A seasonal gothic thriller is on the boards at the Centenary Stage Company this month, in the Lackland Performing Arts Center in Hackettstown. With a cast of 16 veteran and emerging professional talents, the production is one of the most ambitious of those undertaken by the professional company to date in the large, state-of-the-art Sitnik Theatre.

Dracula (running Oct 12-28)  is directed by guest artist Charles Morey (Artistic Director of Utah’s Pioneer Theatre Company from 1984-2012),  who also adapted the play from Stoker’s original novel, which has never been out of print since it first was written in 1897.

“I first read Dracula when I was thirteen or fourteen,” says Morey.  “It scared the pants off me. But, of course, we all know Dracula is nothing more than a good, old fashioned, spooky yarn for an autumn evening. There is no such thing as the vampire. It’s all a lot of superstitious nonsense!  Remind yourself of that later tonight as you walk home under a mist shrouded moon, the wind sighs through the lightning blasted trunk of an ancient, gnarled elm, an unseen animal howls in the distance and the leaves begin to rustle at your feet.”

Dracula performances are Fridays & Saturdays @ 8 p.m., Wednesdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. and Thursdays @ 7:30. Every Thursday night is “family night” with two-for-one tickets available at the door beginning at 6 on the night of performance.  A special Student RUSH Ticket is available on Friday nights, admitting all students, from any school for only $5.00 thirty minutes prior to curtain.   Ticket prices range from $25 for matinees to $29.50 for Saturday evening performances.   Tickets for Dracula can be purchased online at www.centenarystageco.org, or through the CSC Box Office at 908-979-0900.

The production of Dracula is sponsored by Fulton Bank of NJ, along with Season Sponsors House of the Good Shepherd and Heath Village Retirement Community.

The entire 2018-2019 season of performing arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Sandra Kupperman Foundation, and CSC corporate sponsors, including Premier Season Sponsor Heath Village Retirement Community, The House of the Good Shepherd, Silver Sponsors Hackettstown Medical Center, Home Instead Senior Care (Washington), Fulton Bank of New Jersey, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.

PHOTO, L-R  Christopher Young  (Jonathan Harker), Emaline Williams (Mina Harker), Marc LeVasseur (Count Dracula), Gary Littman (Renfield), Nick Bettens (Maxwell), Carl Wallnau (Van Helsing).