DR Danise, does the driver on the bus say "move on back?"
Good morning, all! I had a lovely day yesterday. I wrote a few bars of a song I'm orchestrating as a gift for a lady I'm fond of, I lounged about and then I went to the theatre district to see LESTAT, with the festive group made up of my houseguest (and former intern) Dylan, DR Ben, my Toyland colleague Tom Murray, and my favorite NYPL music division librarian Bob Kosovsky.
What does one say kind about the boring mess LESTAT? My friend Hugh Panaro was wonderful, as was my friend Carolee, and I thought there were about three good numbers in a score I found neither well orchestrated nor diverse enough. The dramaturgist in me kept thinking, Oh no, not two numbers back-to-back for the same character and what the hell is going on in this plot. Luckily, Act Two got a major kick with the arrival of the character Claudia, who brought a touch of Rhoda Penmark and other obnoxious children as well as a huge belt and some comedy.
By my calculations, the show's references to the "incorrect" vampiric ability of turning into wolf, vapor, etc. from DRACULA (still the definitive vampire book for me) happen around 1858, nearly 40 years before DRACULA's publication. Miss Rice's vampires can't turn themselves into wolves, vapor, etc,, but they sure can suffer and get their historic dates wrong. In the past I've found Miss Ann Rice's books unreadable and I thought her musical a bore. Hard times for vampires. Oy!
After the show, we all stepped out for a nosh and met our E&T DRJason, who's been doing concessions at various shows; last night was THE HISTORY BOYS, which I want to see. We learned all about Jason's new job, which I believe begins next Monday.
TOD:
Tall Hope (and nearly all of the score to WILDCAT)
I've Got Your Number