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

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!!

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.

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

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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...).

'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!

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

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

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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!

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

Sarah, thank you for the objective review!

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!'.

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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.

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.

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!