Soon I'm going to start digging into topics that really interest me, and they're all going to take some time to write and collect research, media, etc. So I thought I'd start by giving a little overview of some of the post I'm planning so I don't overwhelm my readers (and myself).
So, I have a little bit of a fascination with vampire musicals. It seems to make all the sense in the world that they should be incredibly successful on Broadway. Frank Langella had a huge hit starring in a straight-play version of Dracula designed by Edward Gorey. And yet, every vampire musical that has gone to Broadway has been a miserable failure.
The main ones are:
Dance of the Vampires- 2002, based on the Roman Polanski film "The Fearless Vampire Killers", music by Jim Steinman
Dracula- 2004, based on the Bram Stoker novel, music by Frank Wildhorn
Lestat- 2006, based on the Anne Rice novel, music by Elton John.
And to a lesser extent:
Dracula: A Chamber Musical- debuted in 1999, but has never played Broadway/New York. Based on the Bram Stoker novel, music by Richard Ouzounian
and Jason Segel's Dracula Puppet Musical from Forgetting Sarah Marshall
So I'll be starting in on those posts next. If I were to ever have to do a thesis paper or something like that, this would definitely be my topic. Why can't these shows make it work? They generally have the same gothic romantic sensibility of something like "Phantom". Is there only room for one show like that on Broadway? In each post I'll be able to explore the shortcomings of the individual shows, but I'd love feedback on why the supernatural gothic romance musical genre is struggling. Would these shows work now, in the Twilight/Glee era?
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