Dracula, the Musical is a musical based on the original 1897 Victorian novel by Bram Stoker. The score is by Frank Wildhorn, with lyrics and book by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.
The show had its regional premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, California, in 2001, playing to 115% capacity, earning the highest paid capacity for any world premiere production in the playhouse's history. It then premiered on Broadway in 2004, starring Tom Hewitt as the vampire Count and Melissa Errico as the woman he loves, Mina Harker.
A brief nude scene in which Dracula seduces Lucy Westenra (played by Kelli O'Hara) received much publicity, as did the show's numerous special effects. Despite that, the show ran for only 154 performances, and received mainly negative reviews. The show underwent substantial revision and later had engagements in Europe and Asia, where it achieved considerable success.
Jonathan Harker, a young English solicitor, travels to Transylvania to finalize a real estate transaction with the reclusive and elderly Count Dracula, who intends to purchase property in London ("Prologue"). Upon his arrival, Harker is welcomed with an elaborate supper. During their conversation, Dracula speaks wistfully of his desire to abandon his isolation and begin a new existence in a foreign land (âÂÂSolitary ManâÂÂ).
Dracula escorts Harker to his chamber, where he notices a portrait of Harker's fiancée, Mina Murray, provoking a powerful reaction. After Dracula departs, Harker and Mina, from different locations, reflect on the circumstances of their first meeting (âÂÂWhitby BayâÂÂ). In England, Mina suddenly hears DraculaâÂÂs voice in her mind. He ominously announces his imminent journey and expresses his longing to be with her.
Early one morning, Dracula startles Harker while shaving, causing him to cut himself. Drawn to the sight of blood, Dracula approaches but recoils when he notices the crucifix around Harker's neck. Harker attempts to redirect the CountâÂÂs attention to their legal business, but Dracula dismisses the matter and warns him to sleep only in his assigned chamber. As HarkerâÂÂs stay continues, the castle becomes increasingly nightmarish, and he desperately searches for an escape (âÂÂJonathanâÂÂs BedroomâÂÂ).
While wandering the castle, Harker encounters DraculaâÂÂs Brides, who attempt to seduce him. He willingly removes his crucifix, and the women prepare to drink his blood (âÂÂForever YoungâÂÂ). Dracula intervenes, rebuking them for disobeying his command to leave Harker to him alone. When the Brides protest, Dracula appeases them by giving them an infant to consume. Dracula then feeds on Harker to restore his own youth (âÂÂFresh BloodâÂÂ). Fully rejuvenated, Dracula ascends into the air, while Harker narrowly escapes and eventually reaches Budapest.
Telepathically, Dracula contacts his devoted servant Renfield, who is confined to Dr. Jack SewardâÂÂs psychiatric asylum. Promising him eternal life, Dracula secures RenfieldâÂÂs loyalty. Renfield envisions the CountâÂÂs arrival in Whitby Bay aboard the ship Demeter and witnesses DraculaâÂÂs slaughter of the vesselâÂÂs captain and crew (âÂÂThe MasterâÂÂs SongâÂÂ).
After learning of the maritime disaster, Mina discusses the news with her friend Lucy Westenra, who also confides her struggles with sleepwalkingâÂÂan affliction inherited from her late father. Their conversation turns to LucyâÂÂs predicament of having received three marriage proposals in a single day. That evening, all three suitors attend tea: Quincey Morris, a bold American adventurer; Dr. Jack Seward, the intelligent asylum director; and Arthur Holmwood, LucyâÂÂs well-mannered childhood companion. Lucy ultimately accepts HolmwoodâÂÂs proposal (âÂÂHow Do You Choose?âÂÂ).
Later that night, Mina discovers Dracula feeding upon a sleepwalking Lucy. Speaking directly into MinaâÂÂs mind, Dracula reveals that Mina was his true desire, but Lucy had answered his call instead. Mina begs him to spare her friend. Dracula agrees, but only if Mina will come away with him, an offer she resolutely refuses. Furious and shaken by MinaâÂÂs resistance, Dracula vanishes. Lucy awakens and recounts the encounter to Mina (âÂÂThe MistâÂÂ). Mina then explains that she has received word from Harker in Budapest and must leave immediately to marry him. Lucy congratulates her, thrilled that they will both soon be brides. Observing from a distance, Dracula recommits himself to the pursuit of Mina (âÂÂThe Mist â RepriseâÂÂ).
Distressed by MinaâÂÂs preparations to depart, Dracula is compelled to follow her to the train station, where he confesses his longing from afar. Torn between her loyalty to Harker and a growing affinity towards the Count, Mina contemplates her unspoken pull towards darkness. She ultimately travels to Budapest and marries Harker (âÂÂA Perfect Life / Loving You Keeps Me Alive / Whitby Bay â RepriseâÂÂ). Simultaneously, Lucy weds Holmwood in London (âÂÂThe WeddingsâÂÂ). Believing Mina has slipped beyond his grasp, a furious Dracula appears at LucyâÂÂs wedding reception, causing her to collapse.
Concerned for LucyâÂÂs failing health, Dr. Seward summons Abraham Van Helsing, a renowned expert on obscure diseases. Van Helsing safeguards LucyâÂÂs room with garlic and provides her with holy water to protect her during sleep. However, enthralled by DraculaâÂÂs influence, Lucy discards the protections and invites the vampire into her chamber (âÂÂThe InvitationâÂÂ). Dracula drains her blood while feeding her his own in return.
The following morning, Lucy attacks Holmwood, her teeth transformed into fangs. Van Helsing intervenes, saving Holmwood and driving Lucy into a frenzy with sacred prayers. Lucy soon dies, leaving Holmwood devastated and bewildered. Van Helsing consoles him while revealing the culprit is a vampire (âÂÂNosferatuâÂÂ).
Lucy is buried but rises again as a vampire. Dracula returns to her and proclaims her the first of his new âÂÂdynasty.â He sends her out to claim her initial victims before taking flight into the night sky in the form of a colossal bat (âÂÂLife After LifeâÂÂ).
Two weeks later, Van Helsing leads Holmwood, Morris, Dr. Seward, Harker, and Mina to LucyâÂÂs tomb. In the intervening days, a disturbing epidemic has arisen: small children are being abducted in the dead of night and returned drained of blood. Van Helsing seeks to convince the still-skeptical Holmwood, Morris, and Dr. Seward that the culprit is the undead Lucy Westenra. Upon entering the tomb, they discover LucyâÂÂs coffin is empty. She soon appears, carrying a child she intends to feed upon, and is confronted by the group. Through religious incantations, they force her back into her coffin. With great anguish, Holmwood drives a stake through LucyâÂÂs heart, while Van Helsing decapitates her, finally releasing her soul. ("Undead One, Surrender").
Reflecting on the horrors of the previous day, Mina once again hears DraculaâÂÂs voice within her mind. When the Count asks why she makes him wait, Mina accuses him of murdering Lucy. Dracula counters that Lucy was not killed but granted eternal lifeâÂÂand that it was the vampire hunters who truly destroyed her. Despite herself, Mina feels a powerful and unsettling attraction to him. Torn between fear of his immense power and a growing emotional pull, she begs him not to force her love unless it is genuine (âÂÂPlease DonâÂÂt Make Me Love YouâÂÂ).
Van Helsing uncovers the extent of RenfieldâÂÂs psychic bond with Dracula and visits his cell alongside Mina. Renfield explains his devotion to the Count and his belief that he has been promised eternal life. When Van Helsing questions whether they have met before, Renfield chillingly claims knowledge of Van HelsingâÂÂs wife and her fate. Deeply shaken, Van Helsing abruptly leaves. Mina attempts to reason with Renfield, asking whether eternal life is worth the damnation of his soul. Renfield warns her of DraculaâÂÂs intentions but soon realizes he has sealed his own doom. After he is left alone, Dracula appears and kills his former servant (âÂÂThe MasterâÂÂs Song (Reprise)âÂÂ).
Van Helsing then reflects privately on his past, recalling his youth and his wife, Roseanne. Her death at the hands of a vampireâÂÂimplied to have been DraculaâÂÂdrove him to dedicate his life to hunting the undead in her memory (âÂÂRoseanneâÂÂ).
Meanwhile, Holmwood, Morris, and Dr. Seward discover DraculaâÂÂs London refuge in the house Harker sold to him while imprisoned in Transylvania. Van Helsing departs with the men, leaving Mina alone with Harker. As Harker sees them out, Mina becomes increasingly consumed by a desire to save Dracula from destruction. Unable to resist her longing any longer, she invites him into the house (âÂÂIf I Could FlyâÂÂ). Dracula places Harker into a trance and seduces Mina. Their moment of passion culminates when Dracula cuts open his chest and allows Mina to drink his blood, intending to transform her into a vampire (âÂÂMina's SeductionâÂÂ). The hunters return and confront Dracula, forcing him to flee (âÂÂItâÂÂs OverâÂÂ).
Through hypnosis, Van Helsing uses MinaâÂÂs growing telepathic bond to uncover DraculaâÂÂs whereabouts. She reveals that he is retreating to Transylvania after the destruction of his London sanctuary. Fearing her own damnation, Mina extracts a solemn promise from each of the menâÂÂincluding HarkerâÂÂthat they will kill her if her soul cannot be saved (âÂÂJonathanâÂÂs PromiseâÂÂ). The group prepares for the journey and the final confrontation (âÂÂDeep in the Darkest NightâÂÂ). Left alone, Harker agonizes over the terrible vow he has made but resolves to honor it (âÂÂBefore the Summer EndsâÂÂ).
Aboard a train, Van Helsing once again hypnotizes Mina, who reveals that Dracula is concealed within a coffin in the hull of a ship. The trance deepens as DraculaâÂÂs presence overwhelms her mind, forcing Van Helsing to break the connection. Mina withdraws to rest while the others plot their next move (âÂÂThe Train Sequence / Life After Life (Reprise)âÂÂ).
Returned to his castle, Dracula broods over the solitude and emotional desolation that accompany his immortal existence. Touched by her purity, he comes to the realization that he has fallen profoundly in love with Mina (âÂÂThe Longer I LiveâÂÂ).
The hunters arrive at DraculaâÂÂs castle, where the final confrontation unfolds. Morris is killed when he attempts to stake Dracula in his coffin. Van Helsing leaves Mina protected within a sacred circle of holy water while he joins Holmwood, Harker, and Dr. Seward in battling DraculaâÂÂs Brides. Dracula soon appears before Mina, who chooses to follow the creature she loves into darkness (âÂÂAt LastâÂÂ). However, upon hearing the death cries of his Brides, Dracula realizes that Mina would share their fate if she becomes a vampire. Unable to condemn her to such an existence, he relinquishes his own desire.
Knowing that only his death can save her, Dracula asks Mina to release him from his cursed immortality using a Bowie knife taken from Morris. Weeping, Mina fulfills her lover's final wish just as the hunters return. Harker finds his wife cradling DraculaâÂÂs body as it disintegrates into dust. (âÂÂFinale: ThereâÂÂs Always a TomorrowâÂÂ).
(* new songs added to the show in revised version)
Wildhorn musicals usually endured critical derision, and Dracula would prove to be no exception. Reviews were universally negative, referring to the lyrics as unoriginal, and to the music as monotonous and derivative of both Andrew Lloyd Webber and Wildhorn's previous productions. Though this production was intended as a serious, dramatic interpretation of the source material, critics complained of a complete lack of emotion in general, and of suspense and horror in particular. Also, while the plot of the musical hits all the major points of Stoker's novel, critics felt it did so in such an obtuse way that audience members unfamiliar with the story may find themselves unable to comprehend the action.
However the new, revised version, that opened in Graz, Austria, in the Summer of 2007 was very successful among critics and audiences. The version of the show licensed by Music Theatre International is based on this production. A Cast Recording was released in 2008 and was a huge hit in the sale charts.
The South Korean production was met with overwhelmingly positive critical reception, and has since enjoyed additional runs, with reviewers praising its dark tone, spectacular staging, lush sets, impressive special effects, expanded emotional depth, and strong performances from its cast, particularly Kim Junsu as Dracula. The production introduced several more revisions to the book. Most notably, the production reinstated the concept of Mina being the reincarnation of Dracula's deceased wife, echoing the interpretation popularized by the Coppola film, and added two new numbers: "She," a solo for Dracula, examining his origins and amplifying his profound loneliness, and "Last Man Standing," for Van Helsing, which likewise deepens the characterâÂÂs complex bond with his vampire nemesis