Fan Reviews by William Cleere and Brian Ofstedahl.

I had the opportunity to be in attendance at the Lestat World Premiere in San Francisco on December 17, 2005. In a word: AMAZING!

First off, regarding the play as a whole, the production design was unlike any play I have ever seen, and I've seen countless professional stage productions over the years. The production design was reminiscent of the earth tones, reds, and deep blues used in the publicity material for the production. They used (to utter perfection) a great deal of projection of film, images and text to enhance the story.

For example, every time a vampire bit someone, several disjointed screens at the rear of the stage would flash odd and even disturbing images of the victim's life, and in some cases, other iconic images such s a newborn fetus (when Lestat is "born" as a vampire" and an Oedipus figure when Lestat bites his mother.) This was coupled with an astounding projection of lights that surrounded the apron of the stage.

Secondly, the story. The production ran at least three hours and contained a great deal of spoken dialogue. Admittedly, I have not read Anne Rice's books, however, the stage dialogue was extremely well written, and often very humorous. The story in dialogue created the canvas for Elton's and Taupin's work in an absolute synchronicity.

The Lyrics. In my opinion, the star of the show is Taupin's lyrics. The man has utterly outdone himself in this show. The story while extremely compelling, owes most of it's emotional resonance to Taupin. His ability to bring these characters to life was something that I was confident he could do, but had no idea he would hit it out of the park like this. Taupin's lyrics for this project are among his finest ever. He consistently forwards the story and character development in a way that I have rarely seen.

With all due respect to Mr. Rice, Taupin's Lestat lyrics could go toe to toe with any of the lyrics Rice wrote in his prime. His work in this musical is staggering. (On a side note, Taupin cribbed one of his own lyrics from Japanese Hands. In one song in the show a character sings "Shy Chinese behind their painted fans." I thought, as a fan of Elton and Taupin, that this was a subtle nod to us hard cores.)

Then of course there's Sir Elton. He has ventured into a new territory with this musical. This is universes away from Lion King, Aida, and Billy Elliot. I think his familiarity with the Broadway medium at this point has given him a new confidence. While the music was often "recognizable" as his, it was never really reminiscent of any of his other works. He uses phrasing and melodic patterns that I've not heard from him in the past. It seems to me that he went out of his way to write exclusively for the stage in this show, and the result is a new and incredible collection of melodies that rival that of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Like Taupin, he reached for a new bag of tricks, and the result was a beautifully incandescent collection of tunes, almost operatic in nature, varying to fit and suit each scene with pinpoint accuracy.

Honestly, I've been a fan of this man since 1988, but artistically, I've never been so proud. This was a home run for our boys, a long Barry Bonds type home run, splashing into the San Francisco Bay.

And I can't leave without nods to Guy Babylon. His musical direction was spot on. If you've heard the demo clips of the songs on the official site and Amazon, rest assured that these are how the songs are presented (arrangement wise) in the show. It was obvious that they stayed very true to Elton's original concepts. The orchestral arrangements were very heavy on piano, with lush strings, a few subtle horns, some acoustic guitar (no electric), and a peppering of percussion (very little "drumming" in the typical sense.)

Additionally, in the PlayBill, Babylon thanks Davey Johnstone for assisting in the arranging of the guitar parts...I was thrilled to read this.

It was an amazing night, and the show sparkled with groundbreaking production, & great performances. Hugh Pannaro as Lestat was a perfect choice. His voice was warm and had a dynamic range. Very smooth, completely different than the Adam Pascal style in Aida. As Taupin said early in production "This is not a Rock opera." It most certainly was not, it was Musical Theater in the Style of Les Miserables and Miss Saigon, and I would bet serious money, that it will be on Broadway for quite some time.

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Fan Review by Brian Ofstedahl.

I had the opportunity to see the world premiere performance of "Lestat" at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco on Saturday, December 17, 2005. Needless to say, my expectations were high. Maybe too high. After all, as director Robert Jess Roth (who welcomed us to this special event with a brief personal introduction) said, "This is a work in progress." Things such as timing, set changes, etc., were still being worked out and that he knew we understood all that due to this being a 'preview' performance run".

Like "Aida", which went through the same preview process prior to its Broadway opening (and was tweaked and reworked extensively), Lestat has amazing strengths, as well as opportunities for some fine tuning. Let's start with the amazing strengths.

Trust me when I say this (and it is not because I am an Elton/Bernie fan), the music and lyrics are breathtaking. Actually, to be more precise, the lyrics first, then the melodies (although they are a perfect marraige). I have never been so completely blown away by Taupin's lyrics as I was that night (and I consider him to be the lyricist of our time). His storytelling abilities, the way he moved me, the story, the performers, the tone, the rhythm, etc., was nothing short of brilliant. And all this from a first timer! Bernie, you stole the show hands down!

Now on to Elton's music. Because this isn't a "singing and dancing vampire rock opera", there isn't the "showstopper" number one expects to find in a Broadway musical (although "The Crimson Kiss", "I Want More", "Make Me As You Are" and "Sail Me Away" received much applause). This made Elton's job significantly more challenging. Did he rise to it? Yes, yes, yes. The music is haunting, beautiful, and tone perfect to the lyrics and story that are being told. Dramatic when needed, subtle where necessary. Always captivating.

It is hard to point out a singular favorite because as one may sound more "radio friendly" than another, all are perfectly in sync with the scene for which it was written. Elton has become a master of theatre music. He is no longer writing Elton-like songs, he is writing for the material, for the moment, from the heart. Together with Taupin (to no surprise), they have created a masterpiece.

As for the opportunities, the book by Linda Woolverton is too long (you dont have to pack all of Anne Rice's vampire novels into one play) and fragmented. At almost three hours, a bit of belt tightening would increase dramatic impact (suggestion, lose the Egypt storyline altogether).

Casting of Hugh Panaro (Lestat), Carolee Carmello (Gabrielle) and Allison Fischer (Claudia) are all inspired choices. However, Jack Noseworthy (Armand), Jim Stanek (Louis), and especially Michael Genet (Marius) all lacked the power and conviction the material called for.

The "vampire scenes" with the video images bordered on camp after even the 2nd or 3rd time, let alone the 5th or 6th. Let the music and the spectacular set pieces tell the story, not a video screen with abstract imagery.

As someone said to Guy Babylon (who was seated in the row in front of me) after the show, "It needs work, but it is going to be great". I couldn't agree more. But no matter what, Elton and Bernie have once again created music magic. Elton says in the program that this is their finest work. It is. And after creating some of the most beloved classics over the past 30 plus years, that is really saying something.

Song Listings from "Lestat"

From The Dead
Nothing Here
In Paris
In Paris (reprise)
The Thirst
The Thirst (reprise)
Make Me As You Are
To live Like This
The Origin Of The Species
The Crimson Kiss
The Thirst (reprise)
Welcome To the New World
Embrace It
I Want More
I'll Never Have That Chance
Sail Me Away
To Kill Your Kind
Embrace It (reprise)
After All This Time
From The Dead (finale)

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