New Dracula in LA

October contains Halloween, and as a result theatre-goers with a taste for the gothic can look forward to productions of Dracula.  These vary from the Balderson-Deane classic (which made Bela Lugosi famous) to such fresh takes as last year’s “feminist” version or an adaptation on roller skates or for that matter more than a few…

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…

New Carmilla On The Way

Yet another live version of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu’s classic is on its way to the boards! We’ve covered other stage productions of Carmilla in the past, including that of Chicago’s Wildclaw Theatre and even a Canadian high school‘s version. Now another struggles its way to the stage in front of a live audience. The venue…

Let The Right One In Redux!

Most fans of the blood-drinking undead agree John Ajvide Lindqvist created a modern classic with his novel Let The Right One In. His eerie, troubling and somehow sweet story of a lonely bullied child who finds friendship, maybe even love, with a vampire who moves next door became a best-seller. Lindqvist himself wrote the screenplay…

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…