Dracula, Baby

When the chorus opens the show singing, "Transylvania after dark. Rather grim and rather ghoulish! Walking by ourself is foolish" we know that we're in for an entertaining if not fiendish evening. When Count Dracula sets out for England, intending to make the beautiful young Lucy his 93rd bride, Lucy's future looks pretty anemic. Her principal defenders are Arthur, her milksop fiancé who is so proper that Lucy sometimes worries about him, and Van Helsing, the clumsy professor who is out to thwart the evil vampire. An unexpected ally is the nurse who works in the sanitarium run by Dr. Seward, Lucy's guardian. The nurse, a tough and very good-looking chick, kind of digs that crazy Count Dracula. Count Dracula is a great exponent of the wisdom of evil, advising that, "The man who is pure is generally poor and frightfully sad—that's why it's good to be bad." If you're looking for a fun musical that is easy to do, has lovely, singable music, clever lyrics and lots of modern box-office appeal, this should be just your thing.