Vampires on Broadway

I just learned today that "Lestat", a Broadway musical featuring the music of Elton John and the lyrics of Bernie Taupin is opening in San Francisco late this year. It is based on the books "Interview With the Vampire" and "The Vampire Lestat" by author Anne Rice.

Oh, some things are NOT meant to be. I hope this isn't one of them. I have a bad feeling.

I had a nice long chat with my friend Kim this evening, in the course of which I mentioned that I'd been to see "The Woman in White" (an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical) while I was in London this past month. Kim, who admits to being jaded about theatre productions in general due to years of being uneasy room-mates with actors and theatre people, is not particularly a fan of Sir Andrew, and so I could not whole-heartedly recommend the production to her even though I was fantastically entertained by it.

Nor can I recommend musicals (even REALLY funny ones like "A Dream on Royal Street") to my friend Tai, who makes a moue and complains: "But why do they have to SING everything?"

But I WANT to recommend them. I LOVE musicals. Usually I'll defend the right of anybody to leap out on stage and belt out a show-tune on the subject of their choice. ABBA. Greasers. Cats. Fat ladies with horned helmets. It's entertainment, right?

But the Vampire Lestat?

Darn it all, I love that book. Please be gentle with it.

The fellow who wrote the lyrics, Mr. Taupin is assuring us: "Anne has always loved the idea of seeing her Vampire Chronicles set in some sort of serious and seductive musical setting and for all of the parties involved this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Our intention is make a classically-based show that is stripped of gothic clichés and that shows the vampire dealing with his damnation on a more realistic and human level. Please let me make this clear this is NOT a rock opera. Our hope is that it will be stylish, sexy, intelligent, rich and hypnotically dark."

Yes, please, by the gods, NOT a rock opera.