Thursday, November 18, 2010

‘Dracula’ Will Rise Off Broadway, With a Count by Way of Italy Michel Altieri

New York theater’s last major attempts at vampire shows — the Elton John musical “Lestat” in 2006, “Dracula, the Musical” in 2004, and the musical “Dance of the Vampires” in 2002 — were among the biggest Broadway flops of that decade. But the monster success of the “Twilight” book and film series — about young love between a well-coiffed vampire and a pretty, sulky human — since 2008 has led to a host of movies, television series, and books featuring vampires.
Now Off Broadway is giving vampires a go. “Dracula,” the 1927 Hamilton Deane-John L. Balderston play based on Bram Stoker’s novel, which had a hit revival on Broadway in 1977 starring Frank Langella, will have a 13-week run at the Little Shubert Theater starting Dec. 14, with an opening night scheduled for Jan. 5, 2011.
George Hearn, a Tony Award winner for “Sunset Boulevard” and “La Cage aux Folles,” will play the vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, and film actress Thora Birch (“American Beauty,” “Ghost World”) has been cast as Count Dracula’s love interest, Lucy Seward.

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