Dracula

The world's most cosmopolitan blood sucker strikes on Halloween - when else? - as the mother of all Hollywood horror movies, Dracula, flies into Miller Outdoor Theatre. Director Tod Browning transforms the beginning sequences in Transylvania into a wonder of German expressionism, with creepy Gothic sets and cinematography (by Charles Hall and Karl Freund respectively) and an editing style that evokes the nightmarish - dig those crazy armadillos in the crypt. Nobody could better portray the story than Hungarian Bela Lugosi, who gives the Count a damp sexiness, or Dwight Frye, who goes bonkers as Dracula's toady, fly-eating Renfield. And there's also stage veteran Edward Van Sloan, as stolid van Helsing. 7 p.m. Miller Outdoor Theatre, 6000 Hermann Park Drive. For information, call 281-373-3386 or visit www.milleroutdoortheatre.com. Free.
Sun., Oct. 31, 7 p.m., 2010
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D.L. Groover has contributed to countless reputable publications including the Houston Press since 2003. His theater criticism has earned him a national award from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN) as well as three statewide Lone Star Press Awards for the same. He's co-author of the irreverent appreciation, Skeletons from the Opera Closet (St. Martin's Press), now in its fourth printing.
Contact: D. L. Groover