Redzuan Abdul Rahim and Frank Maciel
Director Nicolette Tempesta describes her latest show, a Halloween offering to the community from By the Sea Productions in Morro Bay, as “a fun, sexy romp of an adventure.”
Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors is fun. All ten of its cast members are clearly having a ball, and audience members will enjoy Frank Maciel in the title role, Nicki Butler as Mina, and Timothy Linzey in multiple roles, as they chew up the scenery for our comedic pleasure.
The two-hour production mixes a dollop of a horror story into a whole bowlful of Count Chocula breakfast cereal with all the cartoonish implications you might imagine. No one, including us, takes the thunder and lightening and wolf howls in the night seriously—although the lighting, sound and scenic designs and decor are seriously well done (thank you Bryan Easton, Samvel Gottlieb, Maciel and Tempesta).
Dracula is also sexy. Maciel’s vampire, mixing the traditional red-lined black cape into some nicely bodacious outfits, manages to (mostly) have his way with both male and female victims. Foxy outfits aren’t just for neck-biters here either, as costumes credited to Melissa Karas and the cast aren’t the 1880s Victorian ensembles traditionally associated with the Bram Stoker story.
Instead of 1880s think 1980s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Yes, Butler and Lucy Nosbisch as Dracula’s intended paramour Lucy both channel Cyndi Lauper and Madonna at the height of their lace gloves/torn leggings/taffeta skirt glory. And the abundant musical interludes between scenes is ’80s electronic dance/pop as well. So instead of simple burning glances we get lusty couplings that tease out a bit of salaciousness in more than just the main characters.
The supporting players—all game for this romp—include Brennan Stewart as a commanding Dr. Westfeldt, Melissa Jensen as Dr. Van Helsing dressed like (and sounding like) Heidi in hiking boots, Bryan Easton in a too-small role as the Grave Digger, and Redzuan Abdul Rahim, Roxane Brodnick, and Andrea Bowers in multiple roles.
The re-setting of the 2023 play’s timeframe, approved according to Tempesta by the playwrights Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen themselves, adds a layer of crazy that helps us get over the sometimes in-your-face jokes that often induce a bit of eye-rolling instead of true laughs.
But that’s the adventure Tempesta refers to, I think, in this production. It’s not what you expect. It’s certainly not Bela Lugosi (although you could imagine the very talented Maciel taking the role on in that, eh, vein). But it’s definitely a Halloween happening that you will admire for its audacious take on a timeless story.