Dracula: l'Amour plus fort que la Mort ("Dracula: A Love Stronger Than Death") is a 2011 French Rock Opera loosely based on Dracula, though mostly combining aspects of the 1992 film version with a heavy dose of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and an Anachronism Stew aesthetic.
Count Dracula has lived in self-imposed silence as a vampire since the suicide of his wife Elisabeta in the 15th century, attended by his three minions Sorci, Satine and Poison. Eventually, a young English realtor, Jonathan Harker, comes calling, and Dracula recognizes a portrait of Harker's fiancee, Mina Murray, as Elisabeta's reincarnation...
The show was a modest success, with the soundtrack album selling well, a TV broadcast, and a national tour of France. However, it did not do well enough for the broadcast to receive an official DVD release. Keep Circulating the Tapes, everyone!
It is not to be confused with Dracula, Entre l'Amour et la Mort, which is a Québécois production, and dates from 2006.
This show contains examples of:
- BSoD Song: "Encore", in which Jonathan realizes Mina's infidelity (along with confronting his own) and has a bit of a breakdown.
- The Cover Changes the Meaning: Most of the songs are original to the show, but the (eventually
cut) "Éteins la lumiere" is a recontextualized cover of an early-90s French rock hit, with an extended sample of "Super Heroes" from Rocky Horror thrown in for good measure. - Cute Monster Girl: Poison, who's also a Big Beautiful Woman.
- Disney Acid Sequence: The bizarre 3D-movie Dream Ballet between Dracula and Mina in Act II.
- The Dead Can Dance: Dracula communicates solely through this trope! In addition to this, nearly every song includes a whole ensemble of dancing vampires.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Averted in that unlike in the book, the Brides don't rape Jonathan- they seduce him, and he responds with genuine enthusiasm.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Satine.
- Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: All four main vampires. Dracula looks pretty much like the Nightman.
- Fiery Redhead: Lucy, as played by the lovely Anaïs Delva.
- Guardian Angel: Mina has one, who encourages her to redeem Dracula's soul.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Mina, as well as her Guardian Angel.
- Kill It with Fire: Poor Lucy's fate after being turned into a vampire.
- The Ophelia: Lucy as a vampire, in stark contrast to the book.
- Pet the Dog: Dracula takes pity on a one-legged beggar named Tom while he's in London, recruiting the boy as his newest helper after witnessing a crowd relentlessly bullying him. How good for Tom this actually is is debatable, but Dracula seems to at least mean well.
- Psychopathic Womanchild: Poison, a grown woman vampire who carries around an identically-dressed doll and affects a cloying, childish manner when she's not summoning the forces of darkness or mocking religion.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: Sorci, Poison and Satine.
- Villain Song: Pretty much everything Dracula's minions sing, with the exception of Satine's first solo "Qui peut-le juger?" ("Who Can Judge Him?"), which is a compassionate love ballad in which she wishes she and Dracula could save each other rather than his chasing mortal girls.
- The Voiceless: Dracula, literally, due to his vow of silence, and Mina figuratively, in that she doesn't sing any songs and only has spoken lines (her relationship with Dracula being conveyed through a series of pas de deux).
- Sorci (and occasionally Poison and Satine) is his Voice for the Voiceless.
