jherr:

Aren't we to have a sense of fear, awe and admiration for Lestat?

YES the paying public should be leaving the theatre with a truly amazing feeling for the titled lead vampire character Lestat.
A wolf killer deserves awe and admiration. After killing wolves the character Lestat is nothing more than a mere dandy.

No disrespect for Hugh Panaro for I know he's a good actor and a great singer his character just needs improvement.

There must be 100 ways to improve the character Lestat.

I'll begin with 3 suggestions:
1) Lestat need one great song.
I would have felt some satisfaction if Lestat had sang one memorable song. Hugh needs a song with some type of strong built in emotion with an upbeat tempo, or maybe just have him sing something funny while typing away on his laptop, anything to just stand out and be different because as it now stands all his songs sound the same. I thought his songs were good, just not memorable.
2) I'd suggest they remove, reword or change the delivery of any lines that make him sound weak or pathetically unsure of himself. Take for instance the scene just before he gets pushed off the roof top, he acted and sounded like an immature kid when he told Armond that Marius likes me more than you--nay--nay--nay.
3) I would replace or remove him from any hoaky looking scenes, like when he's suspended over Greece with Marius. In other words make sure that every scene Lestat appears in looks real.
oli

jherr:

By far the most important problem with the play is the lack of a central theme or conclusion.

What needs work is the story. You need a non-fan editor to come in, find the central theme of the work, then chop it down until it becomes a coherent story that appeals to a wider audience and not just the fan base.

I attended the 1st performance of Lestat along with my wife and our two son's ages 11&12. Our introduction to the vampire Lestat was opening night. We had no pre conceived ideas for non of us had ever read the books, seen the movies, heard the songs, or read the synopsis. We agree with you in that there is no central theme or conclusion. We felt absolutely nothing for the vampire Lestat yet he is in practically every scene. On the other hand we all loved Claudia and felt very sad of her departure. True Lestat fans may not be happy if a non fan editor changes the story from the original books. But I must say if this musical play does not succeed it will be due to the writing. The Lestat producers and the true Anne Rice fans should not dismiss the wider audience appeal this play could, should and hopefully will eventually have. Most good stories will find their way into the main stream.

Our family would love to see this play again to see if any changes occur. We will not however due to the distance we live from the theatre. We enjoyed the music and look forward to the CD.
Some may think kids should not see this play because of the content. If your child understands and enjoys Sweeney Todd they will be fine. However, if you are looking for Disney you should stay away. Hey, I got an idea! Why not have Disney rewrite this play. They would definitely make changes to this play so as to appeal to a larger viewing audience. I can see it now, the first thing they would do is make the vampire character Lestat into a very memorable sweet, strong yet laughable bumbling fool. Actually that may not be to bad of an idea, for that character Lestat comes across as a pretty middle of the road wishy washy whiny vampire.
Oli

Cape Twirl of DOOM:

garettap: Woah! How'd you get row F for March 11th! That's amazing... I'm getting nervous about my Row X seats... I hope it's okay

AmEx Gold card. I've never been in the Palace Theatre so I don't know they layout of the seats, but I know whan I saw Phantom at the Majestic, the seats at the back had trouble seeing things that happened above the stage, however I have no clue if this show will have things happen up high. I've seen other shows from the back with no trouble.

-Bonnie

I attended the world premere of Lastat at the Curran Theatre. Our seats were rear balcony row J.
The audience gasped at the end of the Act I. I would tell you what happened but you probably would prefer to experience it yourself, besides I would not be able to accurately describe the scene for you. To give you an idea of the view from our seats I will describe a portion of the set in the church scene.
On the back wall of the church high above the alter was a cross with Jesus nailed to it. --- At least I think it was a cross? Are those feet? Is that Jesus' feet on a cross? This is a church, sooo that must be Jesus nailed to a cross!
Advice to those seated in the rear balcony.
If you do see the show at the Curran and your seat is in the rear balcony and you are in need of the powder room at intermission, you may as well beat the crowd to that small closet they call a bathroom so you have a chance to arrive back to your seat in time for the beginning of act II --because--
you are to high up in the theatre to see what happens in the very end of act I.
Enjoy the show,
Oli