An extremely silly version of the Dracula legend is currently drawing blood (and audiences) at the Legacy Theatre. The Connecticut premiere of “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors” is closing the Branford theatre’s season and while it wears out its welcome sooner than it should, most will enjoy this batty entertainment.
Co-written by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen, “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors” owes a huge debt to Charles Ludlam’s legendary Ridiculous Theatrical Company which spoofed old movies and sacred cows and specialized in cross-dressing divas with lightning fast costume and set changes. In this new rendering about the Romanian bloodsucker, a buff Dracula (Mario Haynes) preens and flexes as he meets with Harker (Josiah Rowe), a real estate agent charged with finding no less than five different properties for the Count. Drac perks up when he sees a photo of Harker’s long-necked fiancé, Lucy (Allison Miller, a delight), and it isn’t long before he crashes their engagement party with only one thing on his mind.
“Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors” is full of outlandish situations, awful puns and salacious double entendres and that’s why it will probably have you laughing your face off most of the time. I’d like to say the entire 1 hour and 45 minute running time (without intermission) was continually hilarious, but truth is the pacing is fairly uneven at Legacy and there are a number of lulls. Much of this has to do with Mr. Haynes’ lackluster performance as the Count. There’s nothing wrong with the way the handsome Haynes looks, but he rarely seems to commit to the preening, the poses or the seductions. His big scene with Lucy is leisurely paced giving the audience too much time to consider the situation which is death for comedy. The best parts of “Dracula” are the ones that don’t stop to observe how fairly ludicrous the plot is.
The other cast members, covering multiple roles, seem to have the right idea, however. Rowe is a wonderfully clueless Harker while Jimmy Johansmeyer is a hoot playing Lucy’s very tall, sex-starved sister, Mina. Johansmeyer understands how the role is more than just drag and invests the character (as well as his other sex-change role, Mrs. Van Helsing) with great brio. Allison Miller’s Lucy glows from within and is definitely in on the joke while Legacy co-founder Stephanie Stiefel Williams is a laugh riot covering three roles, the bug-eating Renfield, a smug doctor and a burly sea captain.
As usual at Legacy, scenic and lighting designer Jamie Burnett achieves miracles on the intimate stage with several creative sets that are changed quickly by the theatre’s ace stage crew. Elizabeth Bolster nails the period costumes and Adam Jackson’s sound design sets the mood continuously throughout this nonsense. Under James Andreassi’s assured direction, this is one of the better recent efforts from the Legacy Theatre and a fun way to end the season.
“Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors” continues at the Legacy Theatre, 128 Thimble Island Road in Branford, Connecticut through September 29. For further information visit: www.legacytheatrect.org and or call the box office at: 203.315.1901.
Tom Holehan is one of the founders of the Connecticut Critics Circle, a frequent contributor to WPKN Radio’s “State of the Arts” program and the Stratford Crier and Artistic Director of Stratford’s Square One Theatre Company. He welcomes comments at: tholehan@yahoo.com. His reviews and other theatre information can be found on the Connecticut Critics Circle website: www.ctcritics.org.
