Elton John Sinks Teeth into Vampire Lestat???

Elton John and his long-time pop collaborator Bernie Taupin are working on a new blood-sucking Broadway musical. Based on Anne Rice's popular series of vampire novels, the new show, expected to premiere in 2005, has been tentatively titled The Vampire Lestat. It follows big-budget screen adaptations of Rice's novels Interview with a Vampire and Queen of the Damned and will be the first project financed through film company Warner Bros' new theatrical division. Though best known for his pop success, Elton John has previously provided music for Disney film-to-stage hits The Lion King and Aida and is chairman of the Old Vic Theatre Trust (See News, 3 Feb 2003). The Vampire Lestat is just one in a recent rash of musicals about the undead. Most famously, Michael Crawford's much-hyped "comeback" vehicle - The Dance of the Vampires, based on Roman Polanski's 1967 schlock horror film - closed on Broadway in January 2003 after vicious reviews, having notched up just 56 performances and estimated losses of $12 million (See News, 16 Jan 2003). Lyricist Don Black has also been working on a new Broadway musical based on Bram Stoker's Dracula, featuring music by Frank Wildhorn and a book by playwright Christopher Hampton (See The Goss, 8 Mar 2002; & Features, 14 Apr 2003).

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