On November 2, 2003 I attended the performance Dracula: A Musical Nightmare at The Dougherty Arts Center in Austin. I am usually not the type of person that would enjoy sitting through a musical performance, yet there have been a few I enjoyed so I thought I could see it before making any assumptions about it. Unfortunately, I could not get myself to enjoy the theatrical performance. When I arrived at the theater I had expected the auditorium to be much larger than how it was in reality. The stage and audience were only one to two feet away from each other; so I felt like the characters were too close to form a "willing suspension of disbelief." When my favorite part of the play (Intermission) finally came, it was the best fifteen minutes I had all afternoon long. Also, during the first act or two the stage had no scenery on it. This also made the "willing suspension of disbelief" difficult to get in my mind. I was unsure of the setting at the start of play because there was no scenery of trees, buildings, a home, or anything. The reviews on the musical were very pleasing, so I think that it was mainly the proximity of everything that made the performance a musical nightmare to me.
Some parts of the script in the play I also found interesting. In every other play I have gone to a character is introduced through people using the persons name while speaking to them. Yet during this musical, as each character made their debut showing on stage, the Master of Ceremonies (Chauncey Deville) would introduce the character name and real name to the audience. This made the play seem even less believable as an on going story line. I didn't like this because the play would begin to keep my attention for a while and then there would be a short pause and an introduction of a character walking on stage before continuing with the performance. Again, my "willing suspension of disbelief" was not kept.