I saw DRACULA at The La Jolla Playhouse prior to the show being in limbo and honest to god it was the greatest most satisfying piece of theatre I have seen in all of my life. Granted I've only been here for 18 years, but I cannot say enough great things about this production. It was absolutely breathtaking. The sets and the lights were so unbelievably alluring and magical I just....there are no words. And rarely am I ever speechless about a show but this time I was just utterly speechless. My dad said it was the greatest thing he had ever seen on stage, which isn't saying much but he doesn't really like musicals in the same way that I do and even HE said it was just awesome. We spent the next few MONTHS just trying to digest what we saw. The music was passionate. There were few ballads a la Jekyll & Hyde witch was surprising at first but it just worked. The special effects were the highlights. Smoke, flying ghost like figures, DRACULA being one side and then the other side of the stage in seconds, glass coffins filling with blood, images appearing and disappearing, the stake, and DRACULA walking center stage and then leaping down the orchestra pit. I swear my heart fell with him. It was one of the best things I ever saw. If this production is ANYTHING like the La Jolla production it's gonna be great. Sure, some people won't like it blah, blah, blah...whatever. I loved it. And I think most theatergoers will too.
Updated On: 3/9/04 at 05:28 PM