Frank Wildhorn, composer of Broadway's Jekyll & Hyde, The Civil War and The Scarlet Pimpernel, is anticipating a national tour of his musical Dracula in 2003.

The composer, whose next Broadway project will be Camille Claudel for wife Linda Eder, recently told Playbill On-Line columnist Michael Buckley, "[At the] end of summer/beginning of fall next year, we start the national tour of Dracula. Please God, it will be as successful as — and follow in the footsteps of — Jekyll & Hyde."

To read the complete interview, CLICK HERE.

Wildhorn's musical — based on the legendary Bram Stoker character — was mounted at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse in October 2001. Featuring book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, the La Jolla production was helmed by director Des McAnuff. That staging was praised for its lush score, sexy bloodsuckers, the cast's acrobatics (yes, they flew) and for the special effects that helped heighten the thrill of the terrifying supernatural romance.

In La Jolla, 2001 Tony nominee Tom Hewitt (The Rocky Horror Show) starred as the vampire count, aging backwards from a 70-year-old Translyvanian in his castle into a handsome thirtyomething seducing London's beautiful young women. There has been no official announcement for the upcoming tour. It was once thought the staging would play Broadway in 2002-03.