DRACULA Flies To The NY Stage At The Little Shubert Theatre, Paul Alexander Set To Direct

Count Dracula, the world's most famous vampire, returns to the New York stage this winter when The Artists Theatre Group, Inc. will present DRACULA by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, based on the eponymous novel by Bram Stoker. Off-Broadway performances will begin in mid-December at the Little Shubert Theatre (442 West 42nd Street). Dates are to be announced. Paul Alexander will direct.

Based on the world-famous novel by Bram Stoker, DRACULA is the classic Gothic drama about the power of seduction and the nature of true love. When the mysterious Count Dracula takes an interest in the beautiful, young Lucy who suffers from horrific dreams and a strange illness, he arouses the suspicions of her fiancé Jonathan Harker and Professor Abraham van Helsing. Following a series of grisly murders and unexplained occurrences, the men fear Dracula may be one of the undead that prowls the darkness and preys upon innocent souls.

Adapted by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, DRACULA premiered in New York in 1927, starring Bela Lugosi. DRACULA was last seen on Broadway in 1977, starring Frank Langella. Winning two Tony Awards, including Best Revival, the production ran for more than 900 performances and inspired the 1979 film adaptation featuring Mr. Langella, Sir Laurence Olivier and Donald Pleasance.

Bram Stoker's horror novel "Dracula," which itself is based on European folklore, has been an international phenomenon since it was first published in 1897. The novel's influence on the popularity of vampires has been singularly responsible for numerous stage, film and TV interpretations, including the modern-day vampires of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series, and L.J. Smith's "The Vampire Diaries."

Cast and creative team for DRACULA are to be announced.

Director Paul Alexander is the author of the plays STRANGERS IN THE LAND OF CANAAN and EDGE, which he also directed. Developed at The Actors Studio, EDGE is the critically acclaimed one-woman show about Sylvia Plath, which opened Off-Broadway starring Angelica Torn, who received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination. The play has gone on to be performed more than 400 times in four countries. Mr. Alexander directed the 2004 British revival of Ariel Dorfman's play DEATH AND THE MAIDEN; NEW YORK STORIES, an evening of one-act plays written by Paul Manuel Kane; and "Brothers in Arms," a documentary film about John Kerry and Vietnam (First Run Features). He is at work on "Good Night, Dorothy Kilgallen," an original screenplay for Twentieth Century Fox.

DRACULA is produced by The Artists Theatre Group, Inc. Paul Alexander is Artistic Director. Alexander Morr is General Manager and Executive Producer.

The purpose of The Artists Theatre Group, Inc. is to produce new theatrical productions by both emerging and well-known artists or to produce classic or established pieces of theatre in a new and innovative way. The theatre will nurture the voice of the artist -- the actor, the writer, the director, the choreographer, the designer -- while at the same time attempting to develop an ongoing audience who wants to be challenged and moved by the theatre. The goal of The Artists Theatre Group, Inc. is to examine all aspects of the world in which we live -- the personal, the social, and the cultural -- through stimulating, inventive, thought-provoking pieces of theatre.

Performance schedule and ticket information for DRACULA are to be announced.

For more information about The Artists Group, Inc. visit www.theartiststheatregroup.org

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