INTERVIEW: This Dracula will make you laugh before he sucks your blood
Photo: James Daly stars in the off-Broadway premiere of Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors. He previously performed the title role at the Segal Centre in Montreal. Photo courtesy of Emelia Hellman / Provided by KSA PR with permission.
The new play Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors is currently in previews at New World Stages in Midtown Manhattan, and as the title suggests, this original take on the classic Bram Stoker tale is a hoot. Written by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen, with Greenberg pulling double duty as director, this interpretation of the horror story finds Dracula (James Daly) as a pansexual GenZ vampire having an existential crisis.
Daly, an accomplished theater actor who has performed in everything from Damn Yankees to Grand Hotel, has been with the show since 2022, when it premiered at the Segal Centre in Montreal. His vampiric take on the character was so spot on that Greenberg and company invited him down to New York City to take a bite out of the off-Broadway premiere.
“It’s the role of a lifetime,” Daly said in a recent phone interview. “I did the show actually in Montreal last October of 2022, and it was at the Segal Centre in Montreal. And I’ve worked at the Segal Centre maybe three times before, so I have a great relationship with them. I love working in Montreal, so when this show was coming there, they offered me the role of Dracula. And I didn’t know the show or Gordon at the time, so we had a Zoom meeting together with myself and Lisa Rubin, the artistic director of the Segal Centre in Montreal, and Gordon, of course, the writer-director of our show. The three of us sat down, and he explained what the project was and what the role was.”
Daly said he was immediately interested in this comedic interpretation of the classic horror story, so he signed on the dotted line for the Montreal run. While he was acting in Canada during last year’s Halloween season, Greenberg told the actor that the goal was to open Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors in Midtown Manhattan, and Daly was on board for that production as well.
“It’s always been my dream to move to New York and be an actor in New York, so we finally were able to make it happen, which was really exciting for me because it’s my first time moving down here and working here,” he said. “It’s very over-the-top hilarious. I think a lot of the Dracula iterations are really melodramatic and moody, and this is that. But then it takes that trope and sort of sends it up and makes fun of it, but also reveals a big heart underneath it as well. It’s a really fast-paced, silly, sexy comedy, but with a lot of heart as well.”
Daly wasn’t thinking the New York production would be too difficult, given that he had performed the title role last year in Canada, but he has actually found the transition a welcome challenge. The show remains largely the same, but the actor is trying to go deeper with his portrayal.
“Our production here in New York is largely the same as it was in Montreal in terms of the staging and the pace and the style, and so I guess I thought that it would be really easy for me to pick it up and do the same thing,” Daly said. “But it’s hard. … Gordon has been pushing me to go deeper into the truth and the heart of Dracula and what he really wants and making him a real person as well, not just being a silly comedic slapstick performance, but something that’s driven. Even though he’s not a real person, [I try to make] someone that has human needs and wants so it will connect with audiences, not just make them laugh.”
One of the big perks of moving to New York for this show has been Daly’s opportunity to act alongside some veteran New Yorkers who are frequently seen on Broadway and off-Broadway stages. Along with Daly, the cast features Jordan Boatman, Ellen Harvey, Arnie Burton and Andrew Keenan-Bolger.
“It’s been kind of a cherry on top honestly,” he said. “I was here in February. The production team flew me down to help do callbacks, so I was able to be in the room reading with everybody as they came in to do their final callbacks. When I saw Andrew Keenan-Bolger’s name on the callback list, I was a little bit starstruck because I’ve seen him in shows in New York. I’m such a theater lover as well as a theater actor, so his was a name I recognized. I was really excited. Oh my God, I know him from Newsies and stuff. He’s going to be coming in to audition with me in the room. It was really cool to meet him, and then when I heard he was cast, I was like, wow, we’re going to be working together. … It’s really cool to feel like I’m working with some of these top-level New York theater actors, but also I’m on their level as well. We’re all in the same boat together. It’s really affirming for me and feels like I’m making those dreams come true. I’ve always wanted to move here and work with people like this, and now I finally am. It’s really exciting to me.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors, starring James Daly, is now playing New World Stages in Midtown Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
