With vampire mania at full-moon tilt — “Twilight,” “True Blood,” “The Vampire Diaries” — Broadway was bound to get a foot in that grave sooner or later.
And in fact there are plans to — I can’t resist — resurrect “Dracula,” that delightful old melodrama that was famously revived in 1977 with the great Frank Langella in the title role.
Two sets of producers are vying for the show. One wants to do it off-Broadway in the spring with a to-be-determined young actor in the lead and F. Murray Abraham as Van Hesling.
The other set of producers is pushing for a Broadway production starring — and this is inspired — Oscar winner Javier Bardem as the Count.
Bardem is, of course, the way to go: He’d do for “Dracula” what Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman did for “A Steady Rain” — which is to say he’d sell every damn seat in the house.
But he’s far from being signed just yet. Meanwhile, the producers with the more modest proposal are trying to get their production up and running by April.
“They want to ride the vampire craze right away,” says a source.
Their plan is to stage the show for about $500,000 at the Little Shubert and then clean up with a national tour in the fall.
“Dracula” was adapted from the Bram Stoker novel by Hamilton Deane and John Balderston in 1927.
Bela Lugosi played the title role on Broadway for almost a year before heading to Hollywood, where he re-created his performance on-screen in 1931.
That classic movie — as well as the remakes and sequels — overshadowed the play for decades.
But in 1975, a producer named John Wolp revived “Dracula” at a theater in Nantucket. His million-dollar idea was to have Cape Cod resident Edward Gorey design the sets and costumes.
Gorey’s witty and elegant production, all in black and white, moved to Broadway in 1977 and ran a little over two years.
The new production, whether or not it winds up on Broadway, will also use the famous Gorey designs. (Gorey died in 2000.)
“Dracula” is the only vampire show that’s had any success on Broadway.
Most of the others shriveled up faster than Christopher Lee in the sun.
“Dance of the Vampires” — a 2002 musical by Jim Steinman that was based on the movie “The Fearless Vampire Killers” — closed after a couple of months at a loss of $12 million.
Steinman, who wrote a good score, fought with the director and the producers and was eventually banned from the theater. The star, Michael Crawford, insisted on wearing costumes that were too tight, prompting cast members to call him “the fat rooster.”
Elton John‘s “Lestat,” based on Anne Rice‘s novels, was another dud. John hated the production and wanted to close it out of town. He was persuaded to let it come to Broadway, where it lost $10 million in 2005.
A third attempt to capitalize on the undead — “Dracula, the Musical” in 2007 — is remembered today by, well, nobody at all.
MY colleague Cindy Adams had a good line this week about how the frost between “Addams Family” stars Bebe Neuwirth and Nathan Lane could “power your refrigerator.”
Cindy’s right, as always: The two barely spoke to each other in Chicago. The show’s new director, Jerry Zaks, has brokered an uneasy truce, and the tension, says a source, “has eased up a little.”
Lane, by the way, will appear at the 92nd Street Y in May as part of the “Broadway Talks” series hosted by Jujamcyn Theaters chief Jordan Roth.
Here are a few questions Roth might put to him:
1. When did you know “The Addams Family” was in trouble?
2. Do you still speak to the original directors, Julian Crouch and Phelim McDermott, whom you muscled aside for Zaks?
3. Other than Vic Mizzy’s famous theme song, is there anything else you can hum from the show?
4. What’s it like to work with Bebe Neuwirth?
Should make for a fun night. I know I’ll be there!