Modern Vampire Tale: Arizona Theatre Company brings in ‘Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors’ 

By Laura Latzko. Originally published by Tucson Weekly.

Vampires, especially Dracula, have been presented in different ways, from frightening, to comical, to sensual. With their show Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, Gordon Greenberg and Steven Rosen bring a comedic, gender-bending reimagination of the classic gothic tale.

Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) will present the show in Tucson at the Temple of Music and Art through Saturday, May 16, and at the Tempe Center of the Arts Saturday, May 23, to Sunday, June 7.

In the show, English real estate agent Jonathan Harker is meeting with a new client, who happens to be the fearsome vampire Dracula. He is looking for a London bachelor pad, but he takes an interest in the real estate agent’s fiancée, Lucy Westfeldt.

Dracula is being hunted by a group led by prolific female vampire hunter Jean Van Helsing, who chase him from Transylvania to the British countryside.

The show is filled with pop culture references, quick changes and humorous moments.

The playwrights also collaborated The Secret of My Success, A New Musical; Crime and Punishment, A Comedy and Ebenezer Scrooge’s BIG San Diego Christmas Show.

Greenberg, who is working with ATC for the first time, is directing Dracula.

He has directed the show a handful of times, in cities such as New York, London, San Diego and Tampa, Florida.

Greenberg writes for television and the stage and has directed on Broadway, off Broadway and in London’s West End. He directed and co-wrote the Broadway adaptation of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn and directed the Broadway musical The Heart of Rock and Roll.

Dracula was originally presented during the height of the pandemic as a podcast series featuring Alan Tudyk, Ashley Park, John Stamos and Alex Brightman.

When it was moved onstage, it became an Off-Broadway hit. Greenberg said in the last two years, there have been more than 300 productions of the show in different parts of the world.

“It became a social media phenomenon. I went viral on TikTok, because we did full scenes from the New York show with the New York cast. All of a sudden, people started knowing about it and were able to recite lines,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg said that the show has been presented in a variety of different ways.

“People can cast this any way they want. In the published script, we leave it open. I try to provide everyone with all of the staging so that if they want, they can borrow all the magical secrets to how we make it work, or they can reinvent the wheel. There has been every version, all male, all female. There’s been a transgender Dracula. They did it with 12 actors in Brazil,” Greenberg said. “I think people take this and insert their own sensibility. That’s what makes it great is it’s a playground.”

The show has its own unique score, which Greenberg describes as having a Romanian hip-hop, Gypsy rock inspired sound.

The show takes place in the Victorian era, but Dracula is presented in a more modern way.

“It’s very much told through a contemporary lens. The idea was how do we take Dracula and make him a Gen Z, pansexual, rich playboy who can have anything, anyone, anyway he wants it and who’s suddenly having an existential crisis?” Greenberg said.

Greenberg and Rosen were influenced by different vampires and pop stars when writing the character.

“We were thinking of every version that we’d ever seen of a vampire, from ‘Interview with a Vampire’ to vampiric people. I was thinking about Matty Healy, who is a pop star, and any other Euro trash individual from the ’90s that I thought was worth skewering,” Greenberg said.

The writers were also inspired by social media culture.

“The things that we admire, especially in a moment where people are so aware of what others have and do — or at least want you to believe they have and do — it starts to just feel like you’re doing more and enjoying it less….I couldn’t get away from that idea of bounty in life being subjective and how you find your value. There are so many people who seemingly have it all but are still very lonely and sad. That was what was underneath it all,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg said although the show is humorous, it does explore some deeper topics that resonate with audiences of different ages.

“You’ve got this family who have recently lost their mother. One daughter’s getting married to someone she’s not sure is the right person for. Her sister, who has gotten all the recessive genes in the family, is an unfortunate case…. It’s really a campy, fun night of theater. Ultimately, I think what keeps it afloat is that it’s also about the idea of life, death and mortality and what gives life meaning and value,” Greenberg said.

Five actors in the show play over 30 characters. The only actor who portrays one character is Christopher James Stevens, who has taken on the role of Dracula.

Greenberg said the show challenges the ensemble actors, who have to quickly become different characters.

“The game is watching everyone easily move from character to character. By the end of the show, it becomes so breakneck that it’s like The Play That Goes Wrong. They’re throwing things and quickly trying to assume other characters without fully changing costumes,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg said that the show is also similar to The 39 Steps.

“It’s very much in that world where we expose the bones of theater, the fun of how the sausage gets made. It’s a reminder that you, the audience, are a key part of this. Your imagination really plays into it. The fun of watching actors do this work at such a marathon pace is really thrilling, and it adds to the fun on a whole other level,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg said the show was also inspired by The Producers, Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part I series and the Monty Python sketches.

There is a lot of physicality in the show for all of the actors.

Four ensemble members, Paul Vogt, James Romney, Susana Cordón and Kelly Bashar, previously worked together on the Tampa production of the show.

Stevens is making his ATC debut. He recently performed on Broadway in Leopoldstadt.

The actor said that after doing such a serious show, he welcomed the chance to do a comedy.

“As an actor, I’m interested in dabbling in and cross pollinating between genres and styles. After doing something heavy, it’s nice to swing the pendulum back in the other direction and do something with more levity, that is more light, fun and playful,” Stevens said.

As the only new cast member, Stevens had to get up to speed very quickly.

“It’s been interesting joining something that’s already been built while also bringing to the table some new elements to spice it up,” Stevens said.

Vogt said that Stevens fit in quickly with the existing cast.

“We’ve already corrupted Chris through dark séances. We visit him at night while he’s sleeping, and we throw potions on him. He’s now one of ours… On our day off, we went to the fair, and we had a good time. We all get along. That helps because we’re having fun off stage, and we’re having fun on stage. We all have the same goal of having a good time telling the story,” Vogt said.

“That’s a testament to the strength of the rest of the ensemble, that they’re willing to go to such lengths to help me to get to where I need to be for this show… My goal was to fit into what they had built but also to come to Dracula in an authentic way,” Stevens added.

In the show, Stevens speaks in a heightened and stylized Transylvanian accent.

Stevens said it has been important for him to make the character believable, even though he can be over-the-top sometimes.

“There are a lot of comedic pivots that are baked into the text. There are also a lot of high stakes for Dracula. He doesn’t think he’s an absurd character by any stretch of the imagination, but that’s probably what the audience is going to see. On the one hand, I want to stay light and flexible and be able to pivot on these sharp comedic turns, but on the other end, I want to have this grandiose-like presence but also have it be grounded in something real so there’s a throughline with the story that the audience can track,” Stevens said.

Vogt, who is also making his ATC debut, has appeared onscreen in MADtv, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Hannah Montana, Grey’s Anatomy, The Big Gay Sketch Show, Perfect Harmony, Glee, Valentine’s Day, Arrested Development, Good Boy and The Rerun Show.

He has played Edna Turnblad in Hairspray on Broadway and Amos Hart in Broadway and touring productions of Chicago.

In Dracula, Vogt plays two main female characters, Van Helsing and Mina Westfeldt — Dr. Wallace Westfeldt’s daughter and Lucy’s sister.

Vogt said the costumes really help to bring him to become the characters.

“My costume looks like I’m wearing like 12 different layers, and it’s literally two pieces. It’s so beautifully built … I’m like a little girl at her quinceañera with the ruffles. Even when I do Dr. Van Helsing, the detail. The trim has pretzel designs in it, and my hair has a pretzel braid. There’s all of these incredibly funny touches everywhere… It brings you to a whole other level as an actor. It really enhances your performance and gives you other choices you might not have thought of,” Vogt said.

He will be doing a British accent for Mina and a German accent for Van Helsing.

Vogt said when playing female characters, he tries to bring heartfelt, honest and realistic portrayals.

“I know it’s considered drag because I’m a man playing a woman, but I just think of it as a character that I’m playing. I try to play what their arc is and what their needs and wants are instead of just trying to put a wig on and be funny. I try to become these characters… There’s really a solid story in the show. Even though it’s really funny, and it moves fast, there’s such a good, solid base that we’re working from,” Vogt said.