THERE are two ways of doing the vampire myth. One is to make it
genuinely scarey -- dark, brooding, atmospheric, the central figure of
the evil Count himself mysterious and terrifying.
In the other the horror is high camp, always about to tumble into
comedy, from Hammer to Carry On. There is never any doubt which
tradition Christopher Lillicrap is drawing on for his rock musical,
directed by Warren Hooper, artistic director of the Oldham Coliseum,
from where it is touring. It is billed as the bawdiest show in Britain,
but it's the bawdiness of Benny Hill and the seaside postcard.
The kinky priest who provides a narrative thread, played with gusto by
Mark Carroll, has beneath his cassock a black, skin-tight bondage
ensemble with an implausible codpiece. ''Like it?'' he asks the
audience. ''You should try wearing it!'' Suddenly, we know where we are.
It's a summer panto.
The songs are soft ballads or obvious pastiches. But the eight
supporting cast are strong, their bits of comic business excellent,
particularly in the village inn beneath Castle Dracula, where mad,
stammering innkeeper Tony Whittle draws on his recent experience in Les
Miserables to steal the show.
By the time Bogdan Kominowski finally appears as Dracula we are not in
the least surprised to find an Elvis impersonator who has swapped his
white catsuit for a black one. The Bat is Back, as his sub-Meatloaf song
may tell us, but it's a close call as to whether he's remembered to put
his teeth in. Nevertheless, it's an engaging and harmless romp but one
to which the word derivative does not do justice.
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