Vampires Rock
Manchester Palace Theatre
4 th October 2007
5/10
WHAT BETTER excuse to dance along to all your favourite classic rock anthems than to have an evening dedicated to it. With hair-raising tributes to Bon Jovi, Queen, Meat Loaf and many more, the powerful vocals nearly knocked me off my seat.
I wish I could say the same about the acting. The supposed story was set in New York where Vampires has risen from the dead and the Baron (Steve Steinman) must convince his chosen lady to live for eternity in becoming his queen. Well, this is what the programme told me. Instead, the acting amounted to about ten minutes of this three hour “play” and it really wasn’t worth it. The actors found it hard to stay in their chosen characters, and I couldn’t really tell if the Baron was from Russia or Manchester. The lead actress (Emily Clark) was under the impression that every line she spoke must be delivered in a melodic harmony, which became tiresome after the first 20 minutes. Describing itself as a “musical comedy,” I was expecting to be humoured throughout. Not only were the jokes forced and made me laugh nervously, but they were unnecessarily crude; why I want to watch a 40-something year old man thrust his pelvis at a potential “queen” I’ll never know. About half the audience seemed to get the jokes. Unfortunately, I was on the half that didn’t.
Despite this, I cannot fault the music. Each performance was electrifying and delivered with passion and enthusiasm. The highlight was the lead choreographer (Shereen Webb) who made each number more entrancing than the last.
On the whole, Vampires Rock was an enjoyable night out, but I would only recommend it if you’re going for the music, not the story. For me, it would’ve been more plausible in a concert hall; cut out the weak plot, the uncomfortable acting and stick to what they do best, performing amazing tributes!
I have also seen this show a few times and I think the point is that its about the music and not the script. Its a concert with a bit of fun thrown in and I think it works very well rather than being board to death with long drawn out storys that are mostly crap. Music great as you say and singing superb. If you want a fun night out well worth a see.
I saw the show and think it was absolutely awful. I was very disappointed with the whole thing and the musicians were very poor. The quality of the music was an insult to the original and the girls were just a distraction. The main man steinman somehow believes he is a vampire sexgod but as the report said it made me feel sick to watch him throw himself about at the young girls. Bit like peadophilia!!!!
I have seen the show and the women in the show are about 30ish i would guess so not sure waht show you have seen as Steinman looks about 40 to me!