Italian actor Altieri, who has been seen in the Italian premieres of Rent and Beauty and the Beast, makes his American stage debut as the blood-thirsty count, with Hearn (La Cage aux Folles, Sweeney Todd, Sunset Boulevard) as vampire hunter Van Helsing and Birch ("American Beauty," "Hocus Pocus") as doomed maiden Lucy Seward.
Paul Alexander helms the thriller, which will officially open Jan. 5, 2011, for a 13-week Off-Broadway run through March 13, 2011. Bram Stoker's Dracula LLC, Tony Travis, George and Dona Shipley, Ed Bankole, Megan Barnett, Leslie Evers, and Michael Alden produce the engagement.
The cast also features Tony Award nominee Timothy Jerome as Dr. Seward, Jake Silbermann as Jonathan Harker, John Buffalo Mailer as Renfield, Emily Bridges as Miss Wells and Rob O'Hare as Butterworth.
Dracula has set design by Dana Kenn, costumes by Willa Kim, lighting design by Brian Nason, sound design by Chris DelVecchio and special effects by Greg Meeh.
The stage adaptation made its Broadway premiere on Oct. 5, 1927, at the Fulton Theatre with Bela Lugosi in the title role. Lugosi famously repeated his performance in the 1931 film. To coincide with the film, a Broadway revival of Dracula was staged in 1931 at the Royale Theatre with Courtney White as the star. A Tony-winning 1977 Broadway revival earned Frank Langella a Tony nomination for his work as the blood-thirsty count. Langella also starred in the 1979 film remake that co-starred Sir Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing, Donald Pleasance as Dr. Jack Seward and Kate Nelligan as Lucy Seward.
For tickets, priced $89.50, phone (212) 239-6200 or visit Telecharge.