In one form or another, DRACULA has fascinated audiences for generations, as a novel, a play, and too many movies about the Count to count. With so many holiday traditions interrupted this year, The Theater Project is offering some comfort food on the Zoom platform: DRACULA, THE RADIO PLAY, as it might have been performed in the Lux Radio Theater in 1932. Eight actors and one extremely overworked sound technician – all that thunder and wolf howling! -- prepare for the big radio broadcast of the classic vampire story around the time of the original film’s depression era premiere. Audiences enjoy the thrills and chills of the vampire legend in the safety of their own homes, minus all the bloody visual effects of some of the recent film adaptations.

 “It’s a tongue in cheek treatment,” says Mark Spina, the show’s director. “We wanted to play with the styles of old-time movies, radio, and horror films, which were scary but not too scary to bring the kids.  They often included a lot of humor, which we’ve done here.” The show will be performed live on Zoom Thursday and Friday and streamed twice on Saturday for Halloween.

 DRACULA will be played by Kevin Sebastian, a familiar face to Theater Project audiences. Kevin graduated from Ramapo College and started his professional theatre career with New Jersey companies, The Theater Project included. Since then, he's performed at Lincoln Center, the American Globe, and at theaters around the country, including the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Arkansas Repertory. On-screen, Kevin has starred in numerous films, some appearing at the Cannes Film Festival and Tribeca VisionFest. He recently appeared on an episode of CBS's Blue Bloods and was featured in a few episodes of Saturday Night Live. “We are always happy when Kevin has time to come back to his roots,” says director Spina. “We warn our audiences to catch the rising stars here before you have to pay Broadway prices.”

The DRACULA cast includes, Will Budnikov, Gary Glor , Barbara Guidi, Kevin Sebastian and Anna Marie Sell, Scott Cagney, Jim Clancy, and Matt McCarthy.

In the beginning ...
​
​The Theater Project was founded in 1994. For over twenty-five years, under the leadership of Mark Spina, Artistic Director, we have provided well-rounded programs on a relatively small budget to audiences who relish and seek out stimulating, new theater. 

Providing a forum to express ideas that spark the imagination, and challenge the mind is what we strive to do. Encouraging our audiences to think beyond the status quo and elevate the discourses around important contemporary issues is germane to our purpose. 

Most importantly, our audience is willing to take a chance on a title or author they have never encountered before, knowing they will be engaged, challenged and entertained.