Dracula: Entre l'amour et la mort
Apr. 6th, 2008 09:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
winterI first noticed Bruno Pelletier in Notre Dame de Paris, as recommended by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fyrie, about two years ago. On Youtube, there were clips of him doing various things, including appearing in something that looked... strange. The music was great, the French lyrics had vivid imagery, but the costumes? The flames? I googled it and came up with Dracula: Entre l'amour et la mort.
The CD has been out for a long time, and it gets regular airtime in my house. The DVD of the musical was recorded in November 2006 and came out last month. I now have it in my hands and all I can say is: Whoa. This is what a Dracula musical should be.
The whole stage is done with lights and projections - there is a ramp/bridge in the back and a structure in the middle with a rectangle with a hole in it that can be swung up, and that's all. For all that all of it is white, the set is dark and gloomy, changing from Dracula's church-like crypt to the techno-world Mina inhabits. The centre structure is a gateway and a tomb at once, and a cross.
The projections themselves were gorgeous, especially the dynamic, real-time ones. In a death scene, we see the action in the middle of the stage being projected on the wall from above, until the person falls dead. Then they get up, but we can see the body in the projection lies still, the figure on the stage already a ghost.
The costumes initially put me off, seeing as they're high-concept leatherwork with a gothic punk vibe to them. But they fit the symbolic feeling of the sets, and I have to admit I'm not objecting to Bruno Pelletier doing kung fu in skin-tight leather ;) Fortunately they escaped the trap of black and red leather, except for the blackness of the Brides, which suits them.
Choreography is stellar, if discreet; every move is choreographed, graceful, every gesture laden with meaning. There are only two big numbers that are expressively dance numbers, one of them being the seduction of Jonathan by the brides, and the other Dracula and Mina's meeting. The second in particular is stunning, with the way he's always behind her, seducing her by steering her into the dance.
The concept is what catches you, an absinthe cocktail of Stoker's story. The narrator is a human-sized puppet of a Hammer Films vampire, the puppeteer gradually revealed until he says the last words of the last narration sequence without moving the puppet's mouth. Renfield is the other major change, because he's a junkie photographer who tags around with Jonathan on journalistic expeditions, camera at the ready. This camera is the source of the most dynamic projections, which let everyone in the theatre see the actors' faces, a great formal move. Not to mention the Blair Witch handheld feel to his last confession...
Dracula - ah, Dracula. This is the first Dracula story that my Vlad-muse approves of, with how strong and volatile, intelligent and drama-queen Pelletier paints his character. Someone has read up on stories and stories of Dracula - "I am the prince of a thousand powers" is a tell-tale line in the first song, since "Prince of a thousand faces" is the title of a seminal Vlad biography. He mentions his desire for freedom, for his line to survive, for his country to be protected. And oh, he moves like fire and shadow, stalking and fencing and never hesitating to attack.
All right, I could nitpick. Jonathan is a bit too old and bearded, though his voice is strong and emotional. At times the lights crew is too fond of stroboscopic lights. And there's a random AC/DC type guitarist who tries to be rar-metal while Mina sings a song that doesn't really fit the plot.
It's a rapid, symbolic plot, made difficult if you don't understand the words, but the magic draws you in. The acting is stellar, and everything falls into place; the directing is a thing of wonder.
And all this is the work of Bruno Pelletier - concept, direction, lead actor. Monsieur, bravo!
And some Youtube clips to whet your appetite:
Dracula and Lucy's meeting (promotional video)
Concert version of the philosophical discussion between Dracula, Jonathan and Renfield
Digest of DVD scenes
fyrie, about two years ago. On Youtube, there were clips of him doing various things, including appearing in something that looked... strange. The music was great, the French lyrics had vivid imagery, but the costumes? The flames? I googled it and came up with Dracula: Entre l'amour et la mort.The CD has been out for a long time, and it gets regular airtime in my house. The DVD of the musical was recorded in November 2006 and came out last month. I now have it in my hands and all I can say is: Whoa. This is what a Dracula musical should be.
The whole stage is done with lights and projections - there is a ramp/bridge in the back and a structure in the middle with a rectangle with a hole in it that can be swung up, and that's all. For all that all of it is white, the set is dark and gloomy, changing from Dracula's church-like crypt to the techno-world Mina inhabits. The centre structure is a gateway and a tomb at once, and a cross.
The projections themselves were gorgeous, especially the dynamic, real-time ones. In a death scene, we see the action in the middle of the stage being projected on the wall from above, until the person falls dead. Then they get up, but we can see the body in the projection lies still, the figure on the stage already a ghost.
The costumes initially put me off, seeing as they're high-concept leatherwork with a gothic punk vibe to them. But they fit the symbolic feeling of the sets, and I have to admit I'm not objecting to Bruno Pelletier doing kung fu in skin-tight leather ;) Fortunately they escaped the trap of black and red leather, except for the blackness of the Brides, which suits them.
Choreography is stellar, if discreet; every move is choreographed, graceful, every gesture laden with meaning. There are only two big numbers that are expressively dance numbers, one of them being the seduction of Jonathan by the brides, and the other Dracula and Mina's meeting. The second in particular is stunning, with the way he's always behind her, seducing her by steering her into the dance.
The concept is what catches you, an absinthe cocktail of Stoker's story. The narrator is a human-sized puppet of a Hammer Films vampire, the puppeteer gradually revealed until he says the last words of the last narration sequence without moving the puppet's mouth. Renfield is the other major change, because he's a junkie photographer who tags around with Jonathan on journalistic expeditions, camera at the ready. This camera is the source of the most dynamic projections, which let everyone in the theatre see the actors' faces, a great formal move. Not to mention the Blair Witch handheld feel to his last confession...
Dracula - ah, Dracula. This is the first Dracula story that my Vlad-muse approves of, with how strong and volatile, intelligent and drama-queen Pelletier paints his character. Someone has read up on stories and stories of Dracula - "I am the prince of a thousand powers" is a tell-tale line in the first song, since "Prince of a thousand faces" is the title of a seminal Vlad biography. He mentions his desire for freedom, for his line to survive, for his country to be protected. And oh, he moves like fire and shadow, stalking and fencing and never hesitating to attack.
All right, I could nitpick. Jonathan is a bit too old and bearded, though his voice is strong and emotional. At times the lights crew is too fond of stroboscopic lights. And there's a random AC/DC type guitarist who tries to be rar-metal while Mina sings a song that doesn't really fit the plot.
It's a rapid, symbolic plot, made difficult if you don't understand the words, but the magic draws you in. The acting is stellar, and everything falls into place; the directing is a thing of wonder.
And all this is the work of Bruno Pelletier - concept, direction, lead actor. Monsieur, bravo!
And some Youtube clips to whet your appetite:
Dracula and Lucy's meeting (promotional video)
Concert version of the philosophical discussion between Dracula, Jonathan and Renfield
Digest of DVD scenes