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By Kenneth Jones
09 May 2005

Tom Hewitt and Melissa Errico in the original Broadway production of Dracula
photo by Joan Marcus

Frank Wildhorn's musical Dracula, which opened and closed on Broadway in the 2004-05 season, is alive and running — to solid notices — in its European premiere in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

The new production includes half a dozen songs that were not in the Broadway production (lyrics and book are by Don Black and Christopher Hampton), performed by a 40-piece orchestra and a European cast, led by Thomas Borchert, who played Wildhorn's titular characters in Jekyll & Hyde in Vienna.

Dracula opened April 23 and is scheduled to end June 6, 2006.

The creative team includes director Mathias Davids (Fiddler on the Roof in Vienna, Saturday Night Fever in Cologne) and music director Koen Schoots (Wildhorn's European music supervisor).

Thomas Borchert (Dracula) is also starring in Jim Steinman's and Michael Kunze's Dance of the Vampires in Hamburg, which is still huge in Germany. Thus, American Drew Sarich (Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame in Berlin) is an alternate Dracula in Switzerland.

The cast also includes Caroline Vasicek (original Belle in Disney's European premiere of Beauty and the Beast) as Lucy, Jesper Tydèn (Tony in Francesca Zambello's West Side Story), Ann Christine Elverum (Marguerite in German premiere of The Scarlet Pimpernel).

Producers were in attendance at the opening night, and a wider European future is expected for Dracula. An American world premiere English-language studio recording is expected for the property as well.

Frank Wildhorn outside the theatre in St. Gallen, Switzerland where Dracula is currently running
photo by Gordon Bovinet

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