American Repertory Theater of WNY Presents THE DEAD ENGLISH, Now thru 11/10

The American Repertory Theater of WNY in collaboration with Theatre Jugend and Steven Sitzman is presenting THE DEAD ENGLISH, an musical adaptation of Bram Stoker's timeless story of Count Dracula. The folk-punkrock musical adapation is set to open tonight, October 18th and run until November 10th, at ART/WNY's new performance space, The Church of the Ascension, 16 Linwood Avenue, Buffalo NY.

Although Stoker's Victorian story of this legendary Translyvannia bloodsucker has undergone numerous stage and film adaptations over the past 200 years, THE DEAD ENGLISH is a wholly unique take on this classic literary piece. Writer Justin Karcher found elements in Stoker's novel that needed to be explored and characters brushed aside in the novel to have a bigger part of his adaptation. "It's an epic, really, that deals with youth, love and death." Said Karcher. "Who, what are we? And what is our purpose? Its a crisis in identity and the lengths that people (and creatures) go in order to remedy it."

In the historic role of Dracula is newcomer to the Buffalo theater scene Anthony Alcocer, with his nemisis Van Helsing played by Steve Copps, whose performance in ART/WNY's production of FLOYD COLLINS won him a regional award for Best Actor in a Musical. In addition to Alcocer and Copps, THE DEAD ENGLISH features Jenny Kulwicki alongside Steven Brachmann as Mina and Johnathan Harker, the two young lovers torn apart by forces beyond their control. Jacob Abarella has the task of handling Karcher's more narratively pronounced Renfield alongside an ensemble of outstanding Buffalo talent including Nick Lama (Seward), Hannah Sharp (Lucy), Sara Marioles, as the queen gypsy Tamas with her brood, Jacob Kahn, Matt Kindley, Laura Bevilacqua and Jamie Nablo.

THE DEAD ENGLISH is set to open tonight, October 18 and run until November 10 on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, with a special presentation scheduled for Halloween evening. All showtimes are at 8:00 pm. Ticket prices are $15 General Admission, $12 Students and Military Veterans. Please call the ART/WNY box office at 716-634-1102 to make reservations. Tickets can also be purchased online to ensure seating by visiting Brown Paper Ticket at www.brownpapertickets.com. For more information on THE DEAD ENGLISH, visit www.artofwny.org.

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