On Oct. 22, Texas Ballet Theater will be presenting a truly spooktacular event at Coyote Drive-In. For $60 per car, attendees will get to see a filmed montage of highlights from Ben Stevenson’s Dracula ballet, followed by a presentation of the 1992 film, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Rated R), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. To prepare for this fang-tastic evening, we’ve put together a quick overview of this pop culture icon.
It All Started With a Book
As all good things do. Author Bram Stoker’s Gothic horror novel Dracula was originally published in 1897. Spoilers? Count Dracula is a vampire. The story follows the bloodthirsty count, who wants to move from his castle in Transylvania to England to feed off fresh blood and spread his undead curse. Led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing, a mob attempts to thwart the vampire’s efforts in battle. Dracula has withstood the test of time, having established many of the vampire conventions that still live on today.
It Has Seen Countless Reinterpretations
Dracula has been adapted and reinterpreted since it was created. From films to TV to Stoker himself adapted the novel for the stage. Perhaps most famously, the silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) was in fact an unauthorized adaptation of the original novel – director F. W. Murnau made some changes to try to avoid copyright infringement. Despite the changes, Stoker’s heirs sued, and the court ordered all prints of Nosferatu to be destroyed. Thankfully, some prints were kept safe – Nosferatu is now regarded as a highly influential masterpiece.
Dracula Tourism: It’s a Thing
Due to the character’s long-standing popularity, a type of cultural tourism known as Dracula Tourism has turned many real-life sites in Transylvania and Romania at large into tourist hot spots. From Bran Castle in Bran to the Old Princely Court in Bucharest, fans across the globe have visited Dracula-related landmarks. As of late, these sites have been seeing far fewer visitors, but if Dracula has taught us nothing else, it’s that his story will live on and grow anew, again and again.
Visit the Olympus Willow Park blog for more on local events and lifestyle advice!