Why was Dracula cancelled?

[BwayTday]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 2:35am

I'm curious...

[Rudy2]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 2:40am

I saw it. The acting was subpar, the story unengaging, the lyrics hazy and the music unhummable. I think that might have something to do with it. :)

[BwayTday]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 2:53am

I figured it was something along those lines.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 3:08am

Overall, I thought the acting was pretty good. C'mon, Rudy - Tom Hewitt, Kelli O'Hara, Chris Hoch, Don Stephenson? Problem was they had nothing to work with. Everything else you've said I'll agree to whole-heartedly, though how they managed to screw up a story like Dracula is beyond me.

Gorgeous sets and lighting, though.
Updated On: 7/9/09 at 03:08 AM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 3:29am

Everyone has their own opinion. Personally, I feel like the show at the La Jolla Playhouse was a million times better than what ended up on Broadway. Once they replaced the first three songs on Broadway with sub par versions of their La Jolla counterparts the whole dynamic of the show changed and there was nothing the rest of the material could do to save the lousy opening. Add to that the fact that the book and lyrics still needed some work and that it was a Frank Wildhorn show and the critics and critical audiences were going into the theatre already deciding to hate it -- it really had no chance.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 6:48am

It's the curse of Des McAnuff.

DRACULA had something reallllly intriguing about it. I actually think it's Wildhorn's best...

[Justin D]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 8:16am

I liked it up to the second half, where it elt all of a sudden like "hey we'd better end this soon" and it all finished quickly and i was left wondering what the plot weally was all about.

But i loved most of the sets

[Holbee]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 10:47am

Because, besides Wildhorn, every other person on the very talented creative staff was there solely for the paycheck. Clearly. Awful dramaturgy, heinous lyrics, subpar direction... And it was really no better in La Jolla then on Broadway, possibly better on B'way only because of the new cast members...

[dramadude]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 10:55am

I liked the show, especially the scenic design and the fly rigging. I mean, c'mon, seeing Tom Hewitt sing upside down... it was worth the ticket price. Melissa Errico was a true gem. She needs to come back to Broadway.

One of the first few numbers involved a series of doors rising up from the stage, which looked amazing. There were some good songs, my favorite would have to be "Life After Life". In all fairness, it lasted a few months more than Lestat. Updated On: 7/9/09 at 10:55 AM

[nydirector2]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 11:10am

Because Kelli O'hara's nude scene was way too brief and in the dark and Melissa Erico's boobs were just weird looking in the position they had her in and her remaining costume.

[philly03]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 1:03pm

DRACULA, the musical had too many problems with it -- many of which are listed above.

Frank, or whoever, decided that they would use 3 synth. keyboards, a keyboard, a woodwind and drums .. making a huge orchestra of 6 instruments.

Also with what someone else said: As someone who really didn't know the Dracula story to begin with (besides the general ideas), you would be completely confused. Not to mention with lyrics like "If I could fly / i'd fly away from you; I wish I had wings / no, that's not true! If I had wings / how could I help / flying straight to you" ... but it makes no referrence if she means to Harker (her husband) or Dracula!

The sets/stunts were phenom...some of the best I've still seen. Tom Hewitt going from old looking, to bitting someone to young again? Awesome!

I assume you mean why was the Concept Album cancelled even?

While they added some nice songs to it ("At Last," "Please Don't Make Me Love You," and of course "Loving You Keeps Me Alive"), Frank got in "trouble" because he attempted to short-cut AEA / the actors involved with the production.

He had a whole other cast lined up to do the concept album, and sent a message to the cast saying they wouldn't be used...which ticked off just about everyone, meaning the last month of performances were even worse than before. That'd be why people like Kelli O'Hara and Chuck Wagner don't do Wildhorn stuff anymore!

So on top of that drama, Frank's/Jeremy Robert's recording company (Global Visions Records - you can still hear soundclips, I know they took off several Barbuor ones) still did it, but they were facing some sort of charge/punishment from AEA, not to mention that they couldn't see them making back nearly enough of the money for it - so it was pulled.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 2:04pm

Not quite the way it happened, Philly, but not too far off, either. Wildhorn absolutely did not inform the cast he had hired other actors to record the album during the run of Dracula. Rather he told them he was shopping around a deal to record with them, the original cast, while all the while he was asking other Broadway actors if they wanted to do the concept recording. Behind the casts' backs.

Broadway being the small town that it is, eventually, and without naming names, one of the well-known actors contacted was offended by what was going on and promptly informed his close friend who happened to be in Dracula's cast - and all hell broke loose in the theater. That was how they found out the concept album was being recorded - not from Wildhorn. Wildhorn issued a memo of explanation of his actions in the theater the next day.

I can't find them at the moment, but there's at least two threads that discuss this at length, that Jeremy Roberts posted in, and there are some links in those threads to articles where Ms O'Hara and Mr Wagner discuss this very issue. I'll try to find them later.

[Rudy2]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 2:10pm

Ghostlight - fair enough. It has been some time, and sometimes when material is that saggy it compromises the actors' abilities. I am still glad I saw this one, if only because it is intriguing to have seen such a tremendous belly flop.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 2:20pm

Wouldn't argue that for a second, Rudy. I mean, why hire an actor with a face as expressive as Hewitt's then essentially forbid him to use it? I actually like Des MacAnuff, but this was a huge misfire. A waste of talent and source material.

Pity, because it really was so pretty.

[philly03]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 2:20pm

Actually - some of the music is breathtaking/his best. I think "If I Could Fly" is one of his best melodies...if only it hadn't had lyrics that meant nothing.

Other highlights included for me "Loving You Keeps Me Alive" (not on Broadway, although!), "The Heart is Slow to Learn" and "Before the Summer Ends."

Frank must have liked Black's lyrics enough (which have always been SO general/dry - "Unexpected Song"? "New Ways to Dream"? etc.), Don Black IS Mr Wildhorn lyrcist for 'Bonnie & Clyde,' which will premiere at ...... La Jolla this fall. Repeat? Uh-oh!

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 2:32pm

Because it sucked.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 2:44pm

I was waiting for that, but it took twelve hours longer than I thought it would.

[howardbf]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 5:29pm

Damn you, MadBrian. That's EXACTLY what I was going to say.

[tourboi]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 7:28pm

The book was confusing, and plodded along at an excruciatingly slow pace. The score was one of Wildhorn's most forgetful and dull to listen to (with some exceptions... "Life After Life," and "First Taste" were decent). The set's and effects were nice, but that alone doesn't make a show.

Direction was sporadic and unfocused. Whenever they couldn't figure out how to change scenes, they just flew Tom Hewitt across the stage at random and for NO explainable reason (I hope he earned frequent flier miles).

It was, simply, a great big mess.

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 7/9/09 at 8:16pm

I don't get the use of the word "canceled." It did run on Broadway- just not very long.

That said, it was quite possibly one of the most dreadful things I have seen.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/10/09 at 7:57pm

Disagree with those who did not like it but everyone to his or her opinion.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/10/09 at 8:14pm

Indeed, canceled, or even better, cancelled, as the op called it, is incorrect terminology.

Close. Shows close. They don't get "canceled". That would be for TV shows.

And while Dracula may have appealed to several people on this board-it simply didn't garner enough interest to turn a profit. That's why it closed. It may be some of his best work but Wildhorn at his best still isn't that great.

[philly03]

Posted: 7/10/09 at 8:32pm

That's why I started listing info about the Concept Album...I figure by canceled that's what they meant!

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/11/09 at 11:03am

CATSNYrevival: So the pre-Broadway version was better? Yup, sounds like a Wildhorn show.

I had no idea about the backstage drama, btw. I just knew that the show got absolutely terrible reviews.

[philly03]

Posted: 7/11/09 at 1:25pm

It actually ran longer than The Civil War on Broadway (but TCW has had a much longer/known life) and The Scarlet Pimpernel: SP3, which many say was the best version of that show (it did work better in an intimate theatre, as opposed to the Minskoff!). So I suppose it wasn't a ... total waste? Hahahaha.