History Theatre / Dracula

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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dracula_musical.jpg]]

Adapted from the original Creator/BramStoker novel that the PublicDomainCharacter {{Dracula}} comes from, ''Dracula'' is a musical scored by Frank Wildhorn, with a book written by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. The show had a tumultuous history: Its premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, California, in 2001 was played to 115% capacity, the highest paid capacity for any world premiere production in the playhouse's history. It then premiered on Broadway in 2004, starring Tom Hewitt as the frightening vampire Count and Melissa Errico as the woman he loves, Mina Harker. Despite [[{{Fanservice}} a brief nude scene]] and numerous spectacular effects, this engagement show ran for only 154 performances, and received mainly negative reviews. Today it is still held up right along with Theatre/TanzDerVampire's ill-fated Broadway outing as proof that VampireMusicals just plain ''[[{{Pun}} suck]]''. However, the show was heavily revised and later had engagements in Europe, where it proved to be a hit. The Korean versions have been similarly successful.

Jonathan Harker, a young British solicitor about to be made partner, is sent out to Castle Dracula in Transylvania to see about a new client of his firm. Waiting at home for him is his young fiancée and secretary, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray. Jonathan expects to be back home within a few weeks, but he doesn't know that Count Dracula is an ancient vampire, whose intentions in moving to England are nothing less than a plan to feast on the teeming crowds of London.

Meanwhile in England, Dr. John Seward, keeper of an insane asylum, notices a strange habit of his patient Renfield: consuming live things so as to absorb their life energy. Renfield keeps trying to escape to the old abandoned house next to the asylum, which seems to be seeing a lot of activity all of a sudden. And Lucy Westenra, Mina's beautiful best friend with one fiancé and two men in unrequited love with her (Dr. Seward being one of the two), is beginning to fall ill...

Concerned about Lucy's health, Dr. Seward notifies his Dutch mentor, Dr. [[AuthorAvatar Abraham van Helsing]]. When Van Helsing recognizes Lucy's illness as the mark of the vampire, he gathers Lucy's loved ones around him to save the girl: her fiancé Arthur, Lord Godalming; her American former suitor Quincey Morris; Jonathan Harker, and Mina. Together, hey form a plan to hunt him down and rid the world of him forever.

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!!This story provides examples of:

* AffablyEvil: Dracula is a most polite and charming host.
** Although he [[FauxAffablyEvil loses the affability]] in his later encounters with the other characters.
* AffectionateNickname: Van Helsing takes to Mina in a very fatherly sort of way, and consistently refers to her as "Madam Mina."
* AgentMulder: It doesn't take much to convince [[SeenItAll Quincey Morris]] that there are vampires about.
* AgentScully: Arthur Godalming, on the other hand...
* AnimalMotifs: Howling wolves are a sign of Dracula's presence, and he's repeatedly associated with (and has power over) wolves, bats, rats, and at one point [[WallCrawl lizards]].
* AntagonistTitle
* AristocratsAreEvil: Except for Lord Godalming, AKA Arthur, who is one of the protagonists, but not treated any differently from the rest. Dracula, however, is ''dead'' straight. Conversely, every vampire is aristocratic.
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign:
** Stoker uses the word "nosferatu" as an appealingly foreign-sounding synonym for "vampire", and identified as his source a work that cited it as the Romanian translation of "not living". Unfortunately, the word doesn't exist in Romanian, and no alternative etymologies (a Greek word meaning "disease-bearing," a Latin word meaning "you are our wild beast," or a mis-transcription of a legitimate, but unknown, Romanian or Slavonic word) have gained anything like consensus.
* BadassMustache: Averted. All actors (and actress Wao Yoka) playing Dracula have been clean-shaven.
* BloodLust: Count Dracula licks the razor with Jonathan's blood on it, in full view of the audience.
* BoisterousBruiser: Quincey Morris fills this trope to a T.
* BreakTheCutie: Mina.
* BreakingAndBloodsucking: Dracula never broke in. The first time, he called Mina from outside the house, and Lucy answered instead. Mina invited him in, though some adaptations have chosen to portray him as hypnotizing her into doing so.
* CharacterTitle
* ChildEater: Dracula's vampire companions and Lucy after she turned. Dracula throws a baby boy to the brides, and Lucy leads a girl into the crypt.
* [[DamselInDistress Damsels in Distress]]: Lucy and Mina. Mina, however, ''does'' something about it.
* DaywalkingVampire: Nothing is mentioned of sunlight being able to hurt vampires, and Dracula mentions being only a pale face in the crowds of London.
* DualAgeModes: Dracula appears much younger when he's recently fed. The Korean version gives Dracula a long white wig and facial prosthetics to make him look older and barely recognizable. After he's [[spoiler:bitten Jonathan]], the wig and prosthetic comes off, revealing a red-headed, PrettyBoy Junsu.
* EatsBabies: The three women in Dracula's Castle. [[spoiler:Lucy almost reaches this point.]]
* FangsAreEvil: Dracula, however, does not sport any because it's hard to sing through big freaking teeth.
* GentlemanAndAScholar: Van Helsing.
* GirlPosse: Dracula's brides can be seen as this.
* TheHeart: Mina. Even Renfield is drawn to her, and her gentle question made him [[spoiler: betray his master.]]
* ImplacableMan: Van Helsing.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler: Lucy, and Dracula. The latter, with Mina's hands on his, stabbed himself in the heart with a Bowie knife.]]
* KissOfTheVampire
* MonsterProgenitor
* MindControl: Vampires are capable of this. In the Graz production alone:
** Jonathan seems very dazed as Dracula is basically hugging him from behind, while holding the razor to Jonathan's face/throat. Harker stays in the same pose with his head tilted back and his eyes half-lidded for a good few seconds after Dracula has moved away, before coming to with a confused/disturbed expression.
** Jonathan, again, in "Fresh Blood"/"Blut" as he's being seduced by the Brides. The Korean music video for this song focuses rather intensely on Jonathan's blank expression as Dracula does... things... to him and the Brides writhe around him. Less so in the show proper, however.
** Some productions imply that he did this to Mina to influence her into loving him and inviting him in.
** And because third time's a charm, Jonathan is struck down and entranced by Dracula as the Count enters Mina's room.
* NameOrderConfusion: Dracula refers to Jonathan as "Harker Jonathan" upon the latter's arrival.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Nice job giving the heroine a VIP pass to your mind, Dracula.
* {{Omniglot}}: When semi-delirious and first approached by the Brides of Dracula, Harker can fully understand their language, as they speak to each other, and the Count's furious rebukes. Harker is said explicitly to know good German, but no mention of him knowing either literary Romanian or Hungarian, leave alone an ancient dialect spoken between themselves by beings undead for 400 years. [[SarcasmMode Unless the Count and the Brides were so eager to learn English they used the language even as they quarreled with each other]].
* ThePowerOfBlood: Types A (binding), B (symbolic), and O (''disturbing'').
* TheProfessor: Van Helsing.
* PsychicLink: Mina is the Literature/HarryPotter to Dracula's Voldemort after she drinks his blood.
* PsychicRadar: And the above happening to Mina lets the protagonists use her as a sort of psychic divining rod to track the Count.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Renfield.
* TheDogBitesBack: Renfield, [[RedemptionEqualsDeath even though it costs him his life]].
* TeamDad: Van Helsing.
* TeamMom: Mina.
* TeamSpirit
* TermsOfEndangerment: Even when threatening him, Dracula refers to Jonathan as "my friend".
* TheVamp: Dracula's three vampire companions, and [[spoiler: Lucy when she becomes a vampire.]]
* VampireRefugee: [[spoiler:Mina.]]
* VampiresAreSexGods: ''Guess.'' Unlike the novel, the musical chose to cast handsome actors (and one beautiful actress) as the Count. Same thing applies for the Brides.
* VampiresHateGarlic: Van Helsing attempts to protect Lucy from Dracula by giving her a garland of garlic flowers to wear, and rubbing garlic around all the entrances of her bedroom.
* WouldHurtAChild: After Lucy was turned into a vampire, children were her favorite targets.
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** {{Omniglot}}: When semi-delirious and first approached by the Brides of Dracula, Harker can fully understand their language, as they speak to each other, and the Count's furious rebukes. Harker is said explicitly to know good German, but no mention of him knowing either literary Romanian or Hungarian, leave alone an ancient dialect spoken between themselves by beings undead for 400 years. [[SarcasmMode Unless the Count and the Brides were so eager to learn English they used the language even as they quarreled with each other]]. Also when Mina is approached in the forest by the Brides calling her "sister", both she and Dr. van Helsing understand their speech with no effort.

* VampiresAreSexGods: ''Guess.'' Unlike the novel, the musical chose to cast handsome actors (and one beautiful actress) as the Count.
** Female vampires, on the other hand, seem to become impossibly beautiful and [[TheVamp seductive]].

** Jonathan, again, in "Fresh Blood"/"Blut" as he's being seduced by the Brides. The Korean music video for this song focuses rather intensely on Jonathan's blank expression as [[HoYay Dracula does... ''things'' to him]] and the Brides writhe around him. Less so in the show proper, however.

Adapted from the original Creator/BramStoker novel that the PublicDomainCharacter {{Dracula}} comes from, ''Dracula'' is a musical scored by Frank Wildhorn, with a book written by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. The show had a tumultuous history: Its premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, California, in 2001 was played to 115% capacity, the highest paid capacity for any world premiere production in the playhouse's history. It then premiered on Broadway in 2004, starring Tom Hewitt as the frightening vampire Count and Melissa Errico as the woman he loves, Mina Harker. Despite [[{{Fanservice}} a brief nude scene]] and numerous spectacular effects, this engagement show ran for only 154 performances, and received mainly negative reviews. Today it is still held up right along with Theatre/TanzDerVampire's ill-fated Broadway outing as proof that VampireMusicals just plain [[{{Pun}} ''suck'']]. However, the show was heavily revised and later had engagements in Europe, where it proved to be a hit. The Korean versions have been similarly successful.

Adapted from the original Creator/BramStoker novel that the PublicDomainCharacter {{Dracula}} comes from, ''Dracula'' is a musical scored by Frank Wildhorn, with a book written by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. The show had a tumultuous history: Its premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, California, in 2001 was played to 115% capacity, the highest paid capacity for any world premiere production in the playhouse's history. It then premiered on Broadway in 2004, starring Tom Hewitt as the frightening vampire Count and Melissa Errico as the woman he loves, Mina Harker. Despite [[{{Fanservice}} a brief nude scene]] and numerous spectacular effects, this engagement show ran for only 154 performances, and received mainly negative reviews. Today it is still held up right along with Theatre/TanzDerVampire's ill-fated Broadway outing as proof that VampireMusicals just plain [[{{Pun}}''suck'']]. However, the show was heavily revised and later had engagements in Europe, where it proved to be a hit. The Korean versions have been similarly successful.

Adapted from the original Creator/BramStoker novel that the PublicDomainCharacter {{Dracula}} comes from, ''Dracula'' is a musical scored by Frank Wildhorn, with a book written by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. The show had a tumultuous history: Its premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, California, in 2001 was played to 115% capacity, the highest paid capacity for any world premiere production in the playhouse's history. It then premiered on Broadway in 2004, starring Tom Hewitt as the frightening vampire Count and Melissa Errico as the woman he loves, Mina Harker. Despite [[{{Fanservice}} a brief nude scene]] and numerous spectacular effects, this engagement show ran for only 154 performances, and received mainly negative reviews. Today it is still held up right along with Theatre/TanzDerVampire's ill-fated Broadway outing as proof that VampireMusicals just plain ''bombs''. However, the show was heavily revised and later had engagements in Europe, where it proved to be a hit. The Korean versions have been similarly successful.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bramstokerdracula_2380.jpg]]

Adapted from the original Creator/BramStoker novel that the PublicDomainCharacter {{Dracula}} comes from, ''Dracula'' is a musical scored by Frank Wildhorn, with a book written by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. The show had a tumultuous history: Its premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, California, in 2001 was played to 115% capacity, the highest paid capacity for any world premiere production in the playhouse's history. It then premiered on Broadway in 2004, starring Tom Hewitt as the frightening vampire Count and Melissa Errico as the woman he loves, Mina Harker. Despite [[Fanservice a brief nude scene]] and numerous spectacular effects, this engagement show ran for only 154 performances, and received mainly negative reviews. The show was heavily revised and later had engagements in Europe, where it proved to be a hit. The Korean versions have been similarly successful.