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Vampire Loving-Is the Theatre World Ready?

Supernatural romance is defined simply as any romantic fiction featuring ghosts, werewolves, vampires or similarly otherworldly characters. Tweens all over the world are going mad for it, but could the West End handle a spooky love story of its own? Should Theatreland be expecting one?

Twilight is, of course, the most famous of the supernatural romance novels but the genre’s popularity goes far beyond the antics of Bella and her sparkly undead beau; entire supernatural/gothic/paranormal romance sections are starting to pop up in bookshops. Books with moody black and red covers are flying off the shelves and young women just can’t seem to get enough of them, but how does this relate to London’s world-famous theatre district?

Bella and Edward

Bella and Edward Image Credit

Theatre has a habit of picking up trends from other art forms: The recent spate of book and comic-based movie adaptations and remakes of classic films can be easily seen reflected in Broadway and the West End. For example, ten years ago the idea of a Spider-Man musical would be dismissed as ridiculous. Fast forward to 2011 and a multi-million dollar Broadway musical starring everyone’s favourite wall-crawling web-slinger is causing quite a stir on Broadway.

Spiderman

Spiderman Image Source

A great many of the shows currently in the West End are film adaptations. We’ve got Betty Blue Eyes, Billy Elliot, Ghost The Musical, Legally Blonde The Musical, Shrek The Musical, The Lion King, Cool Hand Luke, Driving Miss Daisy and The Ladykillers all running or about to run. With that many film adaptations running (and doing rather well) despite the gloomy economic climate, it surely can’t be long until Twilight or a similarly cult dark romance story finds its way to the West End.

Legally Blonde

Legally Blonde Image Credit

Until then, shows like Wicked and Ghost The Musical will continue to fill the gap and entertain audiences comprised mainly of young women.

Wicked features a green-skinned witch who, among other things, falls in love with a mysterious prince from a far-off land. Admittedly, the love story is a sub-plot but it is still has a very strong supernatural romance feeling. Unsurprisingly, Wicked has one of the most dedicated fan groups of any West End show.

Wicked

Wicked Image Credit

Elsewhere in the West End, Ghost The Musical is also catering to the supernatural romance crowd. The story sees a man murdered, but his love for his girlfriend and his wish to protect her prevents him from passing over. The show also features incredible special effects and some truly enchanting songs. Fans of Twilight will adore the powerful love story between a couple who occupy different worlds.

<img src=”https://mailamovie.info/”Ghost” />

Ghost Image Credit

Wicked and Ghost The Musical have whetted the theatre-going public’s appetite for supernatural romance on stage but the West End is crying out for an unashamed spooky love-fest. Twilight may be too popular to make it on stage, but Linda Lael Miller’s novels would work just as well. As would Christine Feehan’s Carpathians series or pretty much anything by Teresa Medeiros.

The West End is ready, bring on Sexy Vampires: The Musical!

Cullen Family

Cullen Family Image Credit

This article was provided on behalf of London theatre breaks specialists Show and stay; offering you a unique short break.

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Harry Potter v Twilight: a Debate

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Image via Wikipedia

 

Growing up I was always an avid reader; whilst the other teenagers were out smoking their first cigarettes or kissing, I spent school break-times in the library. One day I was looking for something new to read, and a slightly weird boy from my class pointed out a book about a young wizard named Harry Potter and said it would be the next big thing. I was skeptical. Then I started to read it and really didn’t rate it at all. I found the writing clumsy and a bit childish. Despite not making it past chapter one, I tagged along to the cinema to watch the first film then went to see the second as a bit of a joke. Before long I was up to date with the movies, and despite not reading any of the books, I was very interested to discover how it was all going to end and borrowed a copy of The Deathly Hallows book from my Potter mad boyfriend at the time. I found, to my joy, that the writing style had changed; it was darker, more grown up, and I powered through the massive novel in a few days.

My initial distrust and now love of Potter has made me wonder if I will ever feel the same way about Twilight; I’ll admit I haven’t read any of the books (although I flicked through the first one at a house party and found the dialogue slightly dull and repetitive; in having the Crucio curse inflicted upon me would be less painful) and I’ve only seen the first film. It failed to hold my attention, and as a result I’ve had no desire to watch the rest. In some ways I am curious; I want to know exactly what it is about a sparkly vampire who steals the engine out of his girlfriend’s car so she can’t go and visit another boy that women of all ages seem to find so sexually appealing. All I’m saying is that if my pasty boyfriend wasn’t up for pre-marital relations, It wouldn’t matter if my car was broken because I’d walk round to the tanned boy with the six pack’s house.

Now I’m not the world’s most romantic person, so perhaps that’s the problem. But what is Harry Potter if not a love story? A beautiful, slow burning love story between Ron and Hermione, with tiny hints dropped here and there in the text; from Hermione’s reaction to Ron’s dalliance with Lavender Brown, to Ron’s jealousy of Harry and Hermione’s friendship (which is represented quite graphically in the film version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – I was taken aback!).

Another issue I have with Twilight is the plot, or lack thereof. Again, I’ve not read any of the books or seen the films so please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I can gather it’s simply a story of a boy falling in love with a girl and the story of their relationship from the day they meet until they have a child. The entire story revolves around their love affair. In Harry Potter the characters are embroiled in a battle between good and evil. There are intricate plot details and patterns which JK Rowling introduces in book one and ties up in book six. The books and films grow up with the readership. And of course, there’s the fun of trying to decide which house you would be in based on your personality (I’ve always identified myself as a Slytherin) which is slightly deeper than Team Edward or Team Jacob (ooh which boy is hotter?!).

In the battle of Harry Potter vs. Twilight, Harry Potter is a definite winner as far as I’m concerned. As well as creating a truly engaging story with interesting characters, Jo Rowling also invented a whole new language- any of you muggles up for a spot of quidditch?- and created enough enchanting scenes in her book to inspire a Harry Potter theme park (I’m not sure if I’d be interested in going to a theme park based on small town Washington).

This is of course, only my opinion. Many of my friends really enjoy the Twilight books so I’m sure they have something to offer; only they seem to have nothing to offer me. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts in the comments.

 

Jennifer is a part of the digital blogging team at getyourblogsout.com who work with a growing number of entertainment brands. For more information about me, or to keep up to date with the latest in entertainment news, check out my posts at getyourblogsout.com or visit my Twitter account, @BlogsOut

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