For Immediate Release
June 24, 2004
Contact: Adrian Bryan-Brown/Jim Byk/Susanne Tighe/Juliana Hannett
FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR DRACULA THE MUSICAL
PREVIEWS BEGIN JULY 28th
OPENING NIGHT IS AUGUST 16th
Full casting has been announced for DRACULA, THE MUSICAL, the first new musical of the 2004-2005 Broadway season. The production will open at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street, east of Broadway) on August 19th. Previews will begin July 28th.
DRACULA will star Tony® Award nominees Tom Hewitt as Dracula and Melissa Errico as Mina Murray. The production will also feature Don Stephenson as Renfield, Darren Ritchie as Jonathan Harker, Kelli O'Hara as Lucy Westenra, Chris Hoch as Arthur Holmwood, Bart Shatto as Quincey Morris, Shonn Wiley as Jack Seward and Stephen McKinley Henderson as Abraham Van Helsing.
The company also includes Celina Carvajal, Melissa Fagan, Jenifer Foote, Anthony Holds, Pamela Jordan, Elizabeth Loyacano, Tracy Miller, Graham Rowat, Megan Sikora and Chuck Wagner.
DRACULA, THE MUSICAL will be produced on Broadway by Dodger Stage Holding and Joop van den Ende, in association with Clear Channel Entertainment.
DRACULA, The Musical features book and lyrics by Academy Award® and Tony® Award-winner Don Black (Sunset Blvd, Aspects of Love) and Tony® Award-winner Christopher Hampton (Sunset Blvd., Les Liaisons Dangereuses) and music by Tony®-nominated composer Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War).
The production will be directed by two-time Tony® Award-winner Des McAnuff (Big River, The Who's Tommy), and choreographed by Mindy Cooper.
DRACULA is a new musical vision of romance, terror and temptation based on the Bram Stoker classic novel. Set in Europe at the end of the Victorian Age, the production follows Dracula's lust for new blood and a small band of mortal men and women who must face his overwhelming seduction and mesmeric supernatural powers.
Scenic design is by Heidi Ettinger; costume design is by Catherine Zuber; lighting design is by Howell Binkley, sound design is by ACME Sound Partners. Aerial staging is by Rob Besserer, with Flying by Foy. Orchestrations are by Doug Besterman, with musical direction by Constantine Kitsopoulos.
During previews (July 28th - August 14th), performances are Monday through Saturday at 8:00 PM, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00 PM. After August 24th, performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00 PM, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM. Tuesday at 7:00 performances begin on September 7th.
Tickets are on sale at www.telecharge.com or (212) 239-6200 / (800) 223-7565, or at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street). Tickets for preview performances (July 28th - August 14th) are $61.25 if ordered before July 25th. Tickets ordered after July 25th are $101.25 - $36.50.
TOM HEWITT (Dracula) Broadway: Frank 'N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show (Tony, Drama Desk nominations), The Boys from Syracuse (Roundabout) , The Lion King, Art (standby), School for Scandal (NAT), The Sisters Rosenzweig. National Tour: Officer Lockstock in Urinetown. Off Broadway: Jeffery, Beau Jest (Outer Critics nomination), Richard III, Othello. Recent Regional Credits: Compleat Female Stage Beauty (Old Globe), Captain Hook in Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby ( Casa Manana), Dracula, The Musical (LaJolla Playhouse), Uncle Vanya (Arena Srage), Racing Demon and Blithe Spirit (Guthrie), Antony and Cleopatra ( Shakespeare Theater). Performances throughout Japan, Europe, and the U.S. with the Suzuki Company of Toga. T.V. and Film: Law and Order, Third Watch, Frasier, The George Carlin Show, narration for The Discovery Channel, Julie Taymors' Fools' Fire.
MELISSA ERRICO (Mina Morris) Broadway: Amour (2003 Tony Award nomination; Outer Critics nomination; Drama League Honor), My Fair Lady (Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Helen Hayes nominations), High Society (Drama Desk and Outer Critics nominations; Drama League Honor), Anna Karenina, Les Miserables (nat'l tour). Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration: Dot in Sunday in The Park With George (Helen Hayes nomination). Off-Broadway: Aunt Dan and Lemon (New Group); member of Irish Repertory: Importance of Being Earnest (Drama Desk nomination), Major Barbara (Drama League Honor), and Finians Rainbow (2004 Drama League Honor). Encores!: Call Me Madam; One Touch of Venus (Lucille Lortel Award). Williamstown: Threepenny Opera. The Hollywood Bowl 2003: My Fair Lady (with John Lithgow). Film includes: Frequency, Life Or Something Like It, Mockingbird Don't Sing (Lifetime). TV includes: "Central Park West," "Ed," "Law and Order," "Miss Match." Graduate of Yale. Concert appearances: Joe's Pub, Café Carlyle, Oak Room, Feinsteins, Avery Fisher, Wolf Trap. Debut album: Blue Like That (EMI).
DON STEPHENSON (Renfield) recently starred on Broadway as Leo Bloom in The Producers. Other Broadway: Private Lives (Victor), By Jeeves (Bingo), Titanic (Charles Clarke), Parade (Leo Frank/Peavey), Pardon My English (Dickie Carter), Wonderful Town (Frank Lippencott). Off-Broadway: Chess, The Tavern, Bus Stop. Regional: Gift of the Magi, Hamlet, Sunday in the Park with George, Lend Me a Tenor. Film/TV: "It Had to Be You," "Law & Order: CI," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU," "Now and Again," "All My Children," "Another World," "As The World Turns." Married to Actress Emily Loesser.
KELLI O'HARA (Lucy Westenra) Broadway: Sweet Smell… (w/John Lithgow), Sondheim's Follies, Jekyll & Hyde (B'way/Nat'l tour). Off-Broadway/Regional: My Life With Albertine (Albertine); The Light in the Piazza. Film: The Dying Gaul. Kelli has sung in concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Town Hall, The Kennedy Center with Marvin Hamlisch, The National Symphony Orchestra. Training: BM/Opera (OCU); Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. Kelli won the 1998 State Met Opera Auditions. In 2005, she will appear in Craig Lucas' and Adam Guettel's Broadway debut of The Light in the Piazza.
BART SHATTO (Quincey Morris) Broadway: Civil War, Les Miserables (Valjean) National Tours: Civil War, Cats, Les Miserables. Bart toured with Trans Siberian Orchestra for two years. (TSO garnered gold/platinum-selling albums internationally and ranked on the top 50 touring bands in 2003). Regional: The Alley Theater, Actor's Theater of Louisville, Papermill Playhouse, and Charlotte Rep. Bart is featured as vampire hunter Dr. Jacob Sloane in the newly released independent film "Sleepless Nights." Many thanks and love to Frank, Clem, and my "crew of light" Brandy, Conor, and Jesse.
SHONN WILEY (Jack Seward) New York credits: 42nd Street (Original Cast, Broadway Revival); On a Clear Day…(Encores!); Never Gonna Dance (Workshop). Regional Credits: Gerard in Frank Wildhorn's Camille Claudel (Goodspeed); Jim, I Love a Piano (Denver Center); Dickon, Secret Garden (5th Avenue Theater); Henrik, Little Night Music (Wheeling Symphony); Charlie Dalrymple, Brigadoon (MTW). Television: Young Josh, "Guiding Light." Recordings: I Love a Piano, 42nd Street, Lucky in the Rain. Carnegie Mellon University, BFA, Drama. For Mom, Dad, Kyrah. Love to Merie.
STEPHEN McKINLEY HENDERSON (Abraham Van Helsing) Broadway: Regina Taylor's Drowning Crow (Sammy). King Hedley II (Stool Pigeon) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Slow Drag). Off-Broadway: Jitney (Turnbo), Zooman and The Sign (Emmett), A Raisin In The Sun (Second Stage and Bobo). Last summer he was a member of the Sundance Theatre Lab Company. Regional: Caucasian Chalk Circle (Azdak), Joe Turner's Come And Gone (Bynum), Antigone (Creon), Fences (Bobo), Merry Wives (Falstaff), Indians Sitting Bull), Three Sisters (Solyony). TV/Film: "Law & Order," "Third Watch," "Criminal Intent" and the new HBO film "Everyday People."
DON BLACK (Book/Lyrics) Dracula is Don's sixth Broadway musical, which includes Merlin, Song and Dance, Aspects of Love, Sunset Boulevard, and Bombay Dreams. He has written more than a hundred songs for motion pictures, including "Born Free," "To Sir With Love," "Diamonds Are Forever," "The Pink Panther Strikes Again," "True Grit, Ben," "Thunderball," "The Man With The Golden Gun," and "The World Is Not Enough." Along the way he has won an Oscar, two Tonys, five Oscar nominations and numerous other glittering prizes. He has worked with composers John Barry, Elmer Bernstein, Quincy Jones, Andrew Lloyd Webber , Henry Mancini, Jule Styne and many more. He was recently awarded an OBE in the Queens Birthday Honours list. His next musical, Brighton Rock, composed with John Barry opens in October at The Almeida Theatre, London.
CHRISTOPHER HAMPTON (Book/Lyrics) His plays, musicals and translations have garnered three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and the New York Theatre Critics Circle Award, while prizes for his film and television work include an Academy Award, two BAFTAs and a Special Jury Prize at Cannes. Plays include The Talking Cure, White Chameleon, Tales From Hollywood, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Treats, Savages, The Philanthropist and Total Eclipse. He has translated extensively from Chekhov, Ibsen, Moliere, Odon von Horvath and Yasmina Reza (including Art and Lifex3). Dracula is his second musical, after the book and lyrics for Sunset Boulevard (also with Don Black). His screenplays include The Quiet American, Mary Reilly, Total Eclipse, Dangerous Liaisons, Carrington, The Secret Agent and Imagining Argentina, the last three of which helso directed.
FRANK WILDHORN (Music) Broadway: Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War, Victor Victoria. Co-producer Harlem Song (Apollo). His over 400 recordings include the #1 hit by Whitney Houston, "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" as well as recordings by: Natalie Cole, Kenny Rogers, Hootie & The Blowfish, Tricia Yearwood, Johnny Mathis, The Moody Blues, Patti LaBelle, Peabo Bryson, Amy Grant, Linda Eder (co-produced all her original recordings), Justin's little brother Jake. Producer of the 1998 Goodwill Games; Creative Director of Atlantic Theatre; Associate Artist of the Alley Theatre in Houston. Upcoming: Cyrano (London '05), Vienna (Vienna '05-06), Mary Shelly's Frankenstein (Alley Theatre, TX, '05), Camille Claudel, Havana, Bonnie & Clyde. Frank would like to dedicate this work to the loving memory of his dear friends and partners Carl Anderson and David Newman.
MINDY COOPER (Choreographer) Wrong Mountain (Broadway), Titanic (National Tour), The New Bozena (Los Angeles), Heart & Soul (St. Petersburg, Russia), Regional productions of Chicago, Fair Liberty's Call, Shenandoah, Jesus Christ Superstar and numerous benefits, commercials and industrials. As a performer, Broadway and Off-Broadway: Titanic (Original Cast), Chicago (Original Revival), Beauty and the Beast, Song & Dance, The Petrified Prince (NYSF), Up Against It (NYSF), Genesis (NYSF). She has danced for Twyla Tharp Dance, The Feld Ballet, The Kansas City Ballet and Thingezisee'm Dance Theatre.
DES McANUFF (Director) is a two-time Tony Award winning director/writer. As Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse, McAnuff has directed 25 productions, including How to Succeed... (Playhouse 1994, Broadway 1995), The Who's Tommy (director/co-author with Pete Townshend; Playhouse 1992, Broadway 1993, Tony Award Best Director, London Olivier Award Best Director 1994), A Walk in the Woods (Playhouse 1987, Broadway 1988, Moscow, Lithuania 1989-90) and Big River (Playhouse 1984, Broadway 1985, seven Tony Awards including Best Director, Best Musical). Recent Playhouse productions: Eden Lane; Tartuffe; Dracula, The Musical; The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, for which he also composed the score. Film: Cousin Bette (Director), The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (Director), Quills (Exec. Producer), Iron Giant (Producer). McAnuff is married to actress Susan Berman. They are the proud parents of Julia.
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