From our Unofficial News Department comes word that the idea of a stage-musical version of the long-running TV vampire hit True Blood has been floated by Nathan Barr, the composer who has scored all seven seasons of the HBO drama.
The show's seventh and final season premiered this week. Telepath and waitress Sookie Stackhouse, played on TV by Anna Paquin, would be the focal point of the Broadway musical, Barr said. He added, in reference to the series' seven seasons of complexities, that for the musical "I think we're really going to try to return to the roots of the show."
Barr worked with True Blood co-star Stephen Moyer to put together some samples to show HBO and show creator Alan Ball. Might Moyer appear in the stage version? He proved his stage presence and vocal chops on last year's megahit The Sound of Music Live! on NBC.
Barr is aiming to have a workshop version ready in about a year. With the realism of a true industry pro he added, "There's no guarantees. But I think the direction we're heading in is really exciting."
Vampire lovers may remember the famous musical episode in Season Six of Joss Whedon's classic camp-vampire drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with music and lyrics by Whedon himself. The episode even enjoyed a brief Rocky Horror-style movie theater singalong life. And vampires, including Dracula himself, have bloodied Broadway a number of times, though mostly without box office success. The Frank Wildhorn-scored Dracula, the Musical bombed in 2004. Lestat, based on Anne Rice's vampire novels and scored by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, flamed out in the Broadway sun too, in 2006.
The campy Jim Steinman musical Dance of the Vampires, based on the Roman Polanski film The Fearless Vampire Killers, ran for only 61 previews and 56 performances in 2002-2003 despite the presence of Michael Crawford and René Auberjonois in the cast. And a straight-play version of Dracula starring George Hearn fizzled in 2011.
On the other hand, the Vampire Cowboys have been one of Off-Broadway's most innovative troupes for some years now. Inspired by comic books and video games, their productions all at least have the word "vampire" on the program. So there's that.
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