Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: ARTS

Media Credit: Danielle Murdock Dracula (Buster Maloney) sucks Mina's (Ash Robbins) blood by biting her neck in the play Dracula, which opens November 2, 2007 at the Campus Theatre. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Danielle Murdock Lucy (Vanessa Welch) and her friend Mina (Ash Robbins) talk about their love life in the play Dracula, which open at the Campus Theatre on November 2, 2007. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Danielle Murdock Dracula (Buster Maloney) hypnotizes Mina (Ash Robbins) in the play Dracula, which opens November 2, 2007 at the Campus Theatre. [Click to enlarge]

Conveniently close to Halloween, "Dracula," a play written by Steven Dietz based on Bram Stoker's legendary gothic novel, will open tonight at the Campus Theatre for a two-weekend-long run.
This tale of erotic horror has intrigued audiences since the novel was first released in 1897, and now with the adaptation by Dietz, audiences can continue to be captivated by the sensuality of a story that has become iconic.
Audiences can expect an adaptation that remains faithful to the novel and one that heavily incorporates Stoker's theme of good triumphing over evil, while still paying homage to the gothic romance and sexuality of Stoker's "Dracula."
The story traces the journey of a young Englishman, Jonathan Harker, played by Caleb Creel, to the Carpathian Mountains on the edge of Transylvania, where he is summoned by Count Dracula (Buster Maloney) from England to oversee some business affairs. Harker soon finds himself seduced by the Count's seeming charm and a prisoner of the castle in the clutches of three female vampires. The Count keeps Harker alive only to further educate himself about the customs of England where he intends to reside. The Count then makes his way to England where he terrorizes a young woman named Lucy (Vanessa Welch).
Lucy, the coquette that she is, has already managed three marriage proposals, one from the asylum psychiatrist Dr. John Seward (Kenny Fudge). Lucy begins to waste away after her encounters with Dracula and Seward sends for his old mentor Professor Abraham Van Helsing (played by James D. Laney, of NT's College of Education).
Harker's fiancée Mina (Ash Robbins) becomes Dracula's next target, so Harker, Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and Mina, able to feel the presence of the Count under Van Helsing's hypnosis, must track down Dracula in order to save Mina from becoming a vampire and keep Dracula from infecting London.
"I am so proud of the cast and crew and what a great team they have worked as to give this show life," said director Julie Brinker. "All of the elements come together and I think the public will be enthralled by the story and with all of the hard work they have put it to this show."
When asked what it is that makes the character of "Dracula" still so captivating to audiences today, Dennis Welch, who plays the madman Renfield said, "It is the combination of Dracula's sexiness and his repulsiveness that makes him still so compelling."
The show opens tonight and will run through Nov. 4. Tickets may be purchased at the box office of the Campus Theatre. Audience members can bring a voucher, which can be found on the Theatre's Web site, to the Barnes and Noble located inside the Golden Triangle Mall today through Sunday and a percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the Campus Theatre.

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