Director Philip Nichols, Jr., a master special effects artist whose work has been seen regularly at The Alley Theatre (Cyrano, Ether Dome, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Crucifer of Blood) and in Main Street Theatre’s Richard III, plus hundreds of films, including Powder, Arlington Road, and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, lavishes his trademark prosthetic makeup on this riveting production, combining serious horror with serious sympathy for this Creature who roams the earth without friends or family, feared by a world he can never be part of.
The cast features Louis Crespo, Michael Raabe, Jeffery Dorman, Jennifer Westbrook, Jan Potts, Amesti Reioux, Clara Marsh, Bob Galley, John Stevens, Mary Westbrook, Melissa Nichols, Taylor Biltoft, Vance Johnson, Enrique Vasquez, and Michel Brown Stevens.
The play revisits her original novel (1818). The “Creature,” a doomed Victorian literary hero, becomes literate and educated, demanding his birthright as a human being, stalking the doctor who dared to toy with the power of science. Highly oversimplified in its many film treatments over the years, the story plumbs profound moral issues and the metaphysics of life itself.
Ticket prices are $22 for adults, or $19 for students and seniors. As a special monster deal, see Frankenstein and Evil Dead on the same night for $35 (or $30), if purchased together. Groups of 20 or more receive a $5.00 discount off the adult price. Call the box office at 713-467-4497 for reservations, or make them online at www.countryplayhouse.org.
Country Playhouse is located at 12802 Queensbury, Houston 77024 (in Town & Country Village, across from City Centre), just two blocks east of the Sam Houston Tollway.
Photo Credit: Melissa L. Nichols
The creature with the skull (Michael Raabe)
Frankenstein family : Victor (Louis Crespo, Jr.), Elizabeth (Jennifer Westbrook), William (Clara Marsh) and Justine (Amesti Reioux)
The “bride� (Amesti Reioux) and Victor Frankenstein (Louis Crespo, Jr.)
Elizabeth LaVenza tragic bride (Jennifer Westbrook)
Victor (Louis Crespo, Jr.) in the arctic circle
Henry Clerval (Jeffrey S. Dorman) and Victor (Louis Crespo, Jr.) bring the creature (Michael Raabe) to life.
The creature (Michael Raabe) finds companionship in DeLacey (John W. Stevens), the blind hermit
The body snatchers (Melissa L. Nichols, Enrique Vasquez, and Mary Westbrook) plot to rob DeLacey
Michel Brown Stevens as Mary Shelley
The Magistrate Lionell Mueller (Bob Galley)
Videos