MARQUEE VALUE: Dracula at The Belasco

By Morgan Allen
17 May 2004

MARQUEE VALUE: Dracula at The Belasco

Production: Dracula, music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, book by Christopher Hampton, directed by Des McAnuff, starring Tom Hewitt and Melissa Errico

Previews: July 19, 2004

Opening: August 16, 2004

Venue: The Belasco Theatre, 111 West 44th Street New York, NY

Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel), Christopher Hampton (Sunset Boulevard), and Don Black (Sunset Boulevard, Bombay Dreams) combine their talents to bring to life Bram Stoker's classic story of a Victorian Age European vampire and his seemingly endless lust for fresh blood. Hoping to fare better than the short-lived Dance of the Vampires, this production has cast two rising Broadway stars, Tom Hewitt (The Rocky Horror Show) and Melissa Errico (Finian's Rainbow) in the leading roles. A note hung outside the theatre memorializes the venue's namesake, David Belasco, with an appropriately macabre quote from the legendary producer and director: "Illusion is life. Without it, the theatre is a corpse. It is the heart and soul of the drama."

Photos are by Andrew Ku.