Review: DRACULA at CLASSICAL THEATRE COMPANY

The original novel DRACULA was written by Irish author Bram Stoker back in 1897, roughly one hundred and twenty-seven years ago. Over time the story has been translated for film more than two hundred times. DRACULA is the second most adapted literary character, only behind Sherlock Holmes for sheer volumes of work. The mythos of the original book have been twisted and adapted over the years, and somehow, the Count has become a sympathetic, often romanticized monster for which most folks feel some kind of lust. Houston’s CLASSICAL THEATRE COMPANY has decided to take it back to the original written word and return Dracula to the status of a demon rather than a lover. And yet, somehow, they have cast Spencer Plachy, who is the most swoon-worthy actor Houston has, a man who has embodied Mr. Darcy for years. Also, a man sexy enough to star in the Broadway tour of THE LION KING shirtless as Scar. It’s wild to see Darcy do Dracula and do it as a feral animal to boot. But I get ahead of myself. I bid you welcome! Enter freely and of your own free will!

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At this point, I wonder who doesn’t know the plot of DRACULA? An ancient evil shell of an undead man who drinks blood and lives in Transylvania. He buys real estate in England and sets his sights on easy prey in London - a thriving city full of potential victims. Little does he know that Johnathan Harker his solicitor, has ties to a family that knows Dr. Van Helsing, apparently the only man in the world who knows how to stop a vampire such as Dracula. Oh, and also a family with Dracula’s human familiar, Renfield, holed up in an insane asylum they run. Coincidences abound, the Count gets cocky, and soon the pursued are hunting him back to Eastern Europe. It’s the novel's basic framework; most lines are quotes from the source material. There are some liberties here and there, but Stoker fans should be pleased with this adaptation provided by Chris Iannacone (a playwright CLASSICAL THEATRE COMPANY has worked on adaptations with in the past). 

Actor Kyle Clark makes for a wonderfully muted Johnathan Harker. Kyle is usually cast as the soldier or the macho man, the alpha male, so it is wonderful to see him stretch to play a quiet intellectual who is frightened most of the time. Elissa Cuellar gives Mina far more spunk than she has in the book, and she is convincing as a late Victorian-era lady. She really shines once the vampire targets her. Eva Olivia Catanzariti plays Lucy, both the innocent coquette and the demonic incarnation that comes later in the first act. She is delicious in both. Greg Dean makes for a delightfully melodramatic Van Helsing whose bedside manor ranges from calm ease to rabid panic, often in the same exchange. Jonathan Robinson goes for broke with Renfield and is a one-man tribute to famous horror sequences, even replicating Regan’s “spiderwalk” from THE EXORCIST. There are three weird sisters (Maggie Maxwell, Jasmine Christyne, and famed fight choreographer Like Fedell) who steal act one handily with their vampiric hunting routine as art and menace simultaneously. David Akinwande and Patrick Fretwell are perfectly dry and stoic as they portray Seward and Holmwood.   

Back to Spencer Plachy as Count Dracula. As I have mentioned, Spencer is known to Houston audiences normally as a romantic lead. Here, he is made up in severe white face and has ratty wigs that make him either older or look like a feral animal. He is not the dandy that Dracula usually is. It’s fun to watch Spencer fight against type, to become a demon rather than a desirable man. His Dracula performance is more informed by his movements moreso than his spoken lines. It works to be more scary than seductive, more hungry than handsome. He is definitely not the ladykiller we normally associate with the character, and that is more book-accurate than the typical romantic depiction we are used to. But now and then, I would catch a touch of romance in how he held his female victims, but it was merely a glimmer and dissipated quickly. He is an enigma, and this is a great role that expands the actor’s repertoire.  

Technically, this show is an insane challenge, probably far more frightening for the tech crew than the audience. Director Blake Weir had to handle carriages, trains, coffins, and undead ghouls. He doesn’t pour on the thick blood in any sequence, but certainly, he evokes much on a surprisingly plain and elegant set provided by Afsaneh Aayani. She’s normally abstract and over the top, but even the designers are playing against type. The MVP has to be sound designer Jon Harvey. His work is glorious and underscores every second of Chris Iannacone's fast-moving script. The show runs just over two hours, even with a fifteen-minute intermission, and yet somehow manages to hit the novel's high points.  

But alas, if this DRACULA has a weakness, it is the source material and its slavish adherence to it. It’s nice to see Stoker's words present and alive on stage, but his book tells us far more than it shows, and this DRACULA is guilty of the same. It could stand more excitement and fewer data dumps from actors summarizing where we are and what is happening. That is the difference between stage and film. Where Coppola could nod to the book in his 1992 film and also dazzle us with fever dream images, this incarnation is simply about the words for the most part. It is strongest when it takes action - the weird sisters, Renfield contorting, Dracula rising from a crypt, or the brief climactic fight. Those are the scenes we have come for, but a large portion of the rest is monologues derived from the letters that make up the book.  

But DRACULA is always fun, and CLASSICAL THEATRE COMPANY’s production is handsome, well-acted, and well-produced. It’s a solid cast delivering a time-tested tale that has spun in our imaginations for what seems like an eternity. Blake Weir proves to be a director to watch and perhaps one to work with. He certainly gets the cast and crew to expand their usual offerings and show us something new, even when working with a 127-year-old text. Hell, he got Darcy to do Dracula! This is a Halloween treat, and you should definitely take the ride with this company. But move quickly because Denn die Todten reiten Schnell. (For the dead, travel fast.)

DRACULA runs through October 26th at The DeLuxe Theater, located at 3303 Lyons Avenue. Tickets range from $10 up to $30 a seat. Note that the company offers matinees on both Saturday and Sunday, and the show is family-friendly if your kids enjoy vampires.

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