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Peer Reviews Actors Theatre's Dracula A review by Kevin F. Temple Entire contents are copyright © 2007 Kevin F. Temple. All rights reserved.
For years I have heard nothing but oohs and ahhs about Dracula at Actors Theatre of Louisville, so when the opportunity came up to view and review, I jumped at the chance. I would get reviews from others about how scary it was, and how much they loved it and how they have been going to see it year after year. I approached with high expectations, my imagination running wild with ideals of movies, shows and documentaries that I had seen up until then. Now, granted, film and special effects do very well, and generally there is blood flying all over the place. However, ATL was able to create (and very well, I might add) a live demonstration of how blood and emotion follow the dispensing of blood. Now, for the meat of the performance. The show bursts open with Renfield (played by Marc Bovino) listening to the story of how a certain Count came to reside just up the road from the sanitarium, where he is -- let's say -- a guest. Marc keeps the energy high, with the jokes and mischievousness that only his character could give. William McNulty, who plays a calm and sincere Van Helsing, gives the character a very real, lifelike personality. Van Helsing teams up with Dr. Seward, played by Jonathan Kells Phillips, to unravel the suspicious death of a patient along with the uncanny decline in the health of a certain Lucy, played by Sandra Struthers. Struthers sells the idea of her character going insane and having to choose between love and lust, or right and wrong. Misha Kuznetsov shows the audience what really happens to you if you stay around for, I think it was, 500 years. I have to say he looks good for his age, and if he would only tell us how to stop aging, we would all be happy (although the habit of drinking someone else's blood doesn't really appeal to me). Misha commands the undead as well as the stage in his role as Count Dracula. The show impresses with all of the efforts by one and all. From lighting to transitions, the sets are beautiful and a spitting image of the period. Although this reflection of Dracula is not as dark or evil as some of my peers would have had me believe, I found the show worth repeating. My hat goes off to the men and women of Actors Theatre and to William McNulty for a fine performance as well as directing a wonderful show.
Dracula Actors Theatre of Louisville Sept. 21 - Oct. 31, 2007 Posted Sept. 28, 2007
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