Lestat
An unexpected highlight of this trip was attending the pre-broadway world premiere of Lestat at the Curran Theatre.
On my way out yesterday, I saw this arresting poster at a bus stop next to my hotel. It showed the back of a blond man levitated, in a ruffled black cape shaped like a half-wing bat. Superimposed on him was the name Lestat in elongated red gothic letters. The tag line? Die Young, Live Forever. Upon close inspection, I saw it's playing at the Curran Theatre until January 29th. But what sold me was that the music is by Elton John. Wow, I couldn't resist.
I came back to my hotel last night and immediately logged on to see whether there's a show for today, Sunday. There was, a matinee show, but it was all sold out. I tried every way possible to buy tickets online, but no luck. I called on the phone but they were closed. This morning I logged on and online ticketing was closed, too. Since the play starts in an hour and it was my only chance to watch, as I'm leaving tomorrow, I hurriedly hurled a cab to the theatre and decided to try my luck at the door.
There were 5 or 6 of us queueing at the cancellations line; I was 4th in line. A lady holding a ticket walked right up to the lady with the iPod earbuds standing in front of me and offered her the ticket. She said it's an orchestra seat and would sell it to her for $35. The earbuds lady nonchalantly said "sure" and took out her wallet. All the while I was standing next to them jealous with envy, hoping the earbuds lady somehow refused her or didn't have enough money. Fat chance. So now I was 3rd in line.
10 minutes to show time and I was still in line waiting anxiously, as I watched folks with tickets walked straight in the theatre. Then a guy walked up and offered his ticket to the couple in front of the queue. But the couple wanted a pair of tickets, and the guy only had one. I wanted to waive my hands high and said "Yoohoo. Here. Me. I'm alone!" All that was stopping me from doing it was that I'm already next in line. Then the guy came up to me and before he even opened his mouth, I wanted to say, "Sure, I'll take it." But I refrained. I waited till he asked me, then I said, "Okay." Then he added that he'll give me a great deal on it. He offered it for 50 bucks, and it was an orchestra seat, too. I couldn't get my money out fast enough to thank him. I was ready to pay above asking price for any seat just so I can watch the play, and here I was offered an $85 seat on the 8th row for $50. It's my lucky day.
The play was great. All the familiar names in Anne Rice's novel appeared in the play: Lestat, Gabrielle, Armand, Louis, Nicholas, Marius and Claudia. It starts from present day with Lestat typing his biography on a PowerBook, going back 200 years when he was a mortal to becoming immortal. In between, the story interwinds cleverly going back again 2,000 years, where his kind all began, with a surprise revelation at the end that brings it all together.
Those of us unfamiliar with Rice's novel, The Vampire Chronicles, parts of the play are like the movies Interview with the Vampire with a little mix of Queen of the Damned. But make no mistake, it's all about Lestat.