Thursday, January 19, 2006
Not exactly love at first bite
A couple weekends ago I went to see a new musical, Lestat, based on Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. Let me first go on record as saying that I had a good time that night. The music was interesting/fun/acceptable, the scenery and special effects were...um...effective. The costuming in particular was quite good.(To paraphrase one of the more telling moments in the show, "when your friends praise the costuming you know you've got a problem").
I laughed quite a bit, sometimes even because it was honestly funny. But a lot of the time I was imagining some of the snarky comments I would make to my hubby as soon as I got out of the theatre. And that was the most fun of all.
My comments weren't anywhere near as snarky as what was in the papers two days later after opening night. Both the Cron and the Mercury News had a field day with Lestat, using the phrases "Fetch the garlic and a wooden stake!", "a toothless act", and "Is simply not quite undead". On the other hand, the reviews also pointed out what was at least in my opinion the biggest problem...the script tries to do too much and as such does almost nothing right.
They have three hours to tell the story of essentially two books. By comparison the far superior Brokeback Mountain was based on a short story...just enough plot to fill a movie with a little room to expand. The result is wonderful.
But Lestat has no room to grow, or to even make room for its musical numbers. In addition to simply being a lot of material, the books are the story of Lestat, Louis, and wicked little Claudia told from two rather different perspectives, both Louis in the first book, and Lestat in the second.
In trying to be true to both books, they have to consolidate the main character's goals into as few words as possible...but he's given too many goals to work with. He is either looking for permanent companions (apparently living with him for thirty years is just too temporary for him) or a meaning to his existence, or the answer to the question "what are vampires anyway?" In trying to resolve all this, the plot grows bogged down by songs that lead no where and scenes that vary between confusing to more confusing. It is just too much information to get across.
Something for all of us to remember when doing our own books.
I laughed quite a bit, sometimes even because it was honestly funny. But a lot of the time I was imagining some of the snarky comments I would make to my hubby as soon as I got out of the theatre. And that was the most fun of all.
My comments weren't anywhere near as snarky as what was in the papers two days later after opening night. Both the Cron and the Mercury News had a field day with Lestat, using the phrases "Fetch the garlic and a wooden stake!", "a toothless act", and "Is simply not quite undead". On the other hand, the reviews also pointed out what was at least in my opinion the biggest problem...the script tries to do too much and as such does almost nothing right.
They have three hours to tell the story of essentially two books. By comparison the far superior Brokeback Mountain was based on a short story...just enough plot to fill a movie with a little room to expand. The result is wonderful.
But Lestat has no room to grow, or to even make room for its musical numbers. In addition to simply being a lot of material, the books are the story of Lestat, Louis, and wicked little Claudia told from two rather different perspectives, both Louis in the first book, and Lestat in the second.
In trying to be true to both books, they have to consolidate the main character's goals into as few words as possible...but he's given too many goals to work with. He is either looking for permanent companions (apparently living with him for thirty years is just too temporary for him) or a meaning to his existence, or the answer to the question "what are vampires anyway?" In trying to resolve all this, the plot grows bogged down by songs that lead no where and scenes that vary between confusing to more confusing. It is just too much information to get across.
Something for all of us to remember when doing our own books.
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Well, DAYUM! I missed CATS, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, LE MIZ and THE LION KING, because I kept waiting for dh to say he'd go. When Lestat came along, I said to hell with waiting, talked our daughter and our son's mother in law into going with me, and bought the tickets...and wouldn't you know it the reviews all suck! We have tickets for the very last performance...maybe by then they'll have gotten it right!
When I was leaving the theatre, my attention was caught by a black tank top with the words "The Crimson Kiss" across the front. We left, and then hubby whispered to me. "It could be a collector's item."
I went back and bought it.
Here is what the reviews aren't saying. There is a lot of good acting in this, and a couple of performances, namely Gabrielle that kick ass! She SELLS the song The Crimson Kiss, as well as her intro song, Nothing Here.
Parts you will enjoy, parts you will probably not, but even the most flawed production has something to offer.
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I went back and bought it.
Here is what the reviews aren't saying. There is a lot of good acting in this, and a couple of performances, namely Gabrielle that kick ass! She SELLS the song The Crimson Kiss, as well as her intro song, Nothing Here.
Parts you will enjoy, parts you will probably not, but even the most flawed production has something to offer.
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