Tale - not stale - from the crypt.Byline: FRED CRAFTS The Register-Guard What can you do with "Dracula?" Everybody knows the story. Vampires. Sucking blood. Stake through the heart. Transylvania. Gothic horror. In fact, Bram Stoker's 1897 novel is so familiar that director Michael Watkins had a problem finding a script that wasn't so full of cliches as to be laughable. After searching high and low for a new way to tell the tale at Actors Cabaret of Eugene, he finally settled on a standard adaptation by Hamilton Deane and John Balderston. "I liked this script," Watkins said. "The language was updated in the 1970s. And I'm placing it in the 1940s in order to make it a little more accessible to the audience. They can identify a little bit more because it is in the 20th century. It's not so far removed." The Actor's Cabaret version is set in the sanitorium of Dr. Seward (Stephen Mandell), whose daughter, Lucy (Jennifer Coombs Coombs can refer to:
n. A physical or mental disorder, especially a mild illness. that recently killed her friend, Mina. Frustrated, Dr. Seward calls in his scientist friend, Professor Van Helsing (William Campbell William Campbell or Bill Campbell may refer to: Politicians
After running through a list of suspects, Van Helsing finally settles on Seward's new neighbor, Count Dracula Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. Some aspects of the character may have been inspired by the 15th century Wallachian Prince, Vlad III the Impaler. (Harold Baker This article is about the English cricketer. For the jazz trumpeter, see Harold Shorty Baker. Harold Frank Baker (4 May 1884 - 5 May 1954) was an English cricketer who played two first-class game for Worcestershire in 1911. ). And the chase is on. "People coming expecting to see `Dracula' will see `Dracula,' because the story is what it is," Watkins said. "But I wanted to make it more conversational, more real. I figured, why do what everybody always does with it?" Deane's highly theatrical 1924 stage version was such a success in England that American producer Horace Liveright had playwright Balderston rewrite it for a 1927 New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of production. With Bela Lugosi Noun 1. Bela Lugosi - United States film actor (born in Hungary) noted for portraying monsters (1884-1956) Bela Ferenc Blasko, Lugosi in the title role, the show ran for 33 weeks, earning more than $2 million in New York and on tour. "I haven't changed the story or anything," Watkins said. "I've just updated the look of the show and made it a little more conversational, as opposed to your Gothic Saturday matinee horror flick type of thing." In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , Watkins has shunned the campy hairdos and thick accents that have sunk so many productions in gales of laughter. "I'm trying to avoid anything that's going to make the audience laugh," he said. "I'm trying to get away from being a melodrama and have it be more of a modern-day horror story horror story Story intended to elicit a strong feeling of fear. Such tales are of ancient origin and form a substantial part of folk literature. They may feature supernatural elements such as ghosts, witches, or vampires or address more realistic psychological fears. - sort of more along the line of Ann Rule's books as opposed to the traditional Bela Lugosi kind of thing. `It's a challenge." The play still has the bats, the screams and all the familiar characters - Miss Wells (Julianna Zarzycki), Jonathan Harker Jonathan Harker is a fictional character and the protagonist in the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. In the novel Harker is a recently certified solicitor from Exeter, who is sent by his employer to Transylvania in order to consult a client on a property (Chris Columbus), Renfield (Jesse Lally) and Butterworth (Mike Peterson) - that make the timeworn horror tale such an audience favorite. As Watkins put it, "They're still going to get the blood and gore, the stabbing of the vampire and the biting of the neck, because the story is what it is. `You can't change that. Didn't want to." DRACULA WHAT: Bram Stoker's classic vampire tale, reset in the 1940s; directed by Michael Watkins WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Nov. 1-2, 8-9 and 15-16; 2 p.m. Nov. 3 WHERE: Actors Cabaret Annex, 39 W. 10th Ave. HOW MUCH: $17 reserved ($22 day of show), with a limited number of senior and student tickets (in advance) at $14, through the ACE box office, 683-4368 CAPTION(S): The count (Harold Baker) casts his spell over Lucy (Jennifer Coombs) in the Actors Cabaret production of `Dracula.' Actors Cabaret |
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