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angelofmusicMusical: Dracula: Entre L'Amour et La Morte
Production: Original Canadian Cast Commercial DVD
Year: 2009
Never let it be said that vampires are lacking a place in musical theatre. There have been many, in all shapes and sizes (Lestat, Dracula, Dracula the Rock Opera, Tanz der Vampire, the very different Dance of the Vampires etc). This show has been around for several years, but only got made into a DVD fairly recently, I suspect when they were preparing to open in France.
So yes, that makes it French language, but it remains a fascinating show. The story has been hacked up in places and abridged, but the central storyline is the same: Dracula wants Mina, Jonathan isn't thrilled by this, and Van Helsing wants to smack Dracula down. One of the biggest changes is Lucy becoming Van Helsing's daughter, to get rid of that rather tiresome "oh look at all my suitors" storyline.
Unlike some of the other vampire shows, this one is compact, and fairly intimate due to the small cast and the modestly-sized venues. It means the show is concentrated on the relationships and dynamics of the characters and performers.
Overall, this was an exceptionally adapted and stylised version. Contemporarified, really, but that didn't make it bad.
The basic premise is that Jonathan is a reporter, with Renfield as his photographer, investigating in Dracula's vicinity. Mina is - as usual - Jonathan's lovely wife upon whom Dracula gets fixated. Lucy is Van Helsing's wayward, free-spirited daughter. The idea of Renfield being a junkie and Dracula basically using that pleased me immensely, and I can see why they changed the characters around as they did. They needed to streamline the story and they did it to fantastic effect.
The music I have loved for years, so that goes without saying. I'm not exactly sure how to describe the musical style. It veers wildly between rock ambition and pop, with a side of semi-lounge for some of the songs. The vocals are strong, intense and emotive. Still, I kept it on my MP3 player for nearly 4 years, which says a lot.
I found some of the staging a bit distracting (ie. having wannabe-rock-God guitarists romping around on the stage and interacting with the cast, to say nothing of the giant-headed Christopher-Lee-Dracula puppet head) and the projection uses a bit overdone, especially compared to the sparseness of the actual props. On the whole, I could overlook that for the character work and interaction, particularly the encounters between Dracula/Renfield and Dracula/Van Helsing. Mina too, to some extent, but that's only because of a certain person whose character began with D.
For the first time, I have found a Dracula who is worthy of the legend. He absolutely owned every moment of the show, and he was one of the people who was key to bringing the production to stage. Last I saw Bruno Pelletier, he was basically being walked all over by everyone as Gringoire in Notre-Dame de Paris.
While very pretty and with a lovely voice, he was playing a sop. This time around, he was utterly magnetic. Now, I have to admit I despise the costume decisions for him, because really, fawn leather becomes no one, but after a few minutes, you stop giving a monkeys about his clothing, because the way he moves...
Thing is, he doesn't just move right. Everything about the way he plays it is in character: the way he sings, the way he looks, and for once, this is not a gentleman Dracula. When he's fighting the very pious van Helsing, he is vindictive, cruel and downright crude. And really, any Dracula who can pull off one of the hottest tangos I have ever seen is a winner. And yet, when it came to moments of emotion, he deserved a glomp, even five minutes ago you saw that yes, he is an evil nasty killer who will cheerfully slaughter an old man, just because he finds it entertaining.
There were other performers, I'm sure, and they were all very good, but for me, I couldn't tear my eyes off Pelletier. I'm so disappointed I missed this show when it was in France, but since I was in Budapest at the time, seeing 2 other shows, I suppose I shouldn't lament too much. It's not my favourite, but I am very, very fond of it.
Production: Original Canadian Cast Commercial DVD
Year: 2009
Never let it be said that vampires are lacking a place in musical theatre. There have been many, in all shapes and sizes (Lestat, Dracula, Dracula the Rock Opera, Tanz der Vampire, the very different Dance of the Vampires etc). This show has been around for several years, but only got made into a DVD fairly recently, I suspect when they were preparing to open in France.
So yes, that makes it French language, but it remains a fascinating show. The story has been hacked up in places and abridged, but the central storyline is the same: Dracula wants Mina, Jonathan isn't thrilled by this, and Van Helsing wants to smack Dracula down. One of the biggest changes is Lucy becoming Van Helsing's daughter, to get rid of that rather tiresome "oh look at all my suitors" storyline.
Unlike some of the other vampire shows, this one is compact, and fairly intimate due to the small cast and the modestly-sized venues. It means the show is concentrated on the relationships and dynamics of the characters and performers.
Overall, this was an exceptionally adapted and stylised version. Contemporarified, really, but that didn't make it bad.
The basic premise is that Jonathan is a reporter, with Renfield as his photographer, investigating in Dracula's vicinity. Mina is - as usual - Jonathan's lovely wife upon whom Dracula gets fixated. Lucy is Van Helsing's wayward, free-spirited daughter. The idea of Renfield being a junkie and Dracula basically using that pleased me immensely, and I can see why they changed the characters around as they did. They needed to streamline the story and they did it to fantastic effect.
The music I have loved for years, so that goes without saying. I'm not exactly sure how to describe the musical style. It veers wildly between rock ambition and pop, with a side of semi-lounge for some of the songs. The vocals are strong, intense and emotive. Still, I kept it on my MP3 player for nearly 4 years, which says a lot.
I found some of the staging a bit distracting (ie. having wannabe-rock-God guitarists romping around on the stage and interacting with the cast, to say nothing of the giant-headed Christopher-Lee-Dracula puppet head) and the projection uses a bit overdone, especially compared to the sparseness of the actual props. On the whole, I could overlook that for the character work and interaction, particularly the encounters between Dracula/Renfield and Dracula/Van Helsing. Mina too, to some extent, but that's only because of a certain person whose character began with D.
For the first time, I have found a Dracula who is worthy of the legend. He absolutely owned every moment of the show, and he was one of the people who was key to bringing the production to stage. Last I saw Bruno Pelletier, he was basically being walked all over by everyone as Gringoire in Notre-Dame de Paris.
While very pretty and with a lovely voice, he was playing a sop. This time around, he was utterly magnetic. Now, I have to admit I despise the costume decisions for him, because really, fawn leather becomes no one, but after a few minutes, you stop giving a monkeys about his clothing, because the way he moves...
Thing is, he doesn't just move right. Everything about the way he plays it is in character: the way he sings, the way he looks, and for once, this is not a gentleman Dracula. When he's fighting the very pious van Helsing, he is vindictive, cruel and downright crude. And really, any Dracula who can pull off one of the hottest tangos I have ever seen is a winner. And yet, when it came to moments of emotion, he deserved a glomp, even five minutes ago you saw that yes, he is an evil nasty killer who will cheerfully slaughter an old man, just because he finds it entertaining.
There were other performers, I'm sure, and they were all very good, but for me, I couldn't tear my eyes off Pelletier. I'm so disappointed I missed this show when it was in France, but since I was in Budapest at the time, seeing 2 other shows, I suppose I shouldn't lament too much. It's not my favourite, but I am very, very fond of it.
