Review by Vinny Ferrelli

There is frequently a very thin line between horror and comedy, both in film and on the stage. Most classic horror films contain a comic character to ease the dramatic burden a bit and provide a respite from a continuous emotional involvement by the audience. On the stage particularly, an arch-villain or antihero is apt to be endowed by the author with a sharp wit, or cynical sense of humor as a backdrop to the darker areas of his personality and the contrast tends to be a very beneficial aid to the flow and development of the plot. A prime example is the title rold in Count Dracula, POWPAC's Halloween offering. Ranking amont the most complex roes penned for a horror story, the Count must have the correct portions of evil, suave, sex appeal, cunning, wit, arrogarnce, and humor. Fortunately for POWPAC, Andrew Rowe fulfilled all the above requirements with some to spare. His hypnotic baritone voice held the house in trance while he filled the stage with an ominous bat-like presence which would compete with Christopher Lee. Rowe's versatility as a comic and master piano player in "el grande de coca-cola" and now the demonic Dracula leaves one anxious to see more of him on the boards. Beth Kraft was delicious as the sibilant Sybil Seward while Jeffrey Thurman was a precise, if not underplayed Arthur Seward. His performance tended to stay on one level and I know from previous work that he is capable of multiple levels of energy; less intensity would have enhanced his character. Cassandra Hawkins was a chilling Mina, the frail aristocrat turned vampire. She was able to make the transition between human and vampire with an agility rarely seen outside professional theatre. Barbara Steele has nothing on you, Cass! Daniel Grossbard, as Van Helsing, was everything Peter Cushing was not. In the past, I've compared the failure to live up to the aura created by a particular actor in a role as a production pitfall. In this case, it was a credit to the abilities of this fine performer to create a "country doctor" type Van Helsing as crisp as fresh celery.