This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Up the Pace! A Comedy of Terrors Should Delight

Last season, The Legacy Theatre did a fine production of The Play That Goes Wrong about an amateur theater troupe's disastrous production of a mystery play.

That show fit into a new drama genre: taking a well-known concept or plot and retelling it as slapstick. The 39 Steps took the Hitchcock film of the same name, making it a delightful evening in the theater.

Dracula–A Comedy of Terror attempts to do this with the famous novel. Too often, stage versions of vampire/gothic horror stories, such as the musical Jekyll and Hyde, result in being unintentionally funny. I still giggle recalling the song in J&H when the actor changes from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde and back again by flipping his long wig.

Here, the authors are attempting to be funny. Five cast members play multiple roles.

The potential for humor is there. The playwrights Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen have inserted contemporary references. The title character's portrayal draws from The Rocky Horror Show, preening and posing as if he were a dancer for Chippendales. Mario Haynes does a good job balancing the spoof and the seriousness.

Like most slapstick and farce, this show needs a quick pace and perfect timing. The short rehearsal period that Legacy and many other theaters have often means that the show improves during the run of the show. This cast only had three performances in front of an audience before I saw it.

It is not surprising that the show appeared to drag. What could be a brisk and funny 70 to 75 minutes or so was a less funny and longer show (almost 90 minutes, without an intermission.)

Director James Andreassi has worked hard to make sure the humor is apparent. The choreographed scene changes–there are many–work well and add humor. The production team works well. Adam Jackson, the sound designer, plays an important role with creaks, howls, and other effects. James Burnett’s scenic and lighting design is also effective. The audience (and I laughed) at using spray bottles to create the fog that sometimes engulfs the characters. Those spray bottles return several times to simulate other effects.

The costumes by Elizabeth Bolster and the props by Kate Begley Baker are good. Among the most effective moments are when the bats appear–really, they are just Halloween decoration bats on a stick.

Cast members have multiple quick changes as they switch between characters. Part of the humor is that Stephanie Stiefel Wiliams, who is petite, plays male characters–Dr. Westfeldt, Renfield, and briefly the Sea Captain, whose sinking ship deposits Dracula on the English coast.

The contrast is particularly funny between Dr. Westfeldt and Van Helsing, played as a female by Jimmy Johansmeyer. The playwrights get in some humor at the expense of the sexist Westfeldt, who can’t imagine that Dr. Van Helsing is a woman–he is convinced she is the doctor’s wife. Johansmeyer also plays Mina, the sister of Lucy, the object of Dracula’s affection.

Alison Miller is excellent as Lucy (as well as Kitty and, later, a carriage driver). Josiah Rowe, plays Harker, Lucy’s intended and the real estate agent who has sold Dracula not only houses in London but also the deserted mansion on the English coast. The contrast between the daring and confident Lucy and the hesitant and apprehensive Harker makes for both humor and exasperation. What does she see in him?

With some faster pacing, all of the humorous touches will land with audiences.

For tickets, visit LegacyTheatreCT.org.