David Campton’s “Carmilla”

Several play versions of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu‘s classic novella exist, from the Wildclaw Theater‘s grand guignol adaptation to recent musical in development and even one penned by yours truly.  There’s one particular version that has seen several different productions in the United Kingdom since its premiere in the 1970s–that of David Campton (who also wrote…

Carmilla Musical on Its Way?

A few weeks ago, a staged reading of a new musical took place for one afternoon only.  Based on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu‘s gothic classic of vampires and sapphic love, Carmilla was penned by the same man who also wrote a three character musical based on Marie Antoinette.  I had the good fortune to interview…

Let The Right One In Coming to NYC

It began with a novel ten years ago. Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Obviously a Jim Morrisey fan. The novel became a bestseller, was marketed abroad under the English title Let Me In. Set in the Swedish suburb of Blackeberg, it tells of a very unusual friendship between two extremely lonely…

Review of Not With Monsters

In the region of greater Los Angeles known as NoHo a black box theatre known as Zombie Joe’s makes its home.  They do a variety of plays there, many original as well as solid sprinkling of classics.  A new show opened this last weekend, a one-act musical that includes no less than five vampires in…

Oscar Wilde’s Vampire Play

Vampires and Oscar Wilde seem like they should go together when you think on it. Not something I really had thought about very much. True, Wilde woo’d in his youth the icily beautiful young woman who eventually married Bram Stoker. One cannot also but think Wilde and Lestat might have gotten along fabulously. If vampires…

“Let The Right One In” On Stage

March 2011 sees the third adaptation of John Ajvide Linqvist’s “Let The Right One In” appear before audiences, in nearly as many years. First was the much-acclaimed motion picture for which Linqvist wrote the screenplay. Next was the controversial but generally applauded American adaptation, transplanting the story from Sweden to New Mexico, “Let Me In.”…

The Grand Guignol

Imagine yourself in a bleak, timeworn theater. Picture yourself walking down the dull dismal aisle, shadows overtaking the light, thick aged draperies hanging on the peeling cracked walls… keep walking, row after row until you get to your creaking seat. The theater is quiet enough to hear the dead, the lights dim and a chill…