Vampire show bites the dust

Music

13:30 25 May 2006

Sir Elton John's £7 million vampire musical is to close after just 39 performances.

'Lestat' - which was written by the flamboyant musician and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin - will be played out for the very last time on Broadway, in New York, on Sunday afternoon (28.05.06).

The announcement the production is to end comes just weeks after it was slammed by critics on its opening night last month.

One top critic referred to the musical - inspired by author Anne Rice's best-selling 'Vampire Chronicles' book series, and based on the bloodsucking character played by Tom Cruise in the 1994 film 'Interview With The Vampire' - as a "musical sleeping pill".

Variety magazine's David Rooney wrote: "It seems like the prosaic plot of a gay vampire soap opera that's simultaneously overwrought and coy."

Following the bad reviews, audiences stayed away from the production with the theatre being only half full for shows last week.

(C) BANG Media International