This week, Menlo Drama students will become the second ensemble in the nation, and the first high school, to perform the edgy new comedy Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors. The show debuts on Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31 at 7:00 pm, streaming live at menloschool.org/livestream.php.

This lightning-fast, laugh-out-loud comedy by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen reimagines Bram Stoker’s epic horror story with a dash of Mel Brooks and a pinch of Monty Python. The show will be presented as an old-time radio play reminiscent of the vintage broadcasts of the 1930s and 1940s. Created in the spirit of The 39 Steps and developed at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, the show premiered at The Maltz Jupiter Theatre in Jupiter, Florida last year and has been optioned for a Broadway production once Broadway theaters reopen. 

Given the constraints of Covid-19, Menlo Drama was spurred on to creatively reimagine their season this year. Following the old adage, “the show must go on,” Menlo Drama chose this reimagined classic to give drama students the opportunity to perform and the community the chance to experience the thrills of live theater during this unpredictable time.

The radio play will be performed on Menlo’s campus while simultaneously being streamed to the listeners and viewers safely in their homes—allowing Menlo to keep the arts alive and thriving during Covid.

The set and stage for Dracula, designed by Andy Hayes and Steven Minning, showcase this same creativity and ingenuity. The actors will perform in movable plexiglass cubes; while this was first conceived to adhere to county and state safety standards, it has now been woven into the choreography and artistic vision of the show. The plexiglass cubes are set on wheels, giving the actors a fluidity on stage that allows the cast to gracefully move with them and use them as doors to enter and exit a scene.

The imagining of the show as a radio play lends another opportunity for unique artistic adaptation, as the production will feature a talented cast of “foley artists” who use a variety of props to create sound effects and an immersive audio experience for the audience.

Steven Minning, Director of Creative Arts and Upper School Drama, chose this production for this season’s opener because “after reading the script last summer, I knew immediately that it was the perfect elixir for times like this.” Minning, who is directing his twenty-second mainstage show for Menlo School and especially grateful to be doing so during this uncertain time, says “this new riff on a classic tale is a throwback to classic radio dramas—think suspense with punchlines—with sound effects so realistic that you will think you were there. I loved the idea of combining mediums by doing the show as a radio play while safely performing it live and streaming it to the community at large. The versatility and humor were what attracted me most to the show.”

Continuing the tradition of philanthropy Minning began eight years ago through Menlo Drama Gives Back, this production of Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors will benefit The Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula. Over the past seven seasons, Menlo Drama has raised close to $50,000 for nonprofit organizations chosen by the casts of each production because their work resonates with the themes of the show. The Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula was chosen as the recipient of this production’s donations due to their invaluable ability to support our local community during the Covid pandemic. This vibrant, entrepreneurial non-profit has effectively pivoted from tutoring for school support and college preparedness to supporting students with distance learning to providing food for the communities they serve during Covid. Viewers may support the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula by donating online during the livestream using this link: https://www.bgcp.org/menloschool.

Catch the show Halloween weekend, free of charge: Friday, Oct. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 31, 7:00 pm, at menloschool.org/livestream.php. This show is recommended for middle school audiences and up.

Fun fact: for the first time in decades, there will be a rare, blue moon on Halloween night this year. Spend time with family this Halloween watching this ghoulishly fun comedy. Dim the lights, light the candles, and get ready to be wickedly entertained!