REVIEW
Art Box Productions' debut of Dracula is a perfect way to begin the fall season. All of the elements fell into place under Jason Hignite's direction. Definitely check this show out if you love Halloween or scary movies. The set design by Patrick Greyhouse was fantastic with a lot of great touches and really set the tone for the show, I'm sure the company got most of what they needed from the haunted house, and it all fit perfectly. Jim LaMonte's lighting was a-mazing (as always) the sharp lighting in the scenes involving Dracula really cast some great shadows on to the walls, adding to the whole effect. Costumes by Ashley Jackson and Kate Smiley were very cohesive and beautiful to look at. You could tell they paid attention to every detail and had a very rich nature to them. The cast was a great all-around ensemble, and the various accents were consistent throughout the whole show (something that always makes me happy!) Brad Potts did a nice job of portraying the tough and knowing Van Helsing, Terrence Dillinger portrayed Doctor Seward with a caring manner for his love Lucy, played by Mindy Steele who developed her character from innocent girl to vixen vampire. I was very terrified of Jeff Sanford as Renfield, he brought some dark comedic moments to the show, and I absolutely loved his portrayal of a tormented soul brought to animalistic, manic behavior, making me also pity his character. Mark Meyer as Harker and Allison Reddick as Mina both gave very powerful and haunting performances as they too, transitioned from madness and back. Joshua Ramsey as Dracula did a wonderful job, very eerie, and certainly commanded the stage, and definitely made me squirm in my seat. My only complaint about the show was the lack of transitional music in the first half. Some of the scene changes ran a bit long. It would help the flow to just continue the music from the previous scene, although the pacing by the actors was very nice. Oh and I am not sure who they had going around during the preshow, but I *LOVED* him. He did a nice job entertaining the crowd and interacting with the audience, his jokes did get a little dirty at times (which basically meant I had to hide my laughter because I was with my parents). But I thought he was absolutely hilarious.
Nicole - indianaauditions.com
