Lestat - April 24, 2006

Ed bought me tickets to Lestat for my birthday. We went last night. Last night of previews before tonight's opening.

Considering the lambasting it took in the San Francisco tryout, I was ready for a complete disaster. I really was expecting it to be one of the worst shows I had ever seen. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed some of it. Was it memorable? No. But I was never bored, and it had a few good moments. Perhaps I survived it better because I went in expecting to hate it. Not that it's saying much, but I thought it was better than Dracula the Musical, Dance of the Vampires, and Brooklyn.

Honestly, the biggest disappointment was the complete and utter absence of celebrities of any type in the audience. It was a Monday night so we were hoping to see at least some Broadway folks on their night off. We didn't even see any of the critics.

The show: It was a lot of story to fit into a show. Three long books with at least 9 major characters crammed into 2.5 hours. I was able to follow the story throughout. Only the Marius parts were missing narrative cohesion. Vampire stories aren't my speed, but I was interested enough in this to want to see how it turned out.

I liked Carolee Carmello very much, and she looked like she was having a ball. The Crimson Kiss lyrics were a bit banal, but she sold the hell out of them. I'll fault Bernie Taupin for his words and not her performance.

Hugh Panaro was fine enough but lacks a certain charisma to center and anchor the story completely.

Drew Sarich was pretty bad as Armand. He came off as a bitchy queen not as a menacing figure.

Jim Stanek (Louis) and Roderick Hill (Nicholas) were decent though they weren't given much of anything to make them shine. I always feel you need at least one good song to cement your place in a show.

17 years old Allison Fischer jolts the show to another level with her number "I Want More". It's a great scenery chewing piece and she devours the stage. While most of the music was serviceable, this song was a standout. Two or three more numbers like this one would have made the show a lot more enjoyable and increased it’s chances with the critics tremendously.

I don't think the show will be a "hit" but I do think it will run a bit. If something as bad as Dracula can run for 5 months, they might get a season out of this one. The critics will take issue with the music as it really is the weakest part of the show, but the performances are good and the book works well enough.

If you like the Ann Rice books and vampire lore in general, I’d say check it out. But be warned, Elton phoned this one in. It is not on a musical level with Lion King, Billy Elliot or even Aida. Bernie Taupin makes a poor showing his first time at bat as a Broadway lyricist. Elton would do well to go back to Tim Rice (lyrics for Lion King and Aida) next time around.