Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors at
Theatre Raleigh Is a Scream!

Joe Moeller (left) stars as Jonathan Harker and Nick Adams stars as Dracula (photo by Jennifer Robertson Photography)

Theatre Raleigh's current gender-bending production of Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, staged at a gallop by guest director Telly Leung, is a scream! Literally. Five fabulous farceurs tackle dozens of roles -- some in hilarious drag -- and imbue each one with a distinct personality.

Director Telly Leung is the straw that stirs this particular comic drink. He brilliantly orchestrates the monkey business of this madcap farce. Seldom have so few actors been so funny in so many roles. Leung's directorial vision helps his five-member cast land every joke in Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen's side-splitting script.

Zach Kononov (left) and Mallorie Sievert star as sisters Mina and Lucy Westfeldt (photo by Jennifer Robertson Photography)

Nick Adams' campy, muscle-bound, chest-baring characterization of Dracula is wickedly funny. Here, the Transylvanian terror is a real scream queen, who sashays around the stage, provoking gales of laughter. (Joanna denies drooling when Adams' frequently struck sexy shirtless poses as Dracula.)

Joe Moeller plays an effete, cowardly, bi-curious Jonathan Harker with gusto. He steals every scene that Adams hasn't already stolen.

Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors at Theatre Raleigh stars Nat M. Sherwood as Renfield (photo by Jennifer Robertson Photography)

Nat M. Sherwood alternates between stuffy insane-asylum chief Dr. Westfeldt and his batshit-crazy, bug-eating patient Renfield in another crowd-pleasing dual performance; and Mallorie Sievert makes Jonathan Harker's oversexed fiancée, twitchy would-be soil scientist Lucy Westfeldt, highly amusing. She is also a delight in several other minor roles.

Beefy Zach Kononov alternates with ease -- in glorious drag -- between the zaftig, boy-crazy as Mina Westfeldt and the formidable German vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing. (Joanna, who grew up in Berlin, particularly enjoyed Kononov's German accent as Van Helsing and the German words that punctuate Van Helsing's pronouncements.)

Mallorie Sievert stars as Lucy Westfeldt and Joe Moeller stars as Jonathan Harker (photo by Jennifer Robertson Photography)

Scenic designer Seth Howard's versatile set provides a splendid springboard for this madcap farce, with lots of doors (and coffin lids) for the cast to slam. Sam Terrell's crackerjack lighting design brilliantly accents the fast-and-furious onstage action, sometimes with strobe lights.

Costume designer Tristan Raines has created a wonderful Victorian wardrobe that reflects the personalities of the various characters, and adds a dazzling anachronistic array of contemporary rock-star threads, so that Dracula can strut his stuff, much to the audience's delight.

Wig-and-hair designer Liz Printz adds an amusing bald cap for Dr. Westfeldt, a funny fright wig for Renfield, and other hilarious hair pieces; and property designer Elizabeth Newton's ingenious creations accentuate the comedy. But it is sound designer Victoria Deiorio who earns highest marks for her timely comic sound effects and inspired song selections that complement the action.

Nat M. Sherwood (left) stars as Dr. Westfeldt and Zach Kononov stars as Mina Westfeldt (photo by Jennifer Robertson Photography)

Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors is a Halloween hoot that is not to be missed! Some of our favorite moments include:

• The zany antics of the cross-dressing, gender-ending characters.
• The scene in which Jonathan Harker Ubers to Castle Dracula with an increasingly frightened coach driver, who ultimately strands him on the roadside as bloodthirsty wolves, with glowing red eyes, howl all around them.
• The knee-slapping bat-on-a-stick scene, in which Dracula, in fledermaus form, frantically flutters around the Westfeldts' drawing room as the other characters pass the bat-on-a-stick from hand to hand to hand.
• Dr. Westfieldt, Dr. Van Helsing, and Jonathan Harker gallumping around London on stick horses as they frantically search for Dracula's lair.
• Dracula's hilarious makeover of Jonathan Harker, transforming the stuffy British real-estate agent from dud to stud.
• The scene in which the fearless (make that "fearful") vampire hunters pretend to "walk and walk and walk downstairs" to the basement of Dracula's moldy mansion, looking for his coffin.

Click here to buy your tickets today, before all the performances sell out.

Theatre Raleigh's current presentation of Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors at Theatre Raleigh stars (from left) Nat M. Sherwood as Dr. Westfeldt,
Mallorie Sievert as Lucy Westfeldt, Joe Moeller as Jonathan Harker, and Nick Adams as Dracula (photo by Jennifer Robertson Photography)

Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen's DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS (In Person at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22-25, Oct. 28-Nov. 1, and Nov. 4-8), directed by Telly Leung and starring Nick Adams as Dracula, Joe Moeller as Jonathan Harker & Others, Nat M. Sherwood as Dr. Westfeldt & Others, Mallorie Sievert as Lucy Westfeldt & Others, and Zach Kononov as Mina, Dr. Van Helsing, & Others, plus understudies that include Ali Evarts, Andrew Goins, and Chandler Vance (Theatre Raleigh in the De Ann S. Jones Theatre at the Theatre Raleigh Arts Center at 6638 Old Wake Forest Rd. in Raleigh). REELS: https://www.facebook.com/reel/2296161164121271 and https://www.facebook.com/reel/1088596297412526. THEATRE RALEIGH VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/@TheatreRaleigh. PRESENTER: https://theatreraleigh.com/, https://www.facebook.com/TheatreRaleigh, https://www.instagram.com/theatre_raleigh/, https://www.tiktok.com/@theatreraleigh_, https://x.com/theatreraleigh, and https://www.youtube.com/@TheatreRaleigh. 2026 SEASON: https://www.theatreraleigh.com/2026-main-stage-season. VENUE: https://theatreraleigh.com/main-stage-theatre-dedication/. DIRECTIONS/PARKING: https://theatreraleigh.com/location-parking/. DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS (2023 Off-Broadway and 2025 London Madcap One-Act Comedy): https://www.draculacomedy.com/, https://www.gordongreenberg.com/dracula-a-comedy-of-terrors, https://www.concordtheatricals.com/p/95020/dracula-a-comedy-of-terrors, https://www.spectra.theater/explore/production/c86a3a02-bf99-545c-928e-5c588b6f0de0, and https://en.everybodywiki.com/Dracula,_A_Comedy_of_Terrors. THE SCRIPT ([SCRIBD]): https://www.scribd.com/document/847747359/Dracula-Script-Final. STUDY GUIDE (The Public Theatre of Lewiston, ME): https://thepublictheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/24-25-Dracula-A-Comedy-of-Terrors-Study-Guide.pdf. GORDON GREENBERG (Mineral Wells, TX-born playwright and screenwriter): https://www.gordongreenberg.com/, https://www.greenbergandrosen.com/about-the-writers, https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/119339/gordon-greenberg, https://www.spectra.theater/explore/artist/d74ef4db-c09d-4779-99fd-1a5dc64719b4, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3605041/, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Greenberg. STEVE ROSEN (Pittsford, NY-born actor and playwright): https://www.greenbergandrosen.com/about-the-writers, https://goldenthroats.fandom.com/wiki/Steve_Rosen, https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/120467/steve-rosen, https://www.spectra.theater/explore/artist/290ad662-5e4f-4ce2-bc6a-27d842651223, and https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1034238/. RUN TIME: Approximately 90 minutes, with no intermission. TICKETS: $50-$60 ($42 students under age 21 and $45 seniors and active-duty military personnel), plus taxes and fees. Click here to buy tickets. INFORMATION: 919-832-9997, info@theatreraleigh.com, or boxoffice@theatreraleigh.com. PLEASE DONATE TO: Theatre Raleigh. Susie Potter's Triangle Arts Review Review.

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