Local News from Marbletown, Rochester, & Rosendale
Theatre on the Road, a traveling company based in Rosendale will produce and stage three performances of Dracula, 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 26-28, at the Widow Jane Mine, 668 Route 213, Rosendale.
From the Bram Stoker novel, this is the original Broadway production, which premiered in 1927 and was revised in 1997 starring Frank Langella. In September 2022 and again in 2023, Murder Café brought this production, written by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston to Bannerman Island in the Hudson Highlands and the Widow Jane Mine in Rosendale. It sold out 10
performances each year.
The setting is Fairfax, England mid 1920s. Lucy, whose father, Dr. Seward, is in charge of an asylum, has been attacked by a mysterious illness. Her fiancé, Jonathon Harker, does not understand her change in mood and personality. Dr. Van Helsing, a renowned professor of
metahysics, believes Lucy is the victim of a vampire. Could the vampire be a certain Count Dracula who recently took up residence in the nearby Carfax castle? Renfield, an inmate, suffers from delusions and is under the spell of Count Dracula. Will he be found and finally laid to rest? Miss Wells, Lucy’s maid, also falls under Dracula’s spell. Her counterpart, Mr. Butterworth, is an orderly at the asylum and cannot control Renfield. The roles of Miss Wells and Butterworth offer much needed comic relief. A woman plays Van Helsing, and that adds tension between her
character and Dracula’s. It also presents a rivalry between Dr. Seward and Van Helsing. Their
relationship ends up being a partnership however, all for the common goal of defeating Dracula.
The play is appropriate for all ages. Admission is $25. For tickets, visit widowjanemine.com.
