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

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"?!

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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

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.

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.

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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.

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.