Things that go ‘clunk’ in the night
When I was in high school, a freshman, I played Dr. Van Helsing in Richland Center High School’s production of “Dracula.” We couldn’t afford the license fee for the more traditional version, so we ended up performing a knock-off that included things like Dr. Seward’s wacky sister (played by the wonderful Val Schutzkus) that didn’t appear in the novel or any other version. Still, we had fun. I wore a 30s-style suit we bought at the thrift store for $5, and munched on an empty pipe to give me that professorial look.
None of us were even decent actors (although Val was hilarious). But Greg Kidd’s rendition of Jonathan Harker will haunt my dreams forever. When I was trying to come up with a Halloween tagline to go with the orange graphics, I thought of him turning to his beloved and bellowing “THERE ARE NO WOLVES HERE, MINA DARLING!” like he was ordering at Jack-in-the-Box through a malfunctioning speaker.
That was my last high school theater production.
Unbelievable update: After I wrote this post, I decided to see if my old high school had a web site. And in doing a simple search on Google, I found that they did the same play again this year. With the same director, the inimitable Ken Beatty. The more things change…
I had Paul do his best impression of Greg Kidd, without mentioning where I had initially seen it. His “COME INTO THE ROOM, MINA DARLING!” was a sheer joy to hear. I do hope he checked out the site, especialy since you mentioned Val.
Hey ,that’s my sister Val you’re talking about . She was brilliant!! Adam wasn’t so bad either.