first preview of Lestat..any news? — Page 2

quote:
"I believe Carolee Carmello has three songs in Act One and does not appear in Act Two at all till Curtain Call."

That would make sense as I believe Act One is The Vampire Lestat & Act Two is Interview With the Vampire & Gabrielle doesn't appear in Interview.

So is it right that Hugh is basically onstage the entire show? I had read a while ago that Lestat appeared in every scene but hopefully someone can confirm.

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"jarretsf" you said you were going to the show last night. Please share your review with us! Thanks!

Could anyone comment on Drew Sarich and his part?

Drew Sarich plays Laurent and, along with Will Swenson, is the understudy for Lestat and Armand. People on the forum say he is famous in Austria, Germany, parts of Switzerland. He was good as Laurent, a major role as the storyteller in the Theatre of the Vampires scene in act 1. I would like to see him understudy for Armand.

Akasha is introduced in the Theatre of the Vampires scene as they tell the story of the orgin of the vampire species. She then appears again as a large part of the final number.

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Updated On: 12/19/05 at 05:51 PM

Just what Broadway needs. More projections. The only decent use of projections I've seen was in Jane Eyre, in which they did not dominate the set, but merely supported the concept of a memory show.

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OK,

So I saw the second preview last night. The show needs some serious work still. The director came out beforehand and made the same announcement described above about set changes and costume changes being worked out. There were no noticeable delays in that regard.

But as whole something was lacking. There was only 2 really up-tempo numbers, and I felt there were scenes in the show that were lifted from others, including Jekyll and Hyde, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Wicked.

*********SPOILERS AHEAD*************

The opening is strong, with Lestat in the modern day typing on an iMac Laptop his story. Hugh has an amazing voice, and it set the bar high. I feel at this point the projections were overused. Some are effective, and I actually liked the projections as a set piece, but there were points where it felt like watching a movie, not live theatre. They flash back to Lestat living at home with his family, and at this point they never really explain why his father sent him off to hunt wolves. And all of a sudden he's hearing these voices saying "Wolf-Killer!" My partner referred to it as the "If you build it they will come voice" His mother gives him her Jewels to go set off for a new life. He takes his friend with him to Paris after they sang a forgettable song about going to Paris. They work in a theatre, Lestat as an actor and his friend as the violinist. There is definitely some homoerotic tesion between the two, but not played as it could be. No Brokeback moments here! They have an argument, and Lestat leaves and is "taken" by the vampire who was following him and calling him wolf - killer. Lestat's vampire creator (Pardon me, Doing this from memory and I don't remember all the names)then "goes into the fire" and dies.

Lestat eventually returns to the theatre where he is told his mother is coming to see him , and is dying. When he meets with her, she realizes he is not alive, and wants him to make her a vampire. At this point Carolee sings "Make Me as You Are," one of the few memorable songs from the evening. She was in amazing voice, as was Hugh, but the show really needs to find it's footing in moments like this. He of course complies, and they imply, but never elaborate on an incestuous relationship between the two.

The show then in my mind seemed to overdo the killing factor, I was reminded in the staging of "Murder, Murder," from Jekyll. Although it was not done in one song, and just didn't seem to work. Carolees first kill is quite humorous though.

The two of them go to a church, where they meet Armand, who introduces them to the other vampires who live in squalor underground. Lestat convinces them they should walk among the living and they go back to his theatre, where his friend is upset this wan't shared with him, and he is turned into a vampire. But he doesn't take to it, and goes into some kind of catatonic state but can still play the violin. Lestat leaves with his mother to find MArius, the ancient vampire. Armand has an obsession with Marius that is never reeally explained, like many other things in the show. Eventually she leaves him, they sing The Crimson Kiss, an OK song, but in my opinion, again not memorable. Lestat continues his quest, and at the finale to Act I, he finds Marius in the show's attempt at a "Defying Gravity" moment. The elicted chuckles from people sitting near me. At intermission, I overheard very few positives about the show. I think some people even left.

Act 2 was better. Lestat winds up in New Orleans, and there's a number there which looks like they reused Wicked's emerald City costumes done in silver instead of Green. Lestat meets Louis in a bar, and I think we all know what happens here, they move in together and adopt the little girl, who sings the only show stopping number of the night, "I Want More". Eventually we all know she tries to kill Lestat. Although I kept picturing Veruca in Willy Wonka, she was INCREDIBLE. There's a great song Hugh sings on the bow of a ship heading back to Europe. ("Sailing Away" I think) He finds Louis and the girl (NAME ESCAPES ME, I hate when that happens) working at his theatre in Paris. Armand finds out she tried to kill him and he puts her into the fire, after a very repetitive number with all the Vampires. Lestat is weak, and is summoned back to Marius out of nowhere. who takes him to the Queen of the Damned scene. The cast sings a "Superstar"-like finale, and it was mercifully over.

I had high hopes for this show, but it didn't gel with me. Hopefully it improves over it's run, I may even give it another chance in January. If it doesen't, it will quickly join Dance of the Vampires and Dracula.

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Does the show just use projections, and if not how much of the set is actually constructed?

loganp37 - the entire set isn't projections (i.e. WiW) - they just use them for flashbacks and whatnot - at least thats what i gleamed from the reviews. If you do a search on BWW about the Lestat program they have a few picture of the sets. they look really cool and really well done - from the pictures.

hmm..i'm sure it will use this time to improve, its only the second preview, i'll give it some time

I have thought from the very beginning that the choices of bookwriter or director were appropriate for this show. With all respect to their talents, they were far from ideal choices for this material. Unfortunately this show is being produced by a movie studio and there is no key uber-producer to get this show off the ground.

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It MAY be worth seeing later in the SF run. Hopefully positive changes are made.

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The home set was beautiful actually. Many of the sets were. I really hope they get this show together before it hits New York. SF audiences can be a little more forgiving.

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