Lestat Sucks Bigtime

My first post on my first blog. Be gentle.

So I just got back from NYC, the latest of my regular theater orgies. Saw a bunch of shows, but I'll start with the worst:

LESTAT: How can mere words convey the pain? This has to be the worst show I've seen on Broadway in almost 20 years. And I saw Roza. I saw Into the Light. I saw a pirated video of Carrie. I never thought I'd see something that made me nostalgic for Jekyll & Hyde, but Lestat had me wishing I was back at the Plymouth watching Linda Eder over-emote and Bob Cuccioli chew the scenery.

Why is Lestat  bad? One problem is the maddeningly inconstant tone. It tries desperately to lighten up the dark subject matter with lame attempts at colloquialism and black humor. The production team should take in a matinee of Sweeney Todd to see a successful attempt at infusing tragedy with levity.

Another problem with Lestat is the songs. They're bad. Really really bad. Elton John's music is moderately passable, but Bernie Taupin's lyrics are embarrassing. Someone should have told Taupin that assonance (i.e. rhyming the vowel sounds, but not all the consonants, as in "girl" and "world")  is tolerable in pop songs, but pretty much anathema on Broadway. Plus, there's very little integration. The songs aren't specific to the scenes at hand, but rather interchangeable. This represents a significant regression back to the 20s and 30s, when Oscar Hammerstein taught us with Show Boat that, hey, maybe the songs should have something to do with what's going on onstage.

The actors seem to know they're in a dog, and they overcompensate with over-the-top performances and forced line readings. Even a talented actress like Carolee Carmello looks embarrassing in her desperate ministrations to make the dreck she's given playable.

Lestat is the living dead. The producers should put a stake through its heart and save us all the misery.

SCORE: D Minus

Comments

[Richard Carey]

Chis darlin',

I concur and fully! And I was up in the balcony! I know I was as close to Dick as I've been in a while, but even he wasn't happy. I was wondering if "Into the Light" was worse, now I know. Was in the city this weekend and saw "The Wedding Singer" and "The Color Purple" WS was so-so, relied too much on the film and for a show about love, it has no heart. CP was great, and, dear, I know we differ on the film, but give the musical a chance! I left the theater wanting to be a big black woman!!!