Will we ever see a cast album for Lestat?- Page 2

[romgitsean]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 10:12pm

I thought San Francisco was near perfect. The finale was gorgeous--don't even get me started. Perfect. At least the show's memory is preserved in other public forums...

I blame Elton and Linda's ego for the show flopping. I don't think it was really the music that was all bad (although, certainly, Elton pushed Bernie away a LOT, and the lyrics were very, very, very, weak and some songs proved to clearly be less than brilliant in comparison to any EJ/Bernie collaborations - "To Live Like This" - anyone?) as much as it was the lack of characters. It's very hard to explain how vampires really don't have the same morals that humans do; and that in their world--everyone's connected by blood anyway, so a lover can take any sort of form (I am of course, referring to Gabrielle and Lestat's incestious relationship).

I found it so strange that Claudia was characterized almost point-blank while Lestat, Gabrielle, Marius, Armand and Nicholas were very ill-characterized. The first act broke that show. Had they really cleaned up the first act, and really changed a few songs/sequences, the show would still be running. And that includes keeping the San Francisco ending, which, while, yes, slightly campy, provided a nice resolution.

I mean, how can you deny this line:

LESTAT. The blood, Marius. We are bound through the blood...her blood which flows through us all. No one we've loved is ever lost to us....mortal...immortal. The blood binds us all until the end of time.

Beautiful, right? Plus, cutting Origin of the Species and replacing it with that catastrophe Morality Play? They found some elements in San Fran to be confusing, so replaced them with even more confusing elements instead of just clarifying the old ones.

Lestat is a PERFECT example on how a show can be so good out of town, and get really nervous really fast, and make really sudden changes in New York. Bad changes happen all too often, unfortunately.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 10:15pm

I thought San Francisco was near perfect. The finale was gorgeous--don't even get me started. Perfect. At least the show's memory is preserved in other public forums...

OMG SERIOUSLY WTF.

I saw it 3 times in San Francisco because I hate myself, not because I loved it.. and YOU YOU YOU SIR OR MADAM are an example of the downfall OF MODERN THEATRE!!!!!

*flail*

"Near perfect"?!

[Basely Tearful]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 10:22pm

I think it's possible to enjoy Lestat and other such shows for their camp value (and occassional moments of greatness) but you're fooling yourself if you thought Lestat was near perfect. I'd have your aesthetic examined as soon as possible at the nearest musical theatre emergency room.

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 11:34pm

I don't think Armand or Gabriel were ill characterized at all. They were spot on, actually. The only characters who got f___ed over in the musical were Marius and Nicholas.

No, the show wasn't perfect. But it was perfect to me and I don't care what anyone says because I love it still. I had no problems with any part of the show except for the lame projections and then when they hacked off the end. But I loved the score. I think Lestat's score is 10 x better than Billy Elliot's. And there was nothing wrong with the lyrics. And yes, parts were campy but you can't have a musical about vampires without camp, period.

I think that staging it at The Palace was a big mistake, and Drew should've been Lestat all along, and all those revisions really messed things up, but mainly I think they just didn't give the show enough time. It never even got a chance to get off the ground.

So yeah, anyway. Wow, I haven't talked about this musical in like two years, lol..
Updated On: 12/2/09 at 11:34 PM

[timote316]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 11:44pm

I'm thinking LizzieCurry's post may be the best post regarding Lestat in the history of BWW.

[Little-Lotte]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 1:26am

And yet, as Revolutionary so clearly pointed out, a new thread about the cast album or other such stuff comes around every few months. I mean it is 4 years now since it premiered in San Fran and yet people still bring it up, out of the blue. I think that says something whether you want to believe it or not. Different strokes for different folks.

[Q]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 2:19am

My husband left at intermission of this atrocity. I stayed, to keep our companions company.

At the climax of the second act, I burst out laughing and hurled myself into the empty seat beside me convulsed with laughter. The entire orchestra section started to laugh with me, and many started to applaud.

This was, without doubt, the most ridiculous theater event I've ever attended. The fact that I experienced it at THE PALACE is almost incomprehensible to me.

How anyone could want ANY kind of reminder of this idiocy - much less the 'score' (used VERY loosely!) - is beyond me.

[Shawk]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 2:33am

I saw Lestat twice in SF, and I can assure you it was not anywhere near perfect, although from what I heard, it wouldn't surprise me to know it was worse on Broadway.

The finale in SF was ridiculous. Suddenly Lestat was singing about the (un)life lessons he had learned, with numerous characters we never met in the musical? "Origin of the Species" was incomprehensible (although I was amused by the giant spinning head things). The act one finale was also nonsensical ("Defying Dirt?"). I don't think anyone who wasn't intimately familiar with the books would have understood any of those scenes in any meaningful way, and even if people somehow did, they still weren't especially great. The show tried to cover way too much ground and totally lost focus in the process.

The problems didn't stop there. Bernie Taupin's lyrics were clunky. The music was okay but apparently Elton John was uninterested in being available to work on the show; he presented his portion as is and expected everyone else to figure it out from there. I don't know what Linda Woolverton was on (anyone remember the video where she was saying something about how she sees people as prey now?). The staging was often overwrought (those dreadful projections were no exception), as was the acting, and even good acting couldn't save some of the poor writing (Carolee Carmello and Jim Stanek really tried, though).

There was a lot of hype about the musical before it came out, and after the bad reviews and quick demise of the show, I really doubt Elton John is interested in doing anything other than pretending it never happened.

I bet Hugh Panaro will be singing "Sail Me Away" in concert for the indefinite future, though.

As Lestat said in one of the tedious voice-overs, "Pain... and pain... and pain."

However, I will say that Lestat was one of the most entertaining musicals I have seen in my life. Then again, I have an attraction to things that are really, really bad.

Posted: 12/3/09 at 6:28am

"well everyone in the universe already has the 8 track promo and the elton- sung demo and all the other bazillion good quality recordings out there, so I don't even see the point, really. "

Ooh where can I get the 8 track promo?

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 1:21pm

Soo...who else would have liked to see Will Swenson go on as Lestat or Armand? He was u/s to both. =)

I loved the cast. To be perfectly honest no other show has put together more of my favorite people in one show. I loved the way it looked...and really liked a few of the songs...the bad ones really stank though. That was enough for me to root for it.

The script was terrible, the lyrics were pretty awful, as was the directing...it amazes me how they cut some of the okay parts of the show and replaced them with even worse stuff.

And yes, I too really enjoyed the San Francisco ending.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 1:50pm

"This was, without doubt, the most ridiculous theater event I've ever attended. The fact that I experienced it at THE PALACE is almost incomprehensible to me. "

You must have missed DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES! How could you do such a thing, Q?! The theatrical event of the century... so far!

A Good Nightmare Comes So Rarely,
I'll Show You Yours,
If You Show Me Mine,
P

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 6:41pm

There are worse lyrics out there than Lestat's.

Regarding Tanz Der Vampire, I know an actor who has been working onstage for like 30 years, and he lists Dance of The Vampires as THE absolute best (best as in worst) show he's ever seen in his life. lol.

Oh man, what would I give to have seen that.