Dallas Theater Center (2025)

Event Guide

Laughing at the Scary Stuff

Executive Director, Kevin Moriarty, on Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors

Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, is one of the most famous works of English literature. Published in 1897, it has been acclaimed as a seminal piece of Gothic fiction. Its characters have been archetypes of countless monster films, novels and plays. Count Dracula is easily the most famous vampire ever created.

The first theatrical adaptation, written by Stoker himself, premiered on the British stage shortly before the novel’s publication. It was only performed once. Hoping that his novel would be popular, Stoker wanted to establish his own copyright for future stage productions. Since then, Dracula has been adapted on stage, films, comic books and television more than a thousand times.

The novel’s themes of gender, sexuality, seduction, disease and desire are endlessly fascinating for artists, scholars and fans to explore over the years. Each generation responds to the conscious or unconscious fears of its own times through its response to the material.

Of course, those themes, which are often considered dangerous or transgressive, are also a fecund source for comedy. Throughout recorded human history, the most powerful aspects of the human experience appear equally in the contrasting genres of tragedy and farce. Death and desire are profoundly mysterious forces that loom over our lives. They’re worthy of deep thought and reflection. They play a vital role in serious works of literature and theater. And, when that becomes a bit too much to bear, they are the ideal source for comedy.

From Mel Brooks to Buffy, from What We Do in the Shadows to Renfield, from candy fangs to Count Chocula cereal, one way to calm our fears is to laugh at them. Take the overwhelming thing that causes you dread, cut it down to size and make it silly. In doing so, you are empowered to see it from a new angle and, perhaps, even gain some new understanding. From comic pratfalls to characters in drag, the history of theater has inspired understanding through laughter.

Also, it’s Halloween season. And election season, too. In both cases, there’s plenty of reasons to be fearful, to hide or to scream. So it seems like the perfect time of year to turn our anxieties to guffaws. To enjoy a healing burst of laughter alongside others sitting in a darkened theater.

We hope Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors brings a few moments of joy to your lives as we launch our 65^th theater season at the Kalita Humphreys Theater. Thank you for joining us.

And Happy Halloween!

Kevin Moriarty

Executive Director

Program

DALLAS THEATER CENTER
Kevin Moriarty, Executive Director
Jonathan Norton, Interim Artistic Director

PRESENTS

DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS

Written By: Gordon Greenberg & Steve Rosen

WITH

Bob Hess⁺*
Captain Milbourn*
Molly Searcy⁺*
Sally Nystuen Vahle⁺*
Esteban Vilchez⁺*

SCENIC DESIGN

Dahlia Al-Habieli

COSTUME DESIGN/WIG,
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGN
Cole McCarty

LIGHTING DESIGN
Nicole Iannaccone

SOUND DESIGN
Joshua Nguyen

FIGHT & INTIMACY DIRECTOR
Captain Milbourn

DIRECTED BY

Blake Hackler⁺

Originally produced in New York by Drew Desky and Dane Levens, Drew & Dane Productions.
DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS was commissioned and originally produce by Maltz Jupiter Theatre Andrew Kato, Producing Artistic Director/Chief Executive

“Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production and distributing recordings or streams in any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author(s)’s rights and actionable under United States copyright law.

For more information, please visit:https://concordtheatricals.com/resources/protecting-artists

Cast In Order of Appearance

Dracula: A Comedy of Terrorswill be performed without an intermission.

Creative Support & Crew

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
+ Member of Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company.

This Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Dallas Theater Center is a member of the League of Resident Theaters; a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the nonprofit professional theater; and Visit Dallas.

Cast Biogrpahies

2024-2025 Season Partners

OFFICIAL VEHICLE OF DALLAS THEATER CENTER

THANK YOU TO KATHY KASZKELEWICZ FOR HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WIG DEPARTMENT FOR THIS PRODUCTION!

Creative Team

DRACULA: A Comedy Of Terrors

Oct 11-Nov 3, 2024 | Kalita Humphreys Theater