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giuliettacapuleti · 3 months

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An obnoxiously long summary of Frank Wildhorn’s Carmen absolutely no one asked for:

The musical was originally put on in the Czech Republic in 2008, and actually became so popular it broke box office records for the theater. Despite this, I’d never heard of it until I read that the Budapesti Operettszínház is putting it on soon. It’s been put on in Japan, Korea, and Austria, and seems to have been popular in Korea but not Austria (not sure about Japan). There’s an English demo but I can only find 2 songs from it.

If you are familiar with Frank Wildhorn’s work you’ll know he likes to play fast and loose with accuracy regarding the source material. The plot is a huge departure from the opera, which is fine with me but probably not so much if you like it.

The musical is allegedly actually an adaptation of the novella that the opera is based on, but it doesn’t really resemble that either. The musical partly takes place in a circus and this makes Carmen’s posse a group of performers instead of smugglers which to me is neat but again, not for everyone.

Overall the plot is. Well. Something. It’s got some trademark Wildhorn-ness going on that if you’re familiar with Dracula and Jekyll and Hyde you will likely be annoyed with but not surprised by.

I am not 100% sure on the time period in which the musical takes place, it appears to be the 50s but there are a few hints that it’s more current than that, so I’m not sure. It’s possible it’s deliberately meant to be vague.

On to the Summary (FULL DISCLOSURE IT’S 100% NOT SERIOUS AND REALLY LONG SORRY)

The musical starts off with a flamenco dance off between a random woman and the sexy and confident Carmen, who more or less steals the random woman’s dancing partner. The random woman isn’t having it. Suddenly a bunch of random people with torches burst in and start fighting with soldiers (???). Then they stop fighting and just chill because I guess the dance-off is more important. Carmen and Random Woman continue their dance-off, which culminates in Carmen either waving a knife at or actually slashing Random Woman across the face.

A woman (possibly fate itself) sings about fate. It wouldn’t be a European musical without someone singing about fate.

Meanwhile, the citizens of a picturesque town in Spain (?) are celebrating the engagement of police officer José Rivera and Caterina, the mayor’s daughter. The mayor gives a speech about how moral and Totally Not Secretly Corrupt the town is. Two seconds later, the mayor and José’s superior, Captain Zuniga, laugh about how the currently moral José will soon become as corrupt as they are (side note: I think they are meant to be Spanish but the officers’ uniforms are giving Carabinieri). We immediately know the mayor is shady because he wears sunglasses and a white suit, has a pinky ring and smokes a cigar. That and the fact he sings about how corrupt and greedy he is.

José and Caterina sing a sweet little duet about how much they love each other despite only knowing each other for a few months. We all know love duets mean impending disaster in European musicals so stay frosty.

Caterina leaves and Carmen and her friends appear in the mist, talking about how they want something fun to do in the boring, vanilla town. Carmen notices José standing there and kisses him after giving him a rose. José has no object permanence I guess, and forgets Caterina, immediately running after Carmen. Prime bf material right there.

The next day, the circus performers are hanging out at the Carnival. Carmen sings a song about how desirable she is, which would sound vain except for the fact that literally everyone wants her, so she’s just telling us how it is. José appears with the rose Carmen gave him. José’s bff and fellow officer Inmar, aka the only sane person in this entire musical, appears and tells José to fucking chill. Zuniga, AKA Officer Creep, suggests they arrest Carmen for no reason so they can take her in for “questioning”. A bunch of men try to assault Carmen, so she pulls a knife on one of them. Zuniga uses this as an excuse to have her arrested, and orders José to take her to the station. Carmen sings a song about how no one owns her (yas queen), and José tells her he has morals and is totally not weak and definitely won’t cheat on his fiancée no really he’s cereal. José is Madonna-Whore Complexing on main and calls her a devil, comparing her to the angelic Caterina. His crisis of conscience lasts LITERALLY two seconds, and he and Carmen start making out, only to be interrupted by Zuniga, who tells José off and gives Carmen the ultimatum of sleeping with him or being put in jail. Carmen rejects him and runs off, while he calls her a whore and chases after her (peak rejected guy on bumble behavior).

Meanwhile, Caterina is in her room worried about José. Her aunt calms her down by singing her a song about how she should totally have sex with José and recounts her own romantic exploits. Caterina is reluctant because she wants to honor her mother’s memory and not disappoint her dad (ew). Later, José comes through her window and basically tries to pressure her into sex because Carmen made him horny (what a guy!). Caterina sings about her conflicting feelings and almost has sex with him, but they are interrupted by Caterina’s sketchy dad knocking on the door. He exhibits creepy behavior and then leaves.

The next day, girls from the town are at a beach, talking shit about Carmen and her crew. Enter Carmen and her crew. The townsgirls make fun of them, but Carmen is unbothered. One of the non-hostile girls asks Carmen to teach them how to be sexy, and we get a song about that. Admittedly, the song starts out about how to be sexy to men, but it turns into a nice bonding moment and ultimately is about being confident so I’ll allow it. Unfortunately, Inmar and José ruin everything and tell Carmen and her posse return to their camp. One of Carmen’s friends says what everyone’s thinking and wonders wtf Carmen sees in José. Carmen and José start grinding right in front of Inmar’s salad, and Inmar is understandably pissed at him for remaining with her. José reminds Carmen he Totally Won’t Cheat on Caterina No Really. Carmen hints that she is unavailable too and is dating (?) a really scary guy who apparently even scares police (more on this later). Then it’s Real Sadgirl Hours for her and she sings about how everyone is ultimately alone and she really wants José for reasons that are still a mystery to literally everyone.

Back at the police station, Inmar calls José out and berates him for wanting to cheat on Caterina. José doesn’t listen and is all ‘it’s so hard being me uwu’. Despite his friend being a fucking idiot, Inmar is a real one and warns him about Zuniga anyway. They sing a song about how José should/should not sleep with Carmen. Listening to José talking about how it’s soooo hard to not cheat on Caterina is like. That’s so sad world’s smallest violin Alexa play despacito etc. Then the mayor and Zuniga join in and sing about how they also want Carmen. Lana Del Rey was right the boys the girls they all want Carmen.

That night, the circus puts on a free show for the town. Everyone goes, including the now Carmen-ified townswomen. Inmar gets a cute moment with one of the girls (fuck everyone else I respect YOU).

Carmen and her girlies appear and perform a very catchy song about living in the moment and having no regrets. The townspeople are vibing but the party is crashed by Carmen’s Very Scary bf (?) Garcia, who owns the circus but has been off somewhere (it’s never explained where but whatever). We know he’s Bad News because he wears a black leather coat, a chain necklace + black boots, has an eye scar, an excessive amount of black eyeliner, a chest AND neck AND arm tattoo, and throws knives around.

Ok, on one hand, the interesting thing about the opera (though not the novella) is that José starts out being a good person but descends into evil and this guy being obviously Bad from the beginning removes that theme, but on the other more important hand, I eat this stuff right up and I’m not mad about it. Dolhai Attila and Homonnay Zsolt are playing him in the upcoming Hungarian version but you know who would have been PERFECT?? Szabó P. Szilveszter that man would make this dude PATHETIC.

Anywhoo, Garcia is pissed that Carmen put on a show for free and apparently he’s another guy who thinks he owns her. Obviously he missed the multiple ‘I only belong to myself’ songs she sang whilst he was off doing fuck all. Where is Elisabeth singing Ich Guhör Nur Mir when you need her? José arrests Carmen again to protect her from both Zuniga and Garcia, who apparently gets a pass for throwing knives at people in front of the entire police force but whatever he’s a knife thrower so maybe they figure that’s just what he does.

Caterina is upset that José is taking Carmen in, but he explains that she’s not safe with the increasingly thirsty Zuniga. Which, ok, is true, but we all know damn well that’s not the main reason.

Carmen and José are about to have sex but are interrupted by Zuniga AGAIN. He pulls a gun on Carmen (or José I literally cannot tell) and demands Carmen have sex with him. But here comes Garcia with a steel chair Garcia has ALSO been following them and attacks Zuniga. Carmen and José run away while Garcia fights Zuniga. I NEED to mention that Garcia is wearing a vest under his jacket but is otherwise shirtless. What does the vest even DO. What is the point of a vest if you are shirtless under it like ugufhddhgddhdh

There’s a neat little fight scene until Garcia remembers he’s a knife thrower and literally has knives in his pants, and stabs Zuniga before shooting him with his own gun. He then frames José for the murder.

Act I ends with the entire town singing about fate and fateful decisions (did you notice they are themes??) while Carmen and José are finally about to have sex without Zuniga interrupting them (RIP asshole).

The police force is not only corrupt, but corrupt and stupid, so they don’t dust for fingerprints on the gun used to kill Zuniga or anything and go straight to assuming José killed him. The mayor is Big Mad, not because José killed Zuniga (lol) but because he cheated on his daughter, who is worried about losing José (girl why, just let the trash take itself out). Garcia is Big Mad and jealous, and gets a line about how he is ‘the fear they can’t outrun’ just in case you weren’t already 100% certain this is the Big Bad. Like. Just in case. In case you didn’t get it.

Now we have a nifty circus scene full of circus performers (I just KNOW Opi will have a field day). Hopefully later productions do without the zoo animals :(

Carmen confronts Garcia over framing José for murder, and he responds by accusing her of having real feelings for José before singing a song about how he owns her and she can never escape him (tbh just typical boss/employee behavior). Despite the (obviously) disturbing lyrics it’s kind of a bop. I do think it’s dependent on the singer - the Czech actor has a rough and unpolished voice that’s perfect for the song, but I can see it sounding weird when sung by guys with a different vocal type. You know whose voice would be perfect for his songs?? Szabó P. Szilv*gunshot*

Despite the fact he spends the entire song flinging her around the stage, the thing that really upsets her is him saying José will never go for her when he has Caterina. I understand the bar for men is in the Grand Canyon but THAT is what upsets her??? The thought of losing the most Mid man on the planet?? Not the increasingly possessive and violent guy following her around ??? Side note: there is a giant circus poster on stage of Garcia looking sinister while holding knives just in case you somehow still didn’t get that he’s bad news by this point. If you didn’t - no worries! You will be reminded many more times before the musical is over.

Garcia warns Carmen that if the police don’t find José he will kill him and everything he loves.

Meanwhile, the police have been given orders to arrest José or kill him. I’m not all that familiar with police procedure but it seems weird they would kill someone outright just because the mayor tells them to. Why is the mayor even giving orders to the police force ?? I understand he is corrupt but ?? ???? ?????

Inmar, who again, is the only Real One, warns his bff and tells him to get out of town. José actually takes some accountability for his actions but immediately ruins it by forcing poor Inmar to sit through a song about how he is stupid and is not going to leave Carmen. Inmar, for reasons I cannot possibly fathom, still cares about José, and promises he will watch for Garcia at the circus. He leaves but José is not done with his song and forces us to listen to his whining for a few more minutes.

Carmen urges José to run away with her, but he refuses because he wants to clear his name. This man is so stupid !!! He is SO stupid !!! He cannot get worse at this point !!!

Carmen warns him about Garcia wanting to hurt everyone José cared about. It takes José a few seconds, but he eventually realizes that means Caterina.

Apparently he can get worse at this point, and urges Carmen to warn Caterina. THIS IS MAYBE ONE OF THE DUMBEST PLOT POINTS IN ANY SHOW EVER ASIDE FROM WHATEVER WAS HAPPENING IN LOVE NEVER DIES. Alas, it is needed because Carmen and Cat need a showdown.

And showdown they do have - in a church no less! They start off antagonistic (and Caterina finally has a Bad Bitch moment!!) but then bond over how stupid they are for falling in love. They are soo right I could not agree with this song more. Girlies you are stupid. They have a cute little moment where they hold hands and you start to hope they will run away together and leave José behind but NOPE. Caterina has the potential to be such an interesting character but noooooo we had to go the ‘personality amounts to loving a man’ route. We had hints Caterina could be an interesting character !!! She mentions feeling desire but feeling guilty about it because of religion and feeling like she is disappointing her family !! More of that !!! More deconstruction of the Good Girl trope instead of playing it straight !!! They could have went with her realizing she didn’t really love José and just was doing what was expected of her but spoiler alert this does not happen !!!

Caterina, who now realizes Carmen actually loves José, suggests to her that they work together to protect José and expose Garcia as the murderer. WHY ARE YOU PUTTING YOUR LIVES IN DANGER TO PROTECT THIS SKRUNKLY ASS MAN MAMMA MIA HE IS NOT WORTH IT. Carmen believes it’s too dangerous for her, but Caterina says she is tired of playing it safe. Caterina’s aunt pops out of nowhere and tells them it’s totally a good plan. They decide to draw out Garcia at the circus (HE OWNS THE CIRCUS AND IS A KNIFE THROWER WHERE TF ELSE WOULD HE BE WHY DO YOU NEED TO DRAW HIM OUT OH MY GODDD).

The circus is about to put on a show (presumably for money this time), and the townspeople are congregating to watch. Jeff Bezos I mean the mayor arrives wearing his sunglasses at night, causing that song to be stuck in my head along with the admittedly catchy songs from this musical. We get more circus performances featuring a lot of fire (I cannot WAIT to see the Does My Health Insurance Pay For This amount of fire the Hungarian version is going to go with).

You came to see a musical but SURPRISE! You’re getting a circus performance too. Does this make up for the wonky plot points? You decide.

Garcia arrives on the scene to sing about how the circus and everyone in it belongs to him and that everyone should be totally scared of him because he has knives in his pants and can kill people. Inexplicably they are scared, even the fucking whole ass police force that showed up. I understand he can throw knives but I don’t think that would be any match for, say, seven guns. CALL ME CRAZY. I also don’t think he has actual jurisdiction over anything just because he has a circus. Call me crazy again.

Anyway, the song is banger but is alas, too short. Why do the bad guys always get the bangers and bops ??? I’m not complaining but it’s a valid question. You know who would play this part perfectly - ?? * gets dragged away *.

Garcia grabs Caterina and makes her part of his knife throwing act. For some reason the mayor allows it. Whatever, I’ve given up trying to understand. Before he can throw the knife, Carmen appears and offers herself as the target. While it’s a badass moment and cool of Carmen to save Caterina, it makes no sense. But whatever! It’s dramatic!

Anyway, Carmen offers to have knives thrown at her by an extremely violent guy who explicitly says he wants to kill her. He tells her that he would definitely kill her in front of everyone because he is not afraid to die. First off, I don’t think the audience (of the circus) was meant to hear him saying that but I wonder about how much they heard considering they look freaked out when he violently grabs Carmen by the neck. Second, you gotta appreciate a villain who talks the talk and walks the walk. So many bad guys are all *surprised pikachu face* when they actually die, so shoutout to this asshole who is actually committed to his cause.

Garcia, being the professional performer that he is, tells the audience they are going to see something they’ve never seen before (presumably Carmen’s death). Before he can throw the knife, José jumps in front of her. Garcia very loudly and explicitly tells the audience that he is going to kill someone, but the police straight up do not care. José accuses him of killing Zuniga, but his dramatic moment is ruined by Garcia straight up admitting it in front of everyone. He waves his knife around and continues telling everyone how he is going to kill someone. Again, the police just casually watch. Go girl give us nothing.

Garcia throws his knife at José (tbh at this point I was rooting for it) but nooo Carmen jumps in front of him and gets stabbed instead. Inmar (who again is the only bitch I ever respected) fatally shoots Garcia but it is too late. Carmen dies in José’s arms before she can tell him she loves him. To reiterate, this bad bitch died for the most skrunkly ass dude on the planet we HATE to see it.

Caterina walks away from both her sketchy dad and José (yas queen) to follow the procession leading Carmen’s body away.

The personification of Fate, who has apparently also been a fortuneteller at the circus this whole time, tells us the story’s over. Carmen, presumably now in Heaven, sings about how she wouldn’t change anything about her life if given the chance. WELL I WOULD, CARMEN. I WOULD.

….AND YET ??? Barring the plot and some character personality choices I ??? Liked it ??? It has a ton of potential if they just change some things about the plot and characters (I’m serious). The songs have been stuck in my head for days and I like the fact they gave Carmen some depth beyond the standard Femme Fatale archetype. Unfortunately, the wonky plot points and José exist.

#carmen #carmen frank wildhorn #carmen the musical #shoutout to the one person who will read this i am smooching you on the cheek

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romanceclub-lovers · 5 months

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🌹Amy. G Author of the short story "The Desert Rose".

Calls herself a “Sims2 maniac.” In fact, she loves this game very much because it reminds her of the past.

She has been writing since childhood.

Now she writes lyrics and poems

Below is a poem Amy wrote before "The Desert Rose" (text taken from the author's page

Amy wrote the lyrics to the song that accompanied the CG animation in the Season 1 finale "The Desert Rose".

Amy worked in the media as an editor and journalist.

Amy has brothers and sisters.

Amy plays the piano.

She used to dance.

She loves to read.

Amy loves to travel . She has already visited France, Italy, Turkey, Germany, the Czech Republic, and the UK. Dreams of visiting the desert.

Amy is a music lover .

Amy has a cat.

Amy has many favorite books . For example, "The Plague", "The Thorn Birds", "Pride and Prejudice", "A Farewell to Arms", "Wolf Hall".

Amy likes all the stories in the Romance Club, but her favorites are Moonborn, Legend of the Willow, Dracula: A Love Story, Shadows of Saintfour, Sails in the Fog.

Amy herself has an umbrella like Mustafa.

Amy has a friendly relationship with authors Anastasia, Aleksandra...

In her youth, Amy really liked the couple Chuck and Blair (TV series “Gossip Girl”)

Amy is a fan of the Harry Potter universe.

Amy is married.

She loves makeup and everything connected with it

As a bonus photo of Amy's desktop.

Amy. G TG 👇

#romance club #romance club game #rc writers #rc the desert rose #rc tdr

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musicalrecs · 1 year

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Happy Dracula Daily 2023, all! I'm guessing many followers already know there's a Dracula musical, but if you didn't, consider yourself informed. :D It's got music by Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll and Hyde, Scarlet Pimpernel, Death Note) and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton (Sunset Boulevard together, a bunch of other stuff individually).

In fact, there's more than one! And that list, which goes to Wikipedia, is missing various international shows, like the Czech musical from 1995. I confess I couldn't tell you which are good; horror is just not my genre even when there's singing and dancing.

So musical reccers, what's your favorite musical adaptation of Dracula or and/or vampire lore? Doesn't have to be an actual stage show! As long as a vampire sings I'd say it counts.

Note: Obviously, if this is your first year on the Dracula Daily train you'll want to wait before checking out any of these so as to avoid spoilers. That's not to say that any of them are likely to be completely accurate to the book (though the Frank Wildhorn version really isn't the worst as adaptations go), but better safe than sorry, especially when the book has so many suspenseful twists if you don't know more than what you learned via cultural osmosis.

youtube

#dracula daily #musical recommendations #dracula #dracula the musical #forgetting sarah marshall #draculas lament #Youtube

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protect-daniel-james · 1 year

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me in my Czech musicals phase to switch off, and I just realized there’s this song from the musical Dracula, which I sense could work very well for the Grizione? I just don’t know from whose point of view? Let me explain with an English translation of the song

What a rare, precious gift I have been given The gift of your favor You are my master What can I give to you ? All I have is anguish You may judge me You are my master

because obviously Antoine should be the one looking up at Diego, going “you are my master” and “the gift of your favor” but what if...what if their dynamic is actually the other way? what if this is the moment where Diego kneels in front of Antoine etc. etc.

Only your closeness I beg you to grant me They said there was no paradise But I have been there In your arms Is where that bliss is glaring, There you are the ruler You are my master

then again, the “there you are the ruler” would mean that normally, the “master” isn’t the ruler, but when they hold the interpret of the song, they are. which works for grizione well, eh? also, the “only your closeness I beg you to grant me” would be very nice, considering Diego doesn’t ask more from his sweet French prince

I pine for you every single time you go Where did you go again ? Where and what for ? Forgive my terrible imagination, it makes me short of breath. Every time you return to me wakening I feel safe again, doubts and anguish release me your eyes convince me.

Ah, the painful image of Antoine leaving, right? Diego doesn’t neccessarily need to feel “safe again”, but the doubts and anguish definitely release him once Antoine is back. And boy oh boy, do Antoine’s eyes convince him.

You have given rules to my days as they go What do I mean for you I wish I knew Not chained by me Loved by me Thy will be done! You are my master

I think this is the most Diego/Antoine part.

#all i'm saying is i need more religious and royal imagery with Diego and Antoine #devotion and loyalty and dedication and undying love #antoine griezmann #diego simeone #grizione #that's a fic prompt

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fmpnalogirlypop · 2 months

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Bloodborne researching part 3

The Old Hunters

After discovering an item called "Eye of a Blood-Drunk Hunter", the player learns of the Hunter's Nightmare, where Hunters are cursed to wander, drunk with blood. While travelling through Yharnam, the player is pulled into the Hunter's Nightmare, populated by both beasts and long-crazed Hunters, by a lesser Amygdala.

The player can meet Simon the Harrowed Hunter, who tells them that the Nightmare serves as a prison for hunters who have succumbed to madness and the scourge. Simon can assist the player throughout their travels. The player first visits the Nightmare Church, where they encounter and kill the first Church Hunter, Ludwig the Holy Blade, now a horse-like beast known as Ludwig the Accursed.

After the battle, the player can either tell the dying Ludwig what has become of the Church and Yharnam or let him die believing that Yharnam has defeated the curse.

The player can also kill the founder of the Healing Church, Laurence the First Vicar, after finding him on an altar in the Nightmare version of the grand cathedral, now transformed into a burning Cleric Beast.

Upon defeating Maria, the player reveals the secret she was protecting: the ruins of a fishing hamlet that had been pulled into the Nightmare, and its inhabitants transformed into grotesque fishlike monsters. While exploring the village, the player can come across a mortally wounded Simon, who then gives the player a key and his weapon, and pleads for the player to end the Nightmare.

The player discovers that hamlet is the origin of the Nightmare—the result of a curse placed on the Byrgenwerth scholars and their Hunter subordinates, who tortured, mutilated, and massacred the Hamlet's inhabitants in their quest to understand the nature of the Great Ones.

As the player continues through the hamlet, they eventually discover the beached corpse of Kos, a Great One from the sea. An infant Great One and source of the Nightmare, the Orphan of Kos, emerges from the corpse's womb and attacks the player out of blind terror, using its placenta as a maul. After its defeat, the creature's phantom retreats to its dead mother's side and, upon being laid to rest, the Hunter's Nightmare ends.

Development

Japan Studio, a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment, approached FromSoftware concerning cooperative development on a title, and director Hidetaka Miyazaki asked about the possibility of developing a game for eighth-generation consoles.

The concept of Bloodborne developed from there. There were no connections to FromSoftware's previous titles, even though Miyazaki conceded that it "carries the DNA of Demon's Souls and its very specific level design". Development ran parallel to that of Dark Souls II.

The game's Victorian Gothic setting was partly inspired by the novel Dracula, and the architecture of locations in Romania and the Czech Republic.

Miyazaki also enjoyed H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos series of surreal horror stories, and applied similar themes into the game. Miyazaki had wanted to create a game set in such an era as those novels, but he wanted everything to be as detailed as possible, and felt that such a game was only possible on eighth generation hardware.

Story details were more plentiful than in the Dark Souls games, though the team created a larger mystery at the heart of the story to compensate for this. The method through which the story is shown and developed to the player is also done in a similar style to Miyazaki's other games, especially the Souls series, in that the plot is revealed with item descriptions, interactions with various NPCs, visual storytelling, and from the player's own inferences and interpretation of the plot.

Bloodborne's soundtrack was composed by a mix of Japanese and Western composers. The soundtrack contains over 80 minutes of original music by Tsukasa Saitoh, Yuka Kitamura, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Ryan Amon, Cris Velasco and Michael Wandmacher and features performances by a 65-piece orchestra and a 32-member choir. The development of the soundtrack lasted for around two and a half years.

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docrotten · 2 years

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THE RETURN OF DRACULA (1958) – Episode 136 – Decades Of Horror: The Classic Era

“There is only one reality, Rachel, and that is death. I bring you death, a living death.” Living death? Oxymorons abound in vampire flicks. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, and Jeff Mohr, along with guest host Dave Dreher – as they take in this alternative version of the bloodthirsty Count as depicted in director Paul Landres’s The Return of Dracula (1958).

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 136 – The Return of Dracula (1958)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

ANNOUNCEMENT Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL, which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era! Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website. Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop. https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/

After a vampire leaves his native Balkans, he murders a Czech artist, assumes his identity, and moves in with the dead man’s American cousins.

Director: Paul Landres

Writers: Pat Fielder (story) (screenplay)

Music by: Gerald Fried

Selected Cast:

Francis Lederer as Bellac Gordal / Count Dracula

Norma Eberhardt as Rachel Mayberry

Ray Stricklyn as Tim Hansen

John Wengraf as John Meierman

Virginia Vincent as Jennie Blake

Gage Clarke as Reverend Whitfield

Jimmy Baird as Mickey Mayberry

Greta Granstedt as Cora Mayberry

Enid Yousen as Frieda

Charles Tannen as Mack Bryant (uncredited)

William Fawcett as Eddie – Station Master (uncredited)

Belle Mitchell as Cornelia (uncredited)

The Return of Dracula, from Gramercy Pictures and United Artists, was chosen by Dave Dreher because of the effect it had on him while watching at his grandmother’s house as a young boy. He was mesmerized by the silhouette of a man with just his eyes bathed in light. The silhouetted man, the hand coming out of the coffin, the coffin filled with smoke, and other haunting images became the keystone of what he thinks of as classic horror and motivated him to go back and watch the Universal Horror offerings. To this day, he still holds The Return of Dracula in high regard.

Daphne describes the film as “wonderful.” She loves the ordinary folks placed in this bizarre situation and atmosphere and applauds Francis Lederer’s performance as the devilish, but debonair Count. Chad describes The Return of Dracula as answering the question, what if we dropped Dracula into the middle of a 1950s sitcom? From the outside, the film looks like a throwaway Dracula movie, but it is amazingly well-written by Pat Fielder and is well worth a watch. He describes Francis Lederer’s performance as stealing the show. He really believed this charismatic and magnetic personality as this evil slimy villain against the dichotomy of this wholesome family backdrop. You might think The Return of Dracula is a bit lame if you’re not paying attention, according to Jeff, but he too loves Francis Lederer as well as the family dynamics and the great character actors. Topping it off is the excellent writing from Pat Fielder.

Anyone viewing or listening to a podcast on classic horror will most certainly enjoy The Return of Dracula. At the time of this writing, the film can be streamed from Dailymotion or a Vudu PPV option and is available on physical media as an Olive Films Blu-ray.

Please check out these Decades of Horror: The Classic Era’s podcasts on other vampire movies:

DRACULA (1931) – Episode 20

NOSFERATU (1922) – Episode 21

VAMPYR (1932) – Episode 55

CURSE OF THE UNDEAD (1959) – Episode 73

(HORROR OF) DRACULA (1958) – Episode 109

SON OF DRACULA (1943) – Episode 132

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Up next in their very flexible schedule and chosen by guest host Richard Klemensen, the owner and publisher of Little Shoppe of Horrors: The Journal of Classic British Horror Films, will be Hammer’s The Brides of Dracula (1960). Also joining us will be Alistair Hughes, author and illustrator of Infogothic: An Unauthorised Graphic Guide to Hammer Horror and frequent illustrator for Little Shoppe of Horrors. This should be a fun episode. You won’t want to miss it!

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel, the site, or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at [email protected]

To each of you from each of them, “Thank you so much for listening!”

Check out this episode!

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sonyclasica · 2 years

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PASQUALE GRASSO

BE-BOP!

Tras el extraordinario éxito de la serie de lanzamientos digitales del virtuoso de la guitarra Pasquale Grasso, que se presentó en 2019 e incluye Solo Standards, Solo Ballads, Solo Holiday, y homenajes a los grandes del jazz Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Sony Music Masterworks lanza Be-Bop!, un nuevo y brillante homenaje a los pioneros del be-bop Dizzy Gillespie y Charlie Parker.

Consíguelo AQUÍ

Be-Bop! arranca de forma espectacular con el lanzamiento hoy de la composición por excelencia de Dizzy, "A Night in Tunisia", compuesta en 1942, cuando era miembro de la banda de Benny Carter, y que marcó el inicio de la mezcla única de Gillespie de los ritmos afrocubanos con el jazz estadounidense. Grasso logra un asombroso equilibrio entre la magia técnica y el swing, sonando como dos guitarristas a toda velocidad en la exigente "head" del ritmo latino sincopado. Y su rápido solo de dedos en la parte del minuto 1:03 sigue la impresionante tradición de la famosa pausa del saxo alto de Charlie Parker en su grabación de la melodía en Dial en 1946. El torrente de notas de Pasquale que sigue durante los siguientes dos minutos de su solo es aún más asombroso, bullendo con una rara facilidad y desenfreno a la altura de su fértil imaginación. Roland también ofrece un animado solo de bajo con arco, mientras que Balla se enzarza en unos hábiles intercambios con el líder cerca del final de la pieza. Por último, escucharás la breve y deslumbrante cita de Grasso de uno de los Caprichos de Paganini (el dificilísimo No. 24 en la menor) en la coda. Escúchalo aquí.

Respaldado por su trío de trabajo, formado por el bajista Ari Roland y el batería Keith Balla, el trío se muestra sincronizado en temas exigentes y supertemplados como "Shaw 'Nuff", "Groovin' High", "Cheryl", "Ornithology" y "Be-bop", mientras que se acomoda a un ambiente más relajado en la preciosa balada de Thelonious Monk "Ruby, My Dear". El "Quasimodo" de Parker es otro número relajado en medio tiempo, con una magnífica interpretación de la octava por parte de Grasso y un brillante solo de arco de Roland, y el trío se toma su tiempo en el exuberante "Lamento Della Campagnia", basado en la canción de Billie Holiday "Some Other Spring". Como explicó Grasso, de 33 años, "el año pasado lo pasé mal y la versión de Billie de "Some Other Spring" me ayudó a superar algunos momentos difíciles, así que decidí grabarla".

La vocalista invitada especial Samara Joy, que lleva colaborando con Pasquale desde 2020, aparece en un tema, el swinger de medio tiempo jivey "I'm in a Mess" (cantado originalmente por Joe Carroll en el álbum de Gillespie de 1951, School Days). "Tiene un talento increíble y estoy feliz de actuar con ella cada noche", dijo Grasso. "Nos divertimos mucho juntos".

Para promocionar el nuevo álbum, los fans podrán ver a Pasquale Grasso de gira en varios países de EE.UU. y Europa, como cabeza de cartel y como artista invitado en la banda de Samara Joy, incluyendo las próximas paradas en el Django de Nueva York (18 de mayo), el Festival Internacional de Jazz de Montreal (2 de julio), el Festival de Jazz de Umbría en Perugia (9-17 de julio), el Festival de Jazz en Marciac (23 de septiembre), y el Dizzy's Club Coca Cola de Nueva York (22 de agosto), el Festival de Jazz Charlie Parker (28 de agosto) y The Blue Note (12 y 26 de septiembre).

BE-BOP!

TRACKLIST –

1. A Night in Tunisia

2. Be-Bop

3. Ruby, My Dear

4. Shaw ‘Nuff

5. I’m in a Mess – featuring Samara Joy

6. Cheryl

7. Ornithology

8. Quasimodo

9. Lamento Della Campagnia

10. Groovin’ High

FECHAS DE LA GIRA

Julio, 2022

2 Montreal, QC, CANADA / Montreal International Jazz Festival *

4 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow

7 Tabor, CZECH REPUBLIC / Divadlo Oskara Nedbala *

9-17 Perugia, ITALY / Umbria Jazz Festival *

19 Nice, FRANCE / Nice Jazz Festival *

20 St. Moritz, SWITZERLAND / Dracula Club *

22 Diersbach, AUSTRIA / INNtöne Jazz Festival *

23 Marciac, FRANCE / Jazz in Marciac Festival *

25 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow

29 Washington, CT, USA / Tisch Auditorium (Litchfield Jazz Festival) *

30 Newport, RI, USA / Newport Jazz Festival *

* Samara Joy (featuring Pasquale Grasso)

Agosto, 2022

1 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow

2 Vail, CO, USA / Vail Square (Samara Joy/Pasquale Grasso Duo)

4 Vail, CO, USA / Vail Square *

5 Aspen, CO, USA / Dazzle *

6 Tulsa, OK, USA / Lowdown *

7 New York, NY, USA / Jazz at Lincoln Center

8 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow

10 New York, NY, USA / Little Island *

15 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow

19 Aspen, CO, USA / JAS at Aspen Art Museum *

22 New York, NY, USA / Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola

24 Washington, DC, USA / Blues Alley *

25 Washington, DC, USA / Blues Alley *

26 Atlanta, GA, USA / Callanwolde Fine Arts Center *

27 Charlotte, NC, USA / Middle C *

28 New York, NY, USA / Tompkins Square Park (Charlie Parker Jazz Festival)

29 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow

* Samara Joy (featuring Pasquale Grasso)

Septeimbre, 2022

5 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow

19 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow

20 San Francisco, CA, USA / Freight & Salvage *

22 Paso Robles, CA, USA / AMSTRDM

23 Monterey, CA, USA / Monterey Jazz Festival *

24 Chicago, IL, USA / Hyde Park Jazz Festival (Samara Joy/Pasquale Grasso Duo)

* Samara Joy (featuring Pasquale Grasso)

Octubre, 2022

10 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow

17 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow

24 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow

31 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow

Para ver todas las fechas de la gira y la información sobre las entradas, haz clic AQUÍ.

Para más información sobre Pasquale Grasso, visita: Website | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

#pasquale grasso

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emptymasks · 3 years

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i spent way too long cutting the backgrounds out of these images

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adridoesstuff · 4 years

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Underrated/unpopular foreign musical time!

Dracula (Czech musical)

Music by Karel Svoboda, Book by Karel Svoboda, Zdeňek Borovec and Richard Hes, Directed by Jozef Bednárik

The musical is very loosely based on Bram Stoker's Dracula. And when I say loosely, I mean LOOSELY

The show has three acts, each taking place in a different time in history. Act 1 takes place in the middle of the 15th century, Act 2 is in the 19th century and Act 3 is in a fairly modern setting.

Plot:

Act 1 starts with really reassuring us that Dracula is NOT a good guy. He manages to slaughter an entire monastery in the first 15 minutes of the show starting. He tries to kill the priest of the monastery, but the priest curses Dracula to "not being able to end his own life, even by his own hand" and for his mouth to "again thirst for blood".

He pays no mind to the curse and goes back to his castle, where his beloved wife, Adriana, awaits him while being heavily pregnant. She goes into labor, but both her and the baby die. Dracula is broken by finding the only person he truly loved dead, so he tries to commit suicide. But he finds out that no matter what, the wounds keep on closing and that he has become immortal.

This new found immortality makes him do a complete 180 from a few minutes ago and he commands his staff to be merry and celebrate with lots of wine. This merry orgy is only interrupted by a scream and Dracula is found with one of the girl servants, killing her by sucking her blood. Blood is literally everywhere. Thus, Dracula learns that he has become a vampire.

Act 2 moves to the 1800s. Dracula has over the years built a small harem of three girls, who he managed to turn into vampires. But he still hasn't gotten over his love for Adriana. Over the years, Dracula has taken to only coming out at night and pondering whether being immortal is just a great as he first thought it was.

A young lady named Lorraine (who is a very distant relative of Dracula's) comes to the castle, seeking shelter. At first meeting, she is smitten with Dracula. Dracula, on the other hand, gets a touch of hope that if he could come to love Lorraine, his curse would perhaps break. He arranges for a meeting with her in the garden, where he sends his servant to give her a dress and a pearl necklace for the ball in the evening.

Evening comes and Lorraine gets introduced to all of Dracula's undead court. The ball gets crashed by Lorraine's brother, Steven, who gets attacked by the undead and barely gets saved by Dracula's personal servant. Steven gets thrown into a dungeon and confesses to coming to the castle because he suspects Dracula of the recent spike in disappearances of both adults and children.

Meanwhile, Lorraine has fallen completely head over heels in love with Dracula. Dracula visits Steven in the dungeon along with Lorraine. Steven tries to tell his sister that the man she loves is a muderer and tries to kill Dracula. When he finds out that Dracula is immortal, he kills himself. Lorraine is desperate to see her brother die and begs Dracula to turn her immortal as well, to which he complies.

Act 3 moves the story from Dracula's castle in Transylvania into present day London, where Dracula has aquired a casino. We open on a biker gang called Stockers. The head of the gang, Nick, is planning to rob Dracula's casino, which at first doesn't seem like a good idea to his girlfriend Sandra.

Dracula awakes in an underground lab, where he lets a professor experiment on him and where he keeps a life size portrait of Adriana along with her dress. When Dracula goes away, Nick breaks into the lab, stealing the dress as a gift for Sandra.

Lorraine still keeps around Dracula, but their relationship is in shambles and she has taken up drinking as means of dulling her heartache. Lorraine begs the professor to let her into the lab, to perhaps understand Dracula better. There she finds the portrait and realizes that he might have not truly loved her all the years.

A new night begins in the casino and Nick arrives along with Sandra, who is wearing Adriana's dress. When Dracula sees Sandra, who looks exactly like Adriana, he thinks that his long lost love has resurrected and starts giving her compliment after another. Lorraine confronts him and he yells at her that he has found his eternal love again and that she makes him sick. Lorraine escapes into the underground and laments her fate.

Sandra is intrigued by Dracula's affectionate words, which are completely different from Nick's indefferent attitude to her. Sandra ventures to find Dracula and once she finds out that he has mistaken her for his long lost love, she tries to clear things up, but is interrupted by Nick. They try to escape and the Stockers break into the casino and start destroying it.

After Dracula proclaims that he no longer wishes to live, all his past victims appear to him, sticking all his sins to his face. Sandra is the only one who speaks kindly to him and he begs her to open the curtains and let the dawn sunlight kill him. Lorraine stops him for a moment, choosing to die with him and their souls find peace. The show ends on a positive note that everyone is their own master and has control over their own fate.

The show's original 1997 run proshot is on Youtube (but without subs) and the cast recording is available both on Spotify and Youtube

#musical #musical theater #musicals #dracula #dracula czech musical #foreign musical

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