Dracula. 25 Dracula Programmes and Playbills
Soft cover. Very Good. Item #44886
25 items, dated 1925-1977. Full list of items and descriptions and some additional background of various productions included. Playbills for the Theatre Royal (Nottingham, December 14, 1927), Little Theatre (London, April 8, 1927), the Fulton Theater (New York, 1927), Horace Liveright Presents the World Famous Vampire Thriller Dracula (New York, 1927), The Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh (December 19, 1928), The Lyceum Theatre London (1939), and the Martin Beck Theatre (New York, 1977) are among those included. The Martin Beck Theatre playbill (1977) is SIGNED by Frank Langella. All items are very good to about fine. The story of Dracula's initial appearance on stage began in 1899 when Hamilton Deane, having quit his job as a London bank clerk, made his stage debut with the Henry Irving Vacation Company. There he met Bram Stoker and read Dracula. He saw its dramatic potential at once, and concluded that someone should write a stage play based on it. As he moved through the British theatrical world, he approached numerous authors to write the play. Finally, during a period of sickness in 1923, Deane took the suggestion of one of his actresses and started to write the play himself. He became immersed in the new drama and finished it in four weeks. He obtained permission from Stoker's widow to use the material. The play debuted in Derby in June 1924. This production became immensely important in the development of the modern image of the vampire. Eventually, Florence Stoker accepted an offer from New York producer Horace Liveright to stage a version of Deane's play on Broadway. Liveright engaged John L. Balderston to do a complete rewrite. The Balderston production was tried out in New Haven, Connecticut, and then opened formally on at the Fulton Theater in New York City on October 5, 1927. The play ran for 241 performances. It reopened in Los Angeles and San Francisco with Bela Lugosi and Bernard Jukes joining the West Coast cast. The success of the American play led directly to the purchase of its rights by Universal and its translation tot he motion picture screen. Dracula was produced by different companies on a number of occasions through the years, but it experienced a major revival in 1977, opening on Broadway October 20, 50 years after its debut. Frank Langella assumed the title role. Equally heralded were the scenery and costumes by Edward Gorey. The new production received two Tony Awards for best production of a revival and best costume design. It then served as a basis for the 1979 film starring Langella and directed by John Badham.
Price (CAD): $2,600.00