{"id":97134,"date":"2025-05-13T04:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T04:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/97134\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T04:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T04:35:09","slug":"cynthia-erivo-to-play-23-roles-in-dracula-one-woman-show-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/97134\/","title":{"rendered":"Cynthia Erivo To Play 23 Roles In \u2018Dracula\u2019 One-Woman Show In London"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE<\/strong>:\u00a0Wicked\u2019s\u00a0Cynthia Erivo<\/a> will play Bram Stoker\u2019s demonic vampire and 22 other roles in Dracula<\/a>, a one-woman theatrical extravaganza set for next year in London\u2019s West End, from the creatives and producers behind Sarah Snook\u2019s Broadway and London triumph\u00a0The Picture of Dorian Gray.<\/p>\n

\n\tStoker\u2019s gothic shocker explores the dark corners of Victorian-age sexuality, fear and desire. The tale, first published in 1897, is both alluring and horrifying, full of terrifying and dreamlike imagery.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDracula, adapted and directed by Kip Williams, marks Oscar-nominated Erivo\u2019s return to the stage for the first time since her Tony\u00a0Award-winning role as Celie in The Color Purple, which she starred in for two years in New York before exiting in January 2017. The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art-trained artist played Celie in London, and honed her craft in several plays and musicals in the UK before relocating to the U.S.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Sydney Theatre Company production of\u00a0Dracula\u00a0will play the Cameron Mackintosh-owned Noel Coward Theatre for a limited 16-week engagement February 4-May 31, 2026.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy Michael Cassel\/Adam Kenwright<\/p>\n

\n\tMichael Cassel, producer and CEO of\u00a0Australia\u2019s Michael Cassel Group, and Adam Kenwright, a top London and Broadway producer and ace international marketing guru, reunite to produce the STC production as they did with Dorian Gray,\u00a0which they took to London\u2019s Theatre Royal Haymarket and the Music Box, where it runs until June 29.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tConfirming the Dracula news exclusively to Deadline, Cassel says \u201cthe stars have aligned and we\u2019ve got an amazing actor in Cynthia to join us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe initial approach to Erivo was made nine months ago in the middle of the hectic global promotional tour for\u00a0Wicked<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tBuoyed by Erivo\u2019s interest, Cassel and Kenwright moved with appropriate supernatural speed to hook up the London-born star with Williams. He showed her archival video of the STC production of\u00a0Dracula\u00a0that played Sydney\u2019s Roslyn Packer Theatre for four weeks last year with Aussie actress Zehra Newman playing the nocturnal fiend.<\/p>\n

\n\tWilliams spoke with Erivo about what he terms\u00a0\u201ccine-theatre,\u201d where actors interact with live and pre-recorded video feeds.<\/p>\n

\n\tLater, Erivo saw Snook\u2019s performance, now Tony-nominated<\/a>, at the Music Box and visited with her afterwards. Obviously, that show\u2019s vastly different from\u00a0Dracula, but it enabled Erivo to envision how Williams stages his interactive work with camera operators moving with balletic grace across the stage as an artist performs multiple roles.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tSarah Snook in \u2018The Picture of Dorian Gray\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarc Brenner<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cShe has really spent most of her time with Kip just talking through the inspiration and the dramaturgy of it all. For them to connect in that way has been important for them because this is a show that they go and create together,\u201d Cassel explains during a call from Melbourne, where he\u2019s been overseeing a production of the musical\u00a0Beetlejuice at the city\u2019s Regent Theatre.<\/p>\n

\n\tCassel points out that the West End\u2019s\u00a0Dracula\u00a0will not \u201cbe a blueprint\u201d of the Sydney version. \u201cI think what\u2019s so exciting, I think for her, and for us, while we know what the story is, they get to go and create this role in the rehearsal room\u00a0in London together, and that was very appealing to Cynthia to put her own interpretation on the role and explore that with Kip.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe list of 23 characters that Erivo will perform include the fanged Count Dracula, who sustains life by sucking the blood of the living; Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified solicitor who travels to to meet his new client who resides in a castle nestled in the remote Transylvanian mountains; Mina Murray, Harker\u2019s fianc\u00e9e; her friend Lucy Westenra; and Professor Van Hesling, vampire hunter and expert in occult lore.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo pull off all those and other roles \u201cyou need great actors,\u201d says Cassel, \u201cand we just couldn\u2019t be happier with Cynthia leading the charge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWicked\u00a0fans will no doubt be elated to learn that Erivo will sing in\u00a0Dracula, but just one song.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe original piece in the show is composed by Clemence Williams, who, as it happens, has been nominated for a Tony Award for\u00a0sound design for\u00a0The Picture of Dorian Gray.<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: Broadway Review: Sarah Snook Goes Fantastically Wilde In \u2018The Picture Of Dorian Gray\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tCassel was quick to state that Dracula\u2018s \u201ca play not a musical, but there is an original song in it\u201d that will be performed towards the end of the 1 hour, 50 minute show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWicked: For Good, part two of director Jon M. Chu\u2019s screen adaptation of the Broadway hit musical, opens November 21, while rehearsals for\u00a0Dracula\u00a0start late December.<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, with\u00a0Dracula\u00a0performances\u00a0beginning February 4, Cassel and Kenwright are cognizant of the fact that Erivo may need to skip off to one or two awards shows and are making provision in the show\u2019s performance schedule should that eventually arise.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re taking that into account,\u201d Cassel adds, \u201cputting all those pieces in place so that Cynthia can be a part of everything else that\u2019s going on in her life \u2014 we\u2019ll build that in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAgain why we\u2019re just so thrilled Cynthia has agreed to choose this\u00a0as a project\u00a0she really wants to be a part of. When you look at Sarah as well, these actors have these amazing experiences on film or television, but the\u00a0draw to the theatre, and indeed to do something\u00a0that is so challenging, I think it\u2019s testament to the caliber as actors that these individuals are. It\u2019s challenging\u00a0what they\u2019re being asked to do. It\u2019s a world apart from what Cynthia\u2019s been doing recently, and she can go and find that character and be challenged night in, night out as all good actors are in front of a live audience and I think that\u2019s really thrilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"L-R:<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t(L-R) Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in \u2018Wicked: Part One\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUniversal Pictures<\/p>\n

\n\tErivo has several other projects ahead of Dracula. They include hosting the 78th Tony Awards<\/a> at Radio City Music Hall on June 8. Following that, she will star alongside Teo Yoo (Past Lives) and Isabel May (1883) in director Takashi Doscher\u2019s\u00a0action thriller Karoshi<\/a> for 87Eleven and Lionsgate.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are other movies in Erivo\u2019s diary, plus taking on the role of Jesus<\/a> in a concert version of the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl in early August.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Stoker published his epistolary novel, critics saw it as a reflection of aspects of Victoria-era society. Cassel nods while observing\u00a0that Williams in his adaptation delves \u201cmuch more much into the metaphorical power of Dracula and reorienting the psychological battle between fear, desire and denial, and I think that\u2019s much more resonant now, that\u2019s my view.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s got a great contemporary lens on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCassel and Kenwright refuse to talk about further life for\u00a0Dracula\u00a0with Erivo after the Noel Coward Theatre. Broadway has not been mentioned, yet.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAll of our focus is on the West End and to make that a success and welcome Cynthia into the world of Dracula,\u201d says Cassel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE:\u00a0Wicked\u2019s\u00a0Cynthia Erivo will play Bram Stoker\u2019s demonic vampire and 22 other roles in Dracula, a one-woman theatrical extravaganza…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[45327,748,45328,45329,393,4884,257,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-97134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-breaking-baz","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-cynthia-erivo","11":"tag-dracula","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-london","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114498669030084611","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}