‘Lestat’ will finally see light of day

After more than two years of development, Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures said Tuesday it will be ready to premiere a musical adaptation of Anne Rice’s “Vampire Chronicles” at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre in December, with a Broadway opening planned for next spring.

Called “Lestat” and featuring a score by the famed pop writing team of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, the production will star Hugh Panaro, who has appeared on Broadway in “Les Miserables,” “Show Boat” and “The Phantom of the Opera.” Also in the cast are Carolee Carmello, Jack Noseworthy, Jim Stanek, Roderick Hill, Michael Genet and Allison Fischer.

“Lestat,” the first Broadway offering from Warner Bros., has a book by Linda Woolverton and will be directed by Robert Jess Roth, both of whom filled similar roles on Disney’s first Broadway hit, “Beauty and the Beast.” It will run in San Francisco from Dec. 17 through Jan. 29.

From a Times staff writer