‘Dracula’ reborn on BTE stage

Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble’s production of “Dracula,” Sept. 9-23 (encore Oct. 7-10). Thurs./Fri., 7:30 p.m., Sat., 2 & 7:30 p.m., Sun., 3 p.m., The Alvina Krause Theatre (226 Center St., Bloomsburg). Tickets: $24 general admission, $19 senior/young professional, $11 students, $5 Bloomsburg University students. “Pay What You Wish” Sept. 9, reduced-price preview Sept. 10. Info: www.bte.org, 570.784.8181, 800.282.0283

In 1897, Irish writer Bram Stoker penned the novel “Dracula.” Though it was not an immediate sensation, it spawned a new breed of vampire. Of course, there had been vampires before. Cultures worldwide had tales of undead creatures who survived by draining the lives of others. But Stoker’s vampire was different. Count Dracula was a gentleman. As horrible as his bloodlust may have been, he was also elegant and more than a little sexy.

Fast forward more than a century and vampires a la Count Dracula are everywhere. They lie in wait on bookstore shelves in the novels of Charlaine Harris and Laurell K. Hamilton. They leap off the big screen in the blockbuster “Twilight” saga and the spoof “Vampires Suck.” And they slip into homes via TV shows like “The Vampire Diaries” and “True Blood.” These creatures are at the same time captivating and repulsive, feeding on the fear of death and taunting mere mortals with their ability to live forever.

Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble member Laurie McCants hasn’t spent much time in front of her TV watching today’s vampires, nor has she weighed in on the Team Edward/Team Jacob debate at the local multiplex. But she is well aware of the almost hypnotic hold these creatures have on the public. That’s one of the reasons she and the rest of BTE decided to bring the Count to the stage at the Alvina Krause Theatre, using an adaptation by playwright Steven Dietz.

“It has taken such a hold on our culture and we wanted to say, ‘This is the source,’” McCants explains.

McCants started digging into Dietz’s script of Stoker’s classic tale when it was published in the late 1990s.

“When I first read about it 12 years ago, I ordered it because I knew ‘Dracula’ would be a draw,” she says.

She had perused other stage versions of the story, but found them to be clunky and old-fashioned. Dietz’s work was different.

“I read it and thought, ‘Oh, my God, this is a play I want to direct.’ It’s got really interesting stylistic choices,” McCants says.

The novel itself is composed of letters and journal entries. What Steven Dietz has done is taken that letter writing and journaling and transferred it to a relationship with the audience. The playwright builds this relationship by breaking the fourth wall, a theater convention in which the characters speak directly to the audience.

“It’s got a really interesting style,” McCants says. “It’s very gripping in its theatricality. It’s clever. It’s very clever.”

Though McCants is comfortable in the director’s chair, having been at “Dracula’s” helm in 1999, the current production is not simply a repeat.

“I’ve been through it before, and I know what the pitfalls are,” she says.

One of the major differences is the lack of pyrotechnic special effects which were used the first time around.

“The storytelling relies much more on good old suspense,” says McCants. “I’ve grown to trust the power of the storytelling itself and trust the imagination of the audience and what they bring to the experience. The audience has a great imagination and that imagination is a lot more powerful than pyrotechnics that may or may not go off at the right time,” the director adds with a laugh.

BTE’s production of “Dracula” does still have a few technical surprises up its sleeve. One of the show’s main challenges is transporting the audience between Transylvania and London.

“You have to figure out a scenic solution to moving back and forth in place and time,” says McCants.

She turned to designer Lynn Porter, who’s worked with BTE on a number of prior productions. And while McCants refuses to divulge any of the details, she’s clearly excited about Porter’s set, which she deems is “surprising, evocative, impressionistic and spooky.”

While the effects may have changed, two of the director’s leads remain the same. Daniel Roth is reprising his role as Count Dracula and Andrew Hubatsek is returning as Renfield. Since “Dracula” was announced, fans of the original production have been stopping McCants on the street to see if the BTE members would be reprising their roles. Though the lines haven’t changed, the performances have.

“There’s nothing like life experience to make you a better actor,” McCants says. “They’re bringing richness and subtlety to these roles that are just blowing me away.”

She also gives kudos to the Ensemble’s two interns, Rosemary Brownlow and David Menich,Seward, who are tackling the roles of Mina and Dr. Seward, respectively. Indeed, she has nothing but praise for the entire cast and crew.

“This has been just a great rehearsal process,” McCants says. “People are just, excuse me, sinking their teeth into this and enjoying themselves so much.”

Now McCants and BTE just need to lure some willing victims, and they’re hoping today’s vampire bloodlust will be the perfect bait for their timeless tale.

“It has a real, beautiful elegance to it. It’s smart, alluring, bone-chilling. This is not a lampoon. This is diving deep into the story itself to find out why it has such a hold on us. ”

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