|
| Home | News | Tour | Charts | Board | Archive | Shop | Links | FAQ | Contact |
| ELTON JOHN NEWS |
| The crimson beauty of Lestat Sunday, April 30 2006 |
Fan review by J. Phillips.
Much of the recent critical disdain for Lestat has centered around the unlikely notion of making yet another musical about vampires. The idea has failed twice before in recent years, what makes this one any different, right? It’s also not exactly something that you might want to take the kids to either, is it?
Despite my fear of having to endure blood and bats, Lestat turned out to be quite different from what I might have imagined. The music is both complex yet uniquely Elton. The set is minimalist which properly puts the emphasis where it belongs. But there’s more. This is also a very intelligent musical.
At some point in every man’s life, there comes a time when he confronts his mortality and asks the big questions such as “why am I here?” and “who will remember me?” Some artists amongst us have the comfort of knowing that their art will go on living far beyond their lifetime, a reality that surely the musical collaborators must now be willing to acknowledge. For the rest of us, there is religion, a source of the kind of reassurance we need - that we too will not be forgotten.
It seems that there is an escape hatch for those who are neither religious nor artistic. Enter Anne Rice. The problem of course is that not all of the lucky few make a conscious choice to “die young and live forever,” a source for endless philosophical discussion, for example, must all vampires by nature be bad?
Musically, Lestat has three outstanding songs, “Right Before My Eyes,” “I Want More” sung beautifully by Allison Fischer as Claudia, and “Sail Me Away.” While the other songs have the typical sing-song quality of many Broadway musical numbers, they are also Elton John numbers, and that brings its own unique character to them, even if not as memorable. Sometimes Elton’s music requires a second listen to fully appreciate.
Lyrically, Lestat has so much ground to cover that Taupin has to use every word very carefully to push the story along. This gave Elton quite a job, and as anyone who knows how they write together, it’s Bernie’s words which really set the tone and feel for the musical result. Predictably, some of the early and middle pieces are by word and necessity rather dark and complex, generating powerful feelings for those familiar with Elton’s work while at the same time laying the foundation for the groundswell of emotion in the more powerful and memorable numbers.
This is Elton’s fourth musical, and while it’s a first for Bernie, it’s an artistic achievement in bringing something of this intellectual caliber to the musical stage. The choice speaks volumes about the artistic taste of the musical collaborators. Far from the camp “gay vampire” musical some might suggest, this is a smart musical that may live or die on word of mouth no thanks to the thrashing it’s received in the papers. Let’s hope that word of mouth keeps it around a while, at least long enough for the public to appreciate its crimson beauty.
| Related News |
Wednesday, April 26 2006 at 11:50:23
Wednesday, April 26 2006 at 02:47:40
Thursday, December 8 2005 at 22:01:44
Friday, November 11 2005 at 08:56:24
© 1997-2017 by HERCULES International. Hercules is not affiliated with Elton John`s management or the Elton John Aids Foundation. Please note that this site has been discontinued on March 31, 2017 and will not be updated anymore. |