Interview: Justin Meyer of DRACULA: THE MUSICAL at Nocturne Theatre

The Nocturne Theatre is in its vampire era. 

After its recent production of “Dracula: The Musical” saw sold-out crowds and lured a bandwagon of vampiric crowds to its atmospheric, Haunted Mansion-esque theater in Glendale, the Nocturne Theatre has extended the show’s run. 

“Dracula” will now play October 4 through November 2—alongside the Nocturne’s other fan-favorite annual event, the Haunted Soiree: Vampire. 

Now in its sixth season, the soiree is an immersive Halloween event featuring themed drinks, live performances, and this year, a vampire-centric theatrical experience. Running select evenings from October 3 through November 1, the event invites guests to explore the Nocturne’s nooks and crannies, where they can discover interactive vampire characters, live music, illusionists, aerial performers, and stunning cinematic creature effects.

“We have a long history of dark, edgy, and horror-driven projects, mostly in the theatrical space,” said Nocturne co-founder Justin Meyer, who also plays the titular role in Dracula. “Almost all of our shows, even our 'family friendly shows', tend to have a dark or strange twist on them, with larger-than-life costume and creature designs. 

“The Nocturne Theatre itself is truly haunted,” he added. “It’s home to four different ghosts—so this is the perfect place to come see something spooky!”

Meyer created the Haunted Soiree with his wife, Melissa Meyer, who works as a producer for the event (and assistant director for Dracula). The production team also includes music direction by Chris Wade, costumes by Tanya Cyr, and aerial direction and choreography by Lisa Marie Burnside. 

Justin stepped out of the darkness to speak to BroadwayWorld about Dracula, the soiree, and all things vampire:

OK so I've never seen DRACULA: THE MUSICAL, but I love horror movies. Describe the show in one sentence. 

Our revival of Frank Wildhorn's Dracula: The Musical is a dark, sexy and surreal rock-opera re-telling of Bram Stoker's classic gothic novel.    

The original Dracula run at Nocturne was Aug 8-31. What made you decide to bring it back for the Halloween season (and why wasn't it scheduled for the Halloween season in the first place)?  Also: How'd the cast feel about the sudden extension—was that, logistically, hard to organize? 

Dracula: The Musical isn't performed very often, so we weren't sure what kind of turnout we would see, initially, so we set it for a limited run.  Additionally, we already had our annual Haunted Soiree (immersive Halloween cocktail party) set to run in October in two different cities, so our programming was already pretty full.  

However, we learned a big lesson in the power of a well-known IP (intellectual property). When we went on sale, Dracula started to outpace all of the other shows, just from its title alone. That success made us decide that a longer run was warranted, and after finalizing our Haunted Soiree schedule, we found a way to balance both shows at The Nocturne Theatre.  

When we announced the extension, we also feared not all the cast would be able to return--but everyone was having so much fun with this show that the entire cast, crew and band moved conflicts around and made themselves available for the full run!

The Broadway run of the show got very mixed reviews, with many critics saying the songs were unoriginal and the script "boring."  How did you set out to revive the story with your production to avoid some of these criticisms? 

I saw the original version on Broadway in 2004. At the time, I thought that the bones of the production were good.  I'm a huge Frank Wildhorn fan, so his music goes a long way for me, and the scenic design was cool.  The show also pushed some boundaries on Broadway at the time.  But in the end, it felt gimmicky and took itself way too seriously.  They did retool the show in Germany a few years later, and the minor tweaks helped (the show got a rock edge and some new songs were added, while other songs were combined), but it still fell victim to the same issues as the original production.  

Our production of the show was already going to be a new twist--as we are a theatre in the round, and all of our traditional musicals are staged very differently.  Additionally, our theatre does not have an orchestra pit, and MTI does not offer tracks for this show.  Bringing in a full orchestra was not going to be feasible for us, and I was limited to Keys, Bass, Drums and Guitar.  However, that gave me an idea, and I took advantage of that limitation.  Working with my Music Director, Chris Wade, we were able to lean more heavily into the 'rock' element that the show established in Germany, thus giving our version a fun, 80s Rock-Opera vibe.  This served the show VERY well, allowing the performers to opt-up and riff on a lot of notes and giving myself, as Dracula, a chance to play piano live with the band!

We also put the 'Nocturne Twist' on it--putting a huge focus on costumes, full Hollywood-quality creature suits, adding aerial elements to the vampiric brides and doing lots of Grand Guignol style on-stage gore and blood effects.     

Is there an age minimum for Dracula? I think the original had a much-talked-about nude scene... 

Our version does not include FULL nudity, however, there are a few risky scenes, including erotic burlesque numbers.  We like to say this show is a hard PG-13.  

The vampiric theme is, obviously, perfectly on brand for Nocturne. I'm a big fan of the Nocturne, so I get it—but tell our readers who may not be familiar with the theater why it's the perfect space and company to put on the show.

The Nocturne Theatre is owned and operated by Melissa and Justin Meyer (that's me!) who have been working in the immersive haunt industry here in Los Angeles since 2009. . . .  Our team consists of Hollywood's BEST creature designer (Tanya Cyr), amazing foam fabricator (Greg Feiler) and a truly talented costume team (led by Gavin Dietz).  

What has the audience reaction been?

The audience reaction has been fantastic, specifically complimenting the actors’ vocal talents (something The Nocturne Theatre has a great reputation for), as well as the show's incredibly creative costume design and the use of our ultra-cool live rock band. The only thing slightly negative we have heard is that some audience members say they didn't have much knowledge of Dracula or the characters ahead of time, and there were moments that moved kind of quickly, making it a little harder to follow, but ultimately, the story and character relationships became clear.

Did you always plan the haunted soiree to be vampire-themed, or was this shifted because of Dracula's popularity? 

Believe it or not, I had ALWAYS intended our 5th season of Haunted Soiree to take place in New England in the 1890s at the height of the "vampire epidemic" panic.  Interestingly, there is a strange synchronicity with the letter V and the number 5 with Haunted Soiree.  I won't get into it too much, but we were supposed to do Season 5, the vampire season, last year, but we had a warehouse fire that forced us to put up a different season.  Moving it to this year just so happens to coincide with our production of Dracula (it's also the year 2025 — another 5!).   

What is the Haunted Soiree? Is it a party? A show? A concert? 

We like to say that Haunted Soiree is three things: First, it's a Halloween cocktail party held inside a real, historically haunted venue.  Second, it's part vaudevillian variety show, with many different kinds of performances rotating throughout the night.  Finally, it is an immersive theatre experience with a very rich backstory and very layered characters who you can interact with to discover the story of the season.

Do you think Dracula is working to promote the soiree, and vice versa? 

We certainly saw a new crowd for Dracula than we typically saw at other musicals.  There were way more horror and goth-enthusiast audience members and it was a great vehicle to help introduce those crowds to Haunted Soiree if they had never heard of it before.  

How many years has it been that you've been putting on these cocktail parties, and what is different about this year's show? 

This will be the sixth season of Haunted Soiree here in Los Angeles, and the fourth season in Seattle. The major difference for this year is in the structure of the rooms and the drink packages. There was a focus this season on making every room feel more like lounges where you will see a variety of entertainment styles, as opposed to zones where you might have to wait in lines for.  For the cocktails, we eliminated the 4-mini cocktails included with the ticket price, which helped to bring down the overall ticket costs for the guests and allowed them to choose more freely from our bars what drink they might want.  We will still offer seasonally crafted cocktails and you can do a flight for a cost.

Are you using any of the Dracula sets/costumes in the soiree? How about the performers? 

We are not using the sets or costumes for Dracula, as we want the guests who come see both shows to feel like they're getting different content with each program.  However, there are a few performers that are participating in both shows; namely, Lisa Marie Burnside, Andrew Diego, and Christian Lees.  Micah Delhauer, Matt Merline and Stuart Brawley, who are crew members on Dracula, are also involved on Haunted Soiree.

Nocturne seems to be naturally fitted to these dark, sexy-sinister themes, for both shows and events. Why? Is it the building, or is that just your preference? 

I take full blame for that.  I grew up a big horror nerd and a fan of all things dark, spooky and scary.  I grew up watching Tales From The Crypt and the Twilight Zone, so my creative designs tend to lean into the macabre, surreal and the strange.  We also feel like it is what separates us from all the other theatres in town and has become such a big part of our theatre's brand.  The building certainly adds to the mystique and allure of the sexy and sinister, given the building's French Quarter New Orleans vibes.   

Can you give me some intel on what Nocturne fans (such as myself!) can expect for the 2026 season?

After the 2025 Halloween season, we will be doing our original Madam Scrooge: A Christmas Carol Musical, written by Justin Meyer and composed by Chris Thomas, for its 3rd season!  Following that, we will be kicking off the 2026 Nocturne Spring Musical Season with Jesus Christ Superstar, followed by The Little Mermaid, The Full Monty, and ending with another NEW original gothic-horror musical, written by Justin Meyer and composed by Chris Thomas, called Frankenstein: Man-Made Monster, which will be a total reimagining of the Frankenstein story.  

*All images courtesy The Nocturne Theatre.

DRACULA runs October 4 through November 2, and the HAUNTED SOIREE: VAMPIRE, runs October 3 through November 1. Tickets are available at https://thenocturnetheatre.com.