in the books, Marius says Armand was a mistake - or whatever - because Marius made him when he was too young. Ah well... the musical is an, uh, adaptation afterall.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 2:10am

I just saw it earlier and the ending now has Lestat drinking from Marius and they both rise up a-la Cats and its really random and corny, then blackout. Hugh reappears in normal looking clothing aside from a horrid shirt and a wheeled-on lamppost to say his final line. I think that ending killed the show for me. That and Marius's appearance were a bit too much for me. Yes some of the lyrics were sucky and soooooooo repetitive(Beautiful Boy/I want more/thirst)
Otherwise I loved this show and found it fascinating. Just for the record, only 2 of the books were included, the Vampire Lestat and Interview with a Vampire, no QOTD. The acting was pretty good, some of the songs I loved, especially the New World song, and the best written and represented part with substance was Claudia.
I wish they ended the show with maybe an original ending, perhaps with hugh and carolee coming out in jeans and a miniskirt respectively in N.Y. or a European city or something and new dialogue and stuff to show that they could be out there and stuff. I say this purely from the context of the show and having only like 1 minute to end it, as opposed to Hugh running out and throwing out a line that wouldn't be so damn corny if he wasn't in some salmon colored shirt and a small lamppost next to him for random value.
I love the show but some parts were a little misguided.

[DG]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 2:13am

"I just saw it earlier and the ending now has Lestat drinking from Marius and they both rise up a-la Cats and its really random and corny, then blackout. Hugh reappears in normal looking clothing aside from a horrid shirt and a wheeled-on lamppost to say his final line."

That is exactly the ending I saw almost two weeks ago. Well, I say I saw it - but that was really only what I could discern while I was slumped over the empty seat next to me laughing hysterically.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 2:21am

I honestly looked at my friend as the curtain was going down at the end of Act 1 like "what the hell did I just see?". Between Marius's entrance in act 1 and that whole finale bit, I was kind of sad that it did that. It sort of brought down the stuff before it which I actually liked!
At least I didn't see these wolf puppets I heard he used to fight off and kill or something?

[jimnysf]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 2:22am

It is truly a dreadful show. Probably the worst I have ever seen in many years of going to the theatre! When this show opens to the critics and the bad word of mouth gets around, it will be gone from the Palace pretty quickly.

[DG]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 2:25am

jim - not really quickly - look at the pre-sale figures. It's astonishing what a 'name' or two can bring about - no matter how fetid the product.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 2:33am

It is sad but I agree about the names. If the producers weren't afraid of ticking off Elton John, they would have shut this show down in San Francisco, just as the producers of "The Mambo Kings" did with that show. Funny thing is "Mambo" looks great compared to "Lestat".

Updated On: 4/16/06 at 02:33 AM

[DG]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 2:36am

Ultimately, though, they are most likely going to make money. And if that was their only goal, then God bless them.

I can't believe they got so much of my money to add to their pile.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 2:38am

In the latest Playbill articles, there was one in about the figures from S.F. and they made over 4 million dollars! It was actually quite full today too and from what I was told, the advance sales are pretty good. I think this one might not die as quickly as many want it to. I want to see it again after opening

[jimnysf]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 2:47am

In SF, it was part of a subscription series so many seats were sold as part of that package. The rest were most likely purchased in advance by unsuspecting theatre goers, like myself, who expected a good show but got garbage instead. Also, they had more performances than the previous San Francisco record holder for a tryout show, "Wicked". I purchased my "Lestat" ticket the day they went on sale for a date late in the run. I went on a Friday night and there were many empty seats in the orchestra which leads me to believe that some people decided not to waste their time even though they paid for the tickets. Also, many never returned after Intermission. I stayed waiting for it to get better and it showed some promise for a few moments in Act 2 when Cladia delivered her song but the promise was never fulfilled. Let's not forget that "Saturday Night Fever" also had a big advance sale but didn't last as long as it was expected to.

[blaxx]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 3:03am

This better not close too early, it sounds like the funniest musical in a while, a real must see!

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 4/16/06 at 3:36am

During the SF there was always a center row in the orchestra that was reserved/blocked off for Elton and crew if they suddenly materialized to see the show.

When my companion and I went to pick up our tickets, the guy in the booth bumped us up into the end of Elton's row. The rest of the theatre was packed. Elton didn't show btw, if he had I would have been sitting next to him. Damn...