Dracula--an honest, good review 9/2/04

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/2/04 at 11:33pm

So, I saw Dracula tonight. And I have to tell you, it was so much better than my expectations. From what I've heard, and from what I've read on this site, I prepared myself to be bored as hell, but I was far from it. It was a great theatrical experience. The cast is amazing, every single one of them. Their harmonies blend together beautifully and everyone, leads, secondary characters and ensemble, are flawless in their pitch and tone. I heard not one sour note.

The music was great. I'm a Wildhorn fan by nature and I can tell you that it was up to par. The only problem I had with the music was that he seemed to be taking moments from Jekyll and Hyde and The Scarlet Pimpernel. There were snippets I caught from 'Into the Fire' and some Jekyll moments as well. But other than that the music soared.

The book was good, but not perfect. Of all the aspects of the show, this is the weakest link. It sometimes decides to be funny when the situation is entirely too severe. A few jokes are scattered in, probably to lighten the mood, but just seem unfit. Then there's the major problem--all of a sudden Dracula's in love with Mina and Mina is in love with Drac. How did this happen? When did this happen? Why doesn't she care for her good looking fiancee with the amazing voice that made me cry? And then at the very end, Drac has a sudden change of heart that I won't spoil for you all. But you never see his humanity throughout the entire show and then feel like you are being forced to sympathise with him. That's a problem.

The best part for me? Afterwards. For a board which LOOOOOVES to talk about stage door behavior, this is the cast for you. There was not one person who wasn't thrilled to talk to the fans. Everyone was so gracious. If Shonn Wiley, who played Dr. Jack Seward, reads this, I just wanted to let him know that we wanted to talk to him! He was the only one to walk away without stopping, but it seemed like he didn't think that anyone wanted to talk to him. We did though!!! Melissa Errico and Kelli O'Hara are beautiful, lovely women who took the time to talk to us. Melissa said that she answers every email sent to her. Tom Hewitt did the Frank voice and said 'Oh Rocky!' when another woman and I mentioned we had seen him in RHS.

Please support this show guys. It's great, I swear. I'm pretty critical. I want to mention everyone in the cast because they are all amazing. Don Stephenson only has one song, but that last note *shivers*. Darren Ritchie (as I said) made me cry. Chris Hoch (who seemed pleasantly surprised that we wanted to talk to him) was so heart breakingly moving. Stephen McKinley Henderson was a great VanHelsing and Bart Shatto was great as well. The ensemble girls have fantastic voices. Then Melissa and Kelli, without saying, are amazing. Their voices soar. Plus I give them major props for taking it all off, even though I still don't agree that it was necessary. And Tom Hewitt's voice is incredibly powerful... You just have to see it.

On a tangent, I had student rush tickets and so I was in the first row. My friends and I made friends with the precussionist named Barbara. She is very sweet and her girlfriend puts the mic on John Tartaglia every night and offered to send him a note from us through her!!

I enjoyed myself so much. I really did. WHAAHHOOO!! Oh, and afterward, Melissa said 'Were you the people in the first row?' and when we replied that we were, 'You guys were great, you could just feel the energy.' Sigh. It was awesome. I hope to go back again!!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/2/04 at 11:40pm

I am glad you liked it! I loved the show, and not only the special effects I loved the music, and yes the book was lacking, but I thought the actors did a good job covering it! And yes I do think that this cast is one of the sweetest! They are all so nice and gracious!

Also, I have been noticing that lately there have been some really good reviews on the show, so maybe it just took some time for them to suface!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 9/2/04 at 11:40pm

did you happen to notice what time the student rush tixx go on sale for the 3PM shows? glad you liked it. im seeing it again (hopefully) with the rush on sunday.

[BroadwayDiva]

Posted: 9/2/04 at 11:42pm

Glad you liked it!! That was a really good review, and I hope the show is as great as you described it!

[rclocalz]

Posted: 9/2/04 at 11:43pm

Thanks for this wonderful review. I enjoyed reading it. Did it take a long time for them to come out of the stage door?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/2/04 at 11:45pm

See... this is what I experienced in La Jolla. This is why I like the show. I'm glad you liked it.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/2/04 at 11:51pm

I believe rush tickets go on sale at 11 for 3PM shows.

It didn't take them long to come out. I stayed in the theater until after the orchestra finished playing, but when I got out there it was only about 3 minutes before Don Stephenson came out. Melissa took the longest, but she had a lot of costume to take off.

I hope you all go see it. It deserves as much fan support as any other show, more than some (I'm sure you know what I mean...).

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 12:30am

By the way, I got there about 6pm which is a half hour after they supossedly stop selling student rush but they gave it to me anyway. FYI

Can someone explaing to me what part is the same as INTO THE FIRE. I did not hear it in the show. The only music I heard that is the same is the opening of "Life After Life" is the same as an orcheatra part in "The Glory" in Civil War.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 12:41am

'Into the Fire' is in 'Deep in the Darkest Night' and also at one point in the first act, I just don't remember where.

I don't know The Civil War, so I didn't hear it in 'Life After Life', which I loved.

But OMG, just another review... I really burst into tears in 'Before the Summer Ends'. Like I said, I was in the first row and I guaruntee you he saw me crying. That was a little embarassing, but being the kind of girl I am I brought it up at the stage door and he apologized, but I said it was a good cry hehe. So cute!

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 1:34am

Deep in the Darkest Night is not the same as Into The Fire. Ok, just because it's a big triumphant ensemble number and it uses regiment drums and is the same style does not mean its the same song. The tune is nowhere the same. What are you all talking about?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 2:08am

I agree. It's the same KIND of song, but it's not the same melody at all. If you really wanna go that way "Nosferatu" is exactly the same as "His Work And Nothing More" from Jekyll & Hyde, but I'm pretty sure for Broadway it was either cut or is very short, so it may not be noticeable.

Oh, and parts of "If I Could Fly" remind me of ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All" but that's probably just me... I love it anyway. hehe

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 2:14am

Listen to the orchestrations of both songs. It's not the melody line, its beneath it, I swear it.

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 6:03am

The crazy music in the Confrontation and Transformation in Jekyll is meant to be there as well?

[ken8631]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 7:49am

I agree about "Into the Fire". It wsa as they were about to try to head off dracula and were leaving. I said to myself, that song sounds just like "Into the Fire"!!! Wasn't exactly it, but sure did remind me of it!

I also enjoyed the play, the second act more than the first. And although the first nude scene was appropriate, the second seemed a bit much since all he was doing was biting her neck, not her breasts!

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 10:12am

I saw the show in previews and I'm seeing it again in two weeks. I really enjoyed it, and I'm glad to see that it's finding it's audience. Critics be Damned! Is it high art? No. Is it a fun an entertaining evening of theatre? Absolutely! I've been disappointed to many times by shows that have received 'rave' reviews from the critics to pay them much attention. Now of course you're going to have to take this all with a grain of salt. Because alas... I am a SHILL!!! At least that's what I've been accused of for having the nerve to like this show. If anyone is aware of a good 12-Step program for Shills, please let me know ASAP!

Updated On: 9/3/04 at 10:12 AM

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 10:16am

"the second seemed a bit much since all he was doing was biting her neck, not her breasts!"
So he bites the first girl's breaats!

That's it! I'm Going to see this show

[joeyjoe]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 10:17am

Sarah, thank you for the objective review!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 10:26am

No, you don't get it ... we NEED to see her breast BECAUSE he's biting her. It's a sexual innuendo. When he bites her they are exchanging fluids which is, essentially, what sex is and the audience needs to be reminded of that. They need to get turned on!!! lol. They need to think to themselves "Oooo... that's sexy...". Dracula has always been very sexual ... that's the point of it all!!! and I haven't even mentioned the strong homoerotic subtext... That's in place once Dracula bites Jonathan... Updated On: 9/3/04 at 10:26 AM

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 10:49am

I agree. For Vampires, feeding is like sex. Lucy is offering herself (sexually) to him. Instead of going for the breasts, he goes for the neck. What's all this fuss about a little dimly-lit, 'blink-and-you'll-miss it' nudity anyway? They were running around bare-assed naked in the 70's in shows like 'Hair' and 'Oh Calcutta!'.

[LotsWife]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 11:16am

I'm glad to hear things are looking up with DRACULA. I saw it a few days before opening and it was a mess. A choppy mess with an awful score and awful book. My opinion, of course. I'm glad people are finding an enjoyable evening in a classic tale told by amazing performers.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 12:14pm

I think you get the sexual stuff without having to see the nudity. You say it pulled you in, it pulled me out. I was NOT turned on by that. Especially because I was sitting in the front row and all of a sudden 'WHOAH! There's a naked girl 4 feet away from me!' and then luckily the curtain closed 2 seconds later. The second time, I knew it was coming and again I was pulled out and watching for the rest of the scene to see when she was going to put back on her top.

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 12:14pm

Yes, DEEP IN THE DARK . . does remind you of INTO THE FIRE and has those snare drums and is a "go off and get em" number but the song itself is not close to INTO THE FIRE.

[DoubleDown11]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 1:51pm

Sarah...how were the student rush seats? It sounds like a show where you'll want to see the big picture. Do you miss a lot sitting in the first row? I know in Aida I missed half the show because the stage was too high...is that the same with Dracula? Also I assume its a max of 2 tickets per student ID correct? Thanks.

[Born2cthelightsofbway]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 2:22pm

im so glad you liked it! i also saw dracula last week with student rush and I really liked it. I'm glad to hear that someone likes it, because I don't want to see it close!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/3/04 at 3:06pm

You miss a little, but not much. No one is on the floor or anything, so you see all the people. I just couldn't see the skull part of the big statue with the boy holding a skull. At one point I could only see Lucy's husband's head because he was sitting down upstage, but enough of him to you know, go along with the show. It's amazing when they walk downstage too--they are RIGHT in front of you!! And you can really see their facial expressions oh so clearly. I would def do it again!

And yes, it is 2 tickets per ID. Let's support it--I DON'T WANT TO SEE IT CLOSE EITHER!!

In related Drac news, I talked to my friend Patrick earlier today who saw the very first preview and hated he. He was talking about a bike riding scene and a Van Helsing solo. Neither were in the show I saw last night. So, if you saw it in previews, it is obviously very changed and you should give it another shot!