Beneath the Mask

The show is through-sung, and combines some traditional ballads with more up-tempo, and more unusual, songs. The use of synthesizers has allowed for eerie noises and strange sounds to be woven in to the piece, and it sounds like no show you have ever heard before. It is certainly the most original show music score I have heard. "Nosferatu" is very different in style to Taylor's previous work, and any other show on the West End or Broadway, and is likely to have a far wider appeal than most musicals. It is dark, beautiful, humorous, and tragic.

As Nosferatu, Peter Karrie is outstanding. He is powerful, sardonic, threatening, seductive, and pitiful - perfectly cast. He gives a remarkable performance of all of his songs. The vampire is introduced in the song "Somewhere at the Edges of Creation", a dramatic piece in which Peter immediately makes his mark. I can't imagine anyone else singing "Night", and not just because of the breath-control at the end! "The Point of Singularity", Nosferatu's dying song, is haunting and heart-rending.

Claire Moore makes a wonderful Mina; innocent and sweet, with a beautiful, floating voice, very different to her performance on "Pride and Prejudice" . Mario Frangoulis, as Jonathan, is a real find. I wish I d seen him as Raoul, as he has one of the best voices I've heard. His opera work has given him a round, far more three-dimensional and expressive voice than many musical singers. I can easily imagine him as a future Phantom. Claire and Mario share some of the more traditional love songs - "Wherever You Are" is likely to become a classic, and they are all beautiful songs, beautifully sung.

Mark Wynter, as Van Helsing, is excellent. His confrontation with Nosferatu ( "Excuse Me While I Disappear" ) is one of my favourite songs on the CD, and is another song which Peter excels on, mocking Van Helsing perfectly. Barry James is brilliantly cast as Renfeld - mad, funny, but rather sad at the end. Annalene Beechey has a lovely voice, and Simon Burke's performance is one of the comic highlights. The chorus numbers are also particularly strong.