MILDRED'S UMBRELLA THEATER COMPANY
SCORES BIG IN HOUSTON WITH NEW DRACULA

Some friends back home are getting some cool notice with their new show. From the Houston Press:

Mac Wellman's swirling, dreamy
poetry gives Dracula a sharp bite

In the world of theater, the maxim "less is more" can be either the kiss of death or a life-affirming embrace. In a fascinating production of Mac Wellman's idiosyncratic adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company takes us into its arms and smothers us with love of theater.

A flashlight held under the chin, a flickering chandelier, a blood-red column, three simple wooden chairs and a table (also blood-red), the use of shrieking seagulls to create the sound of demonic laughter, and a gothic arch-shaped doorway upstage -- these are all that's necessary to set a dreadful mood when everything else, especially the performers, are so in sync with Wellman's swirling, dreamy text.

And my pal Alan gets some kind words:

As Van Helsing, Alan Hall seems to relish his character's contradictions. The "alienist" specialist is gruff and comic, a man of science and a man of his times. "I employ scientific method and hope for the best," the character jokes in earnest. He confounds the other characters with his thick pronunciation of "wum-peer," or vampire.

My buddy Stephen (discovered as an actor-to-be by my wife Becky a few years ago for a production of Oedipus Rex I directed) seems to be doing well, too:

And as the insane-asylum assistant, Stephen Foulard steps right out of an English musical when he sings his explicitly ribald ditty about Mad Sally and what we all crave: "bonkers, bonker, bonk."

My friend Jennifer, who often comments here at Real Art, got some props for a smaller part (of course, there are no small parts, only small actors, and it sounds like Jennifer is proving the maxim true):

Dracula's brides (Karen Schlag, Shondra Marie, Jennifer Decker) are not wispy wraiths but real-life Victorian naughty postcards in corsets and bloomers who stomp about the stage in combat boots. At times, they vocalize wordlessly in unworldly tones. Other times, they sing in harmony, asking "Who Do You Suppose Is Going to Feed Him?" as they surround the next hapless victim.

Click here for the rest.

Ah! Like the dos chicas show I wrote about a few days ago, this kind of thing makes me miss Houston. A bit. I mean, it's dreary Houston, after all. Still, I'm glad my friends and colleagues are making some waves in the local theater scene. The real shame is that so few people go to the theater. They're missing out on some good stuff.

UPDATE: I just learned that the vampirettes are actually bigger roles than I had thought. Indeed, the show is pretty much supposed to be ensemble oriented; that is, most of the characters have a roughly equal amount of stage time. So, you get more bang for your entertainment buck. If you're in Houston, don't miss out.

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