Event Details

HSSU Players Theater Group Presents

Thursday, November 19, 2009 to Saturday, November 21, 2009
Location: Harris-Stowe State University
Address: 3026 Laclede Ave., St. Louis, MO 63103
Neighborhood: Midtown

Hours: 8 p.m.-10 p.m.

The Harris-Stowe State University Players theater group will present Dracula on November 19, 20 and 21 at 8 p.m. in the Emerson Performance Center’s Bank of America Theatre. There will also be a 10 a.m. matinee on Friday, November 20, for high schools.

Based on Bram Stoker’s classic novel by the same name, Dracula tells the riveting story of an aristocratic vampire in 17th century Transylvania. HSSU Director of Speech and Theater and Director of the production Beverly Brennan said she chose the play with her student Ryan Cunningham in mind for the lead role. “I had Ryan as a student, and he needs to do this role,” said Brennan.

“This is something outside everything I’ve ever done,” said Junior Secondary Education major Cunningham. “But I’ve got into the character already.” Cunningham has truly immersed himself in the role of Dracula, practicing his accent by turning his w’s into v’s and rolling his t’s, and he has even practiced biting his arm in order to achieve the proper look of how a vampire bites.

Cunningham has acted with classmate Ashley Yarbrough before, so he feels that they have chemistry onstage already. Yarbrough will play one of the leading ladies, Mina Murray, and homecoming queen Miss HSSU Kiersten Burns will play the other leading lady, Lucy Westenra. Other notable roles include Steve Sanders as R.M. Renfield, Jeremy Mitchell as Jonathan Harker, Untrell Smiley as Professor Abraham Van Helsing and Trenton Pratt as Dr. Jack Seward. Virgil Pearson is the sound operator, Jarrod Hobbs is the stage manager and student director, and Jarrett Woolfolk is in charge of lighting and special effects.

HSSU’s production of Dracula includes period turn-of-the-century costumes, complex special effects, dramatic music and even an elaborately choreographed scene in which Dracula (Cunningham) and Lucy (Burns) dance the tango.

“I love being on stage,” said Cunningham. “It pushes my adrenaline, and to be in an intimate setting like that on the stage and to actually be in front of the audience where it’s not a screen … There is no cut, start over, stop. You have to run with it, and I like the challenge … you are going to enjoy it. We won’t give you anything less than that.”

Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for students. To purchase tickets, please contact Director Brennan at (314) 340-5975.

Harris-Stowe State University, located in midtown St. Louis, is a four-year institution that offers 12 degree programs in the areas of Accounting, Business Administration, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Health Care Management, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Information Sciences and Computer Technology, Middle School Education, Professional Interdisciplinary Studies, Secondary Education and Urban Education. Ranked by U.S. News as one of America’s Best Colleges in the Midwest, the University, which has been in existence for more than 150 years, offers the most affordable bachelor’s degree in the metropolitan area.

Cost: $10 general admission, $5 for students

Website: http://

Contact : Beverly Brennan

Contact Phone: 314-340-5975

Contact Email: tricek@hssu.edu

Return to Calendar