Put On Your Dancing Fangs, Dracula!

Welcome back, fearless mortals, to the lair of the Prince of Darkness himself!

When last we visited our stage, Dracula HIMSELF had appeared,  become captivated by the innocent loveliness of young Nadia Naive (much to the chagrin of Nick Nicely - a genuine young man of good breeding, with excellent taste in white suits) and instilled a sense of awe and impending gothic comedy on our audience (or - "lunch" as Drac calls them).

But he is not alone! All evil villains need cohorts, and Dracula is assisted/harassed/plagued (delete as applicable) by the stunning Wraith, a ravishing beauty - as mad as a bag of especially energetic frogs - who knows the Dark Prince all too well as she is his MOTHER....the elemental force that is WRAITH -

..and the enthusiastic genetic anomoly that is Genghis.

It's hard to maintain a mysterious persona when you have your mother and a hopped-up hunchback cramping your style, but Drac is one determined bad guy!

Really.....if it's not one thing, it's your mother.....

But when the going gets tough for the Vampire Lord, the solution is clear. Break out the hat and cane and get your dance on!

To the North Tower! Evil plotting in the laboratory! (If you can spot and name all of the scenery components then you will WIN a special PROP MASTER'S PRIZE......  some especially bruised ankles, a stubbed toe and a utility belt fully stocked with string, spray paint and thirty-six rolls of gaffer tape).

Hark! Do I hear the voice of angels? NO! It's the stunning Spectacularettes, rocking the Rhesus Negative in style with the Brides of Dracula!

NOTHING can distract Drac from his goal... He WILL succeed! With the 'help' from his mental mother and his humpty henchman, his plans are in motion.

What will become of the lovely Nadia? Will Nick save the girl he loves whilst maintaining his pristine heroic appearance? Will Dracula ever escape his embarrassing mother, or stop Genghis chewing his own feet in front of guests? In the immortal drum-beats that signify the end of EVERY episode of 'Eastenders'.......

DUM...DUM....DUM DUM DUMDUMDUMDUM...!

Join us tomorrow - our final performance -  to find the answers to these questions and enjoy the rest of the show with us! See you then!

Fang-Tastic Preparations!

IT'S FEBRUARY!

THIS is the big month - time to perfect pretty much EVERYTHING in time for our production of 'The Dracula Spectacula' later this month (see end of post for show details).

It's been an INCREDIBLY busy January: rehearsing, planning, advertising, rehearsing, costume making, rehearsing, costume fitting, promoting, rehearsing.... you know how it is! Not a GREAT deal of time for sleep! Costumes are coming along beautifully. Here are Wraith's costumes:

These look anazing when they're fitted on our wonderful actress. The Captain's costume's ready to go-

...and Drac? Well, I think we've done awesomely as he looks SPECTACULA in his cloak and hat!

We have final fittings any moment now so there'll be a whole host of pics here with complete costumes and our young actors and actresses looking awesome!

Just look at how hard they've been working:

Yep - they're incredible. Truly, every week these kids raise the bar for excellence. Every time it seems like they've performed their best, they find even more energy and pretty much blow our minds with their dedication, talent and their ability to find the very best within themselves and in each other too.  Our director, choreographer, musical director - in fact, ALL of our production and support team work so hard both at the rehearsals AND through the weeks as well to ensure that things run as smoothly as possible, but each and every one of us say the same thing ALL the time - that it's a complete delight to work with these kids. They give so much back that there's not a second when it's not utterly worthwhile and totally rewarding. I can't wait till the next rehearsal AND - THE SHOW!!! YAY!

Bookings are coming in, and we're running promotions locally so tickets will sell fast. Do you want to come see our show? It's going to be EPIC! Here are all the details you'll need to buy tickets for you and your family - remember, group bookings are welcome!

Show dates for 'The Dracula Spectacula' are

Wednesday 19th February - Saturday 22nd February

at

The Carlton Little Theatre in Birkenhead, Wirral,

nightly at 7:30pm.

Tickets prices :
£9.00 for adults
£7.00 for concessions

and bookings can be made by calling  0151 639 4189. Leave a message with your name and phone number to receive a return phone call. 

 

We look forward to seeing you! xxx

 

 

 

You SHALL Go To The Swamp!

It's a successful week for costumes, what with the hats and the fabric and I've now finished Wraith's black and red dress - at least to the point of final fitting. 

You may remember that this is what the base of the dress looked like at the time of purchase -

And now? We decided that we wanted Wraith to look floaty and spooky (as her name implies) but also a LITTLE like she's been dragged through the swamp backwards! A bit of flamboyant wildness in the hair and the frock will make the character really stand out on stage...

...you get the idea...

So BOY did I have some fun with all that gorgeous net I bought! Here's the result thus far, as modelled by Bettie, my dressform dummy!

Once it's fitted on our lovely Wraith, stitched and finished it'll look quite splendid, I'm sure. I'm not 100% sure about the flower - I think it should be something more spooky there at the waist to match whatever equally creepy hair adornments are added.

Anyway - I'll add updated pictures as I go along, and next week I should be able to show you the preview (pre-final fitting pinned-on-Bettie) version of Wraith's green swamp dress.  I'm really quite looking forward to that!

Don't forget to check back for updates here and on the other blog pages - more photos to come! I'd welcome your comments and input so please feel free to comment below and add this blog to your favourites.   See you soon! xxx