Yet quoting from the classics only points up the lack of resemblance. This scene borrows much from well-known works such as "Giselle," and even has a touch of that ballet's mad scene when the Old Woman (Carmen Mathe) is moved to communicate something about the evil vampire through muddled mime. But even here, where Fredrick declares his love to Svetlana before a gathering of fellow peasants, the air feels heavy. Things pick up somewhat in the second act, set in a Transylvanian village against the formidably steep Carpathians (the evocatively rendered sets are by Thomas Boyd Judanna Lynn designed the rich, vibrant costumes). We begin with the somnolent air of the opening act, in the stone-walled catacombs, where despite the efforts of the willowy virgins in low-cut negligees, the most exciting choreography is for Dracula's sweeping purple cape. Foremost is the unbearably slow general pacing of the evening-length work and the decidedly flat choreography. The corps de ballet women play Dracula's harem of swoony brides.īut however straightforward the story-Dracula seeks young women's necks to drain he steals first Flora, then Svetlana faithful Fredrick and the priest steal her back-Stevenson's work runs into several problems. The ballet boils the plot down to its barest elements: You've got your vampire (Timothy O'Keefe), your initial victim (Virginia native Kathryn Warakomsky as Flora), your innocent young lovers (Lauren Anderson as Svetlana and Carlos Acosta as Fredrick) and your cross-wielding priest (Phillip Broomhead). Making the book into a ballet is certainly a plausible idea there are several leading characters, plenty of action, hearty doses of fear and violence as well as the big box-office bonus, sex. Stevenson based his three-act ballet loosely on the Bram Stoker novel (the ballet premiered in 1997, the year of the story's centenary). Last night, the Houston Ballet brought its remarkably unremarkable version of "Dracula," choreographed by company Artistic Director Ben Stevenson, to the Kennedy Center Opera House. The myth of the bloodsucking, maiden-hunting undead demon captured humanity's imagination centuries ago, leading to a veritable vampire industry over the years. And Russell himself did re-visit the vampire genre in 1988 with Lair of the White Worm.No matter the wooden stakes, crucifixes, braided garlic and hawthorn bushes that have been used against him-Dracula will never die. Russell's biographer, in the introduction to the published script, has since accused Francis Ford Coppola of plagiarism for his 90s version of the novel. But the success of John Badham's adaptation with Frank Langella ultimately killed the project. That it began its existence as a proposed ballet speaks to just how garish and over-the-top Russell intended the film to be. I’ve come up with a reason why Dracula would want to live forever." Apparently, however, much of the origin and debauchery featured in Russell's script was more autobiographical than faithful to the source. "If you lived for centuries," Russell wrote of the potential film, "would you go weak in the knees at a picture of a dull clerk’s fiancée and lock yourself away in a gloomy castle? I wouldn’t. Russell's take on the count was not unlike his portrait of Liszt. So it makes sense that he approached Bram Stoker's classic horror novel, with a cast that would include Oliver Reed in the title role, Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow, James Coburn, Peter O'Toole and Mick Fleetwood (one of these things is not like the other).
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