San Francisco Critics Meet Broadway-Bound Lestat

Lestat, the Elton John/ Bernie Taupin/Linda Woolverton musical based on Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles, is not scheduled to take its bite out of Broadway until March 11, when previews are slated to begin at the Palace Theater. But before it makes it to the Great White Way, the tuner, starring Hugh Panaro in the title role, is wetting its fangs during a San Francisco tryout at the Curran Theater, which opened on January 8. Did area critics think it should live forever?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

Dennis Harvey of Variety: "The very idea of an Anne Rice-derived vampire musical scored by Elton John would seem to ensure something lurid, camp, silly. But those qualities, it turns out, are not found in great supply in the Broadway-bound Lestat—an achievement in itself, though also cause for some disappointment. The current handsome, respectable entity could, in fact, use a tad more risk-taking excess. Despite subject and talent involved, it's lacking the memorable high points these watchable, listenable nearly three-hour tuner needs to play as more than a rambling timeline of several high-pulp novels' picaresque events… As one creative staffer was overheard telling friends in the audience on opening night, right now it's a 'good rough cut' in need of fine-tuning. The biggest problem here is, however, insurmountable: Condensing much of Rice's Vampire Chronicle fictions mostly Interview With the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat, tuner Lestat has way too much plot to wade through."

Robert Hurwitt of The San Francisco Chronicle: "Didactic, disjointed, oddly miscast, confusingly designed and floundering in an almost unrelentingly saccharine score by Elton John, Lestat opened Sunday as the latest ill-conceived Broadway hopeful in the Best of Broadway series following on the heels of Lennon and Mambo Kings... It's too much story, with the authors almost desperately shoehorning some of Rice's plot turns, narrative flights and interminable vampire creation myths into a song here, an overstuffed confrontation there or the large-scale video animation sequences that blanket the set. The characters prove even more problematic, but then, despite her creative departures from Rice's novels, very few of the figures in Woolverton's script have much character… The chorus and orchestra perform flawlessly under Brad Haak's musical direction. The songs, however, range from mildly interesting to, for the most part, banal and virtually undistinguishable."

Tiger Hashimoto of The San Francisco Examiner: "After Lestat is 'made' as a vampire without any warning or motivation, he mostly kills men in grisly, on-stage murders that had me cowering and wincing—and I'm a martial arts fan.… The vocal performances—especially Carmello—are strong. The production has atmospheric sets Derek McLane and costumes Susan Hilferty. The special effects are unrelentingly noisy and violent. In fact, the high level of aural and moral toxicity—blended with talky religious mumbo-jumbo are vampires evil? Maybe not, but they are boring—may just guarantee Lestat's Broadway fate."

Chad Jones of The Oakland Tribune: "The temptation to say that the new vampire musical Lestat sucks is almost overwhelming. But Lestat doesn't suck. Oh, it's a mess all right, and though the creative team has nearly driven a wooden stake through the heart of author Anne Rice's much-loved Vampire Chronicles, there may be some faint glimmer of an afterlife… The biggest problem in director Robert Jess Roth's jumble of a production—and the one that isn't likely to change anytime soon—is the score…. The two primary female characters steal the show. It's as simple as that. But this musical isn't called Gabrielle' or Claudia. It's called Lestat, and that's such a shame… Panaro—with a generous assist from Linda Woolverton's cursory book—makes Lestat less an empathetic monster and more a target of ridicule. Panaro does have a beautiful singing voice, but John and Taupin have failed to provide him with a defining number."

Karen D'Souza of The San Jose Mercury News: "For a vampire musical, Lestat lacks teeth… Shaking his mane like a lion, the actor [Panaro] strikes one to-die-for pose after another as the flamboyant vampire. If pouts could kill, watch out. But he never finds the pulse of this role. His Lestat is neither fierce enough to scare us nor valiant enough to move us…. The worst sin of all may be that the show takes itself so gravely seriously; a little camp would have given it some tongue-in-cheek juice…The score is likewise bland… Only rarely, as in the child Claudia's songs, does the musical hit a vein… Unless its creators can find a way to infuse more intensity, Lestat may be dead on arrival on Broadway in the spring."

Pat Craig of The Contra Costa Times "The greatest danger in the new Elton John-Bernie Taupin musical, based on The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, is death by boredom… It's a great story, but, as directed by Robert Jess Roth with 'musical staging' by Matt West, the new show doesn't capture the romance or the otherworldly qualities of Rice's novel. It's more corny than scary, and it doesn't approach Rice's sense of authenticity. Hampered by cheesy production values and an uneven cast, the staging is unconvincing at best. Linda Woolverton's book, which turns much of the spoken dialogue into hackneyed cliches, doesn't help. And the John-Taupin score—the famous songwriting duo's first effort for the stage—gives it the kiss of death."