By Marissa Schoenfeld
marissa@du2.byu.edu
Move over, Buffy. Dracula, the granddaddy of all vampire stories, has been resurrected into two very different stage productions.
'Dracula,' playing at Springville's Villa Playhouse Theatre is the 1927 Broadway version of the Bram Stoker classic.
On the other side of the spectrum is 'Dracula the Vampire, or He Loved in Vein,' playing at the Desert Star Playhouse in Murray. It is, as the title suggests, a melodramatic spoof of the traditional tale.
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Both shows follow the story of a London household and the mysterious illness suffered by one beautiful young woman after another; an illness whose symptoms include extreme blood loss, nightmares and neck wounds. And then there's the next-door neighbor from Transylvania who just moved in ... coincidence, right?
Which production to see depends on whether you prefer the serious or the silly. Although they share similar story lines, the two Dracula plays clearly have different objectives.
Admittedly walking the fine line between campy and evil, the Villa Playhouse cast tries to give 'Dracula' a deeper, more solemn and psychological approach without totally coming across like a how-to-catch-a-vampire instruction manual.
Their real goal, however, is to frighten the audience.
The theater itself helps. Its lofty ceiling gives it a hollow feel, like an old house. There are also plenty of screams and dramatic tension ('Don't leave her in there alone!'), but no real terror.
No pretenses about the Deseret Star's tone. Scary? No. Funny? Yes. 'He Loved in Vein' is a surrender to the irreverent. Puns and sight gags abound. The show pokes fun at everything from the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal to I-15 construction to the film 'Titanic.' The actors are free to ham it up and the audience is free to boo and cheer all it likes.
Another plus is being able to order pizza, drinks and ice cream right from your seat.
Central to any dracula production is, of course, the vampire. BYU student Braden Bell plays the bloodsucking specter in the Villa version. His Count Dracula character is charming, mysterious and a sharp dresser. He actually tries to cozy up to the family he is stalking. (Why does a vampire need social ties?) But as soon as his true identity is unmasked, he has no trouble hiding his confident, evil nature.
It's easy to laugh along with the Desert Star's goofy count, played by Scott Holman, as he pulls funny faces and makes prank phone calls to his victim.
In both plays, Dr. Van Helsing is the protagonist character, a world-acclaimed blood specialist who also happens to know a heck of a lot about vampires. The question here may not be who is the better actor, but who can do the best German accent.
Villa veteran John Gholdston plays the Van Helsing role with calm authority. Pitting his mortal wits against the king of the undead doesn't seem like much of a stretch for Gholdston. He's not nervous. He's not anxious. All in a day's work.
The Desert Star's Ben E. Millet lets his Van Helsing blend right in with his zany costars, which doesn't prevent the audience from cheering when Van Helsing loudly proclaims he will 'destroy the vampire!' It perfectly suits the production.
'Dracula' runs until Oct. 31. For more details, call 489-3088.
'Dracula the Vampire or He Loved in Vein' runs until Nov. 14. Call 266-7600 for more information.