This past weekend the Hellgate theatre department put on their fall production of Dracula. The play was written by their very own theater director and teacher, Laramie Dean, based on the novel by Bram Stoker.
This is the first horror play Hellgate has had in the past four years, providing the opportunity to use new techniques and approaches to the show’s process. The second production of the year is planned to be the musical Hadesdown, giving this school year a much darker theme for both of the shows.
The cast and crew have been working on this show since the second week of school in September, with hours of rehearsals every day after school until their shows on Nov. 7th, 8th, and 9th. With costume and prop changes, makeup and fake blood, the cast and crew were challenged to make horror come to life.
Over 50 people were involved in the production, as actors, backstage crew, stage managers, light and sound operators, makeup and hair artists, costume designers, set building and more. The play is set in the 1890’s, from the small town of Whitby to Dracula’s Castle in the Carpathian Mountains. “I do think our performances always come out so good because Mr. Dean is a great director. I love the people, I love the experience but it’s definitely a lot of work,” said stage manager Amelia Calsbeek.
Like most shows, countless invisible actions occurred backstage so that the flow of the production onstage would be seamless, “especially for the makeup artists, and props and quick changes,” said Calsbeek.
Each of the 16 Nosferatu had their makeup done to replicate famous vampires. “I really loved my experience. It was my first time doing makeup and it was very fun,” said Evelyn Ferencz, a makeup artist for many cast members. Ferencz emphasized that even though everyone gets really tired and sometimes fed up with each other during the show process, we also get really close because of all the time the cast and crew spend together.
Most of the Hellgate theater productions in recent years have been more on the humorous side, so starting the year off with a horror show played out differently. It also was different from an actor’s perspective on how they gauge their audience’s reactions. “It was a completely different dynamic so it was interesting having to act in a different way. And just seeing the range of people’s acting skills is just truly amazing to see,” said Jenna Kim, who played Lucy. “Usually you can gauge the audience from how much they laugh but since I couldn’t this time it was a little bit strange and different to see the energy of the people, but some of the nights you could tell that they were a little bit more engaged,” said Kim.
“It was definitely out of my comfort zone. I’m used to doing more comedic shows or musicals which are an entirely different kind of brand of acting, so it was really challenging to kind of not be onstage trying to do something for laughs but trying to convey a more dark and serious story,” said Annie Smith, who played the Dracula’s eldest bride.
“I think my favorite scene was the dinner party scene. It was most of my scene partners all together onstage and it clicked along very nicely. There was a lot of give and take, it was really funny and it was just a scene I looked forward to every time,” said Kim.
“It was really cool to witness the people I knew as freshman kind of grow into their roles as sophomores, and it was really cool to see that happen on stage,” said Smith, who also choreographed several dance sequences from the show.
Overall the show was received well by the public, with the house being very full on all three nights.
