HUMOR IN A JUGULAR VEIN TAKES A BITE OUT OF CRIME WHEN ATC GOES A LITTLE BATTY OVER THE NIGHT-FLYING ANTICS OF A CERTAIN COUNT

By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com

 

photo by Tim Fuller

Count Dracula (Christopher James Stevens) thinks Lucy ( Susana Cordon) would be a tasty morsel, once they have been properly introduced.. 

On the Arizona Theatre Company stage of “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors,” women have been cast in some men's roles to present a lighter side of the dark vampire tale, while flamboyant men play women larger than life itself. Altogether they create hilarious scenes filled with chaotic special effects.

Clearly, this Dracula for 2026 has come a long way from your great- grandfather's Dracula, played 100 years ago by suave Bela Lugosi in a crisp tuxedo.

Broadway regulars Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen co-wrote the lively “Terrors” script. In the Tucson production Greenberg is also directing a cast of five through a cascade of incredibly complicated pratfalls so precisely timed they almost feel choreographed. Tijana Bjelajac is the imaginative scenic designer who keeps it all contained on a single stage.

An impressively buff Christopher James Stevens plays the outlandishly re-imagined Count thriving on the dark side, but after that the remaining casting is gender free. Together the five of them play more than a dozen roles. Stevens also slips in some quick reflections on that saucy transvestite from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

Paul Vogt covers all the bases as Mina the larger than life daughter of Jean Van Helsing and also as JeanVan Helsing himself. Playing Mina's lovely sister Lucy and several others is delightful Susana Cordon.

As the intrepid real estate agent and vampire slayer, and others, is James Romney who makes an impressive character transformation from big nerd to convincing hero. Kelly Bashar wraps it up as the woeful Renfield and others.

It is helpful in keeping up with the story line for this breezy adaptation of the Count Dracula Legend that all the characters are known by their traditional names from Bram Stoker's Gothic classic. Also that the settings are in Whitby, London and Transylvania, circa 1897.

Yet as playwrights, Greenberg and Rosen keep an unabashed enthusiasm for American humor throughout, going full bore from start to finish, never pausing to take a breath. When you think there can't possibly be more, the players call upon a new pantheon of pop culture superstars to remind us there is a whole fresh century out there, wanting to see more of the Count.

"Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors” runs through May 16 with performances at various times Tuesdays through Sundays in the downtown Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. For details and reservations visit atc.org or phone 833-ATC-SEAT.