'Dracula' Swoops onto SUNY Potsdam Campus in Pendragon Play

Related Media

Playing Dracula, Brandon Patterson, left, talks with Tyler Nye and Donna Moschek, who portray Jonathan and Lucy in Pendragon Theatre’s new production.

POTSDAM, NY (01/20/2011)(readMedia)-- Following the growing popularity of "modern" vampires in books, movies and TV shows such as "Twilight" and "True Blood," SUNY Potsdam invites you to get back to basics by seeing a play inspired by the original vampire-Dracula.

Written in 1897, Bram Stoker's "Dracula" is a classic novel in the gothic genre, and remains a magnet for all ages.

SUNY Potsdam's Department of Theatre and Dance will soon welcome a Pendragon Theatre production of the play "Dracula" based on Stoker's text. The performances will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4 and Saturday, Feb. 5, in the College Theatre in Satterlee Hall.

The script, adapted by Hamilton Deane in 1924, is the first adaptation of the novel authorized by Stoker's widow. In 1927, the play was revised for American audiences by John L. Balderston and starred Bela Lugosi. He reprised the role in the classic 1931 film.

Susan Neal, faculty member in the Department of Theatre and Dance, and the artistic director of Pendragon Theatre, will direct the show.

Neal has a personal connection with the play. In 1977, while pursuing an acting career in New York, she stumbled upon a "gig" selling concessions at the Martin Beck Theatre. The production was Frank Langella's "Dracula." The stage manager, a frequent visitor to the candy counter, suggested the producers audition Neal for a role in the upcoming national tour. The competition narrowed down to Neal and another actress. Fate intervened and she did not get the role.

In Pendragon's production, her daughter, Kate Pettee, plays the role she came close to realizing in 1977.

Tickets are $12 for general admission, $10 for SUNY Potsdam faculty and staff and senior citizens and $5 for SUNY Potsdam students with ID. There will be open seating at the performance, and tickets will be sold at the door beginning at 6:30 p.m. before both shows.

For further information, please call (315) 267-3394 or e-mail ddtix@potsdam.edu.

"Dracula" will tour throughout the region in 2011 as part of Pendragon's Arts-in-Education Outreach programming. For further information about the play, contact Pendragon Theatre at (518) 891-1854 or via pdragon@northnet.org.

For more information on Pendragon Theatre, visit www.pendragontheatre.org.

To learn more about the many productions offered throughout the year through SUNY Potsdam's Department of Theatre and Dance, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/AAS/Theatre/index.cfm.

###

Founded in 1816, and located on the outskirts of the beautiful Adirondack Park, the State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America's first 50 colleges. SUNY Potsdam currently enrolls approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its handcrafted education, challenging liberal arts and sciences core, excellence in teacher training and leadership in the performing and visual arts.

-www.potsdam.edu-