On the Saturday 22nd March, 2025, my boyfriend Aaron treated me to an early birthday present, a ticket to Steve Steinman’s ‘Vampires Rock: Eternal Love’, at Cast Theatre, Doncaster. There was me, Aaron and our friend Lou. It was absolutely amazing!

Steve Steinman is an extremely successful writer, director and producer, a number one recording artist. In ‘Eternal Love’, 20 original songs are taken from Steinman’s epic ‘Heaven’s Gate’ and ‘Take a Leap of Faith’ number one albums. It is the third in his ‘Vampires Rock’ trilogy and has proved immensely popular. A rock musical like no other, with a mix of musical theatre, vampire seduction, electrifying rock anthems performed by extremely talented musicians, sexy dancing and Steinman’s aka Vampire Baron’s tongue in cheek hilarity 🤣🤣

Alongside his co-star, John Evans as Bosley, Reg Enderby, for the Nottingham show and gig guide reportedly said:

“Steve and John’s comedy timing brought back memories of watching the great Morecambe and Wise” (Eternal Love official programme)

The band was absolutely mint and I was not surprised to read that the dancer playing Ursula, Victoria Farley, was also the choreographer as she really stood out as being sensational. All the dancers put in great effort nonetheless

SPOILER ALERT: The storyline of the production in a sense was unrequited love. Medusa (one of the dancers played by Tanyth Roberts), is madly in love with Baron Von Rockula (Steinman), an old flame. However, he has just wed his new vampire bride, Xena Rock-Heart (Claire Zamore)… yet, all is not what it seems…

Me and some friends have already seen Steinman’s ‘Anything For Love: The Meatloaf Story’ a few months back, showcasing all Meatloaf’s iconic songs. You can definitely tell Meatloaf was a huge inspiration for Steinman’s music and style. It was actually how his career began back in 1994 when he appeared as Meatloaf on the very popular at the time, ‘Stars in Their Eyes’

We haven’t got our tickets yet, however, we are very much looking forward to his upcoming ‘Love Hurts: Power Ballads and Anthems’, featuring songs from the likes of rock legends Whitesnake, Aerosmith, Heart, Fleetwood Mac, Tina Turner, Foreigner, Van Halen, etc. It is going to be wicked!

‘Eternal Love’ was such a joyous feel good production. The vocals were absolutely incredible (especially Tanyth Roberts as Medusa), she is a superstar in the making!

The whole atmosphere, the ace songs, the impressive choreography, the props, scenes, comedy element…fantastic! It was very funny and ever so sexy 😜😜

Vampires Rock!

On Wednesday 2nd April, 2025, myself, Aaron and our two friends Joe and Lou went to see an adapted stage play of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ at Cast, Doncaster.

This production of ‘Dracula’ marks for the Blackeyed Theatre 20 years as a producing company. Their mission, to tell stories both theatrically and simply, fueling imagination; stripped back and bare. The style is adapted somewhat as the company receives little funding, yet they embrace this situation as an opportunity to push creativity.

True to the novel, the production converses journal entries, letters, telegrams etc

Nick Lane, the director and adapter of this show explains some of his artistic choices in the official programme. Accepting that the character Dracula has been rewritten many times, it is apparent there are many unavoidable associative tropes, yet he wanted to explore the complex side of Dracula as not purely a villain.

The character Mina is liberated as a self-aware, intelligent young woman, far from the norms of Victorian literature. Furthermore, Dr Hennessey and Renfield are played by female actresses instead of male as in the novel. This decision was made to highlight social norms of the time and to add dramatic tension. Nick researched widely “Asylums for Lunatic Women”. In Victorian society women were treated completely atrociously

‘Dracula’, as aforementioned, as an epistolary novel is respected and replicated in this adaptation. There were two key roles for each actor (only six actors in the entire production), and Dracula is played by three male cast members, his de-aging process dramatised by younger actors as the play persists

David Chafer had contrasting roles as both Dracula and Van Helsing, two immensely opposing figures. Richard Keightley, from mega confident Dracula to a timid, anxiety ridden steward. Harry Rundle, a young, physically strong and virile Dracula, dominant and commanding, versus the quieter role of Arthur

With this play, Nick wanted to portray both the familiar and the unexpected.

In cinematic history, Christopher Lee in the 1958 technicolour Hammer Head production of ‘Dracula’, was the first cinematic Dracula to have actual canine ‘fangs’, blood streaming, which became heavily associated until the more recent tendency to highlight the human within the vampire 🧛‍♂️ The metaphysical soul searching tale, such as with ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Anne Rice (1976)

In Bram Stoker’s novel, 1897, Dracula has a disgusting vile breath, he has fluffy palms, elongated ugly nails, a bulky nose… the overarching theme being the exotic and foreign threat to domesticated England. Invasion. We must remember, Jonathan Harker is a solicitor, travelling to Transylvania to facilitate a move to London. The xenophobic threat, the ‘foreign-ness’ of the count, entwined with the sexual, drinking female English blood (and, gasp, maybe male blood too 😲), penetrative and passionate. Written to horrify, but also to excite thrill and tittilate!

Most Dracula adaptations are inspired by the source, but most deviate from the storyline to fit with issues of their times, i.e. to today’s audience

This production by the marvellous Nick Lane explores the idea of ‘bloodline memory’ in a post pandemic world. The concept is that we all have ‘past lives’, we are reincarnated; our memories are transferred, our souls incarnated multiple times. That, under hypnosis, we can access our ancestor’s memories, feelings, skills, anxieties, phobias etc. This theory is cleverly linked to the vampire myth in the adaptation in the sense that when a vampire penetrates their fangs into an innocent victim, blood is not only drained, but the bloodline virus infects the victim. The vampire’s bloodline, their hundreds and thousands of years of memory dominating the host; supplanting them with centuries of violence; killing, feeding, hunting, until the fever completely overrides the victim’s own personal thoughts, feelings, personality…Eradicating their entire human being to become darkness, seductors of the night, monstrous, abhorrent and Undead.

My personal opinion?  It was somewhat sombre, a sophisticated but very serious performance, in complete difference to Steve Steinman’s ‘Eternal Love’! Entirely opposing styles.. and in all honesty, though the Transylvanian accent was most applaudable, I would have appreciated more fangs and drizzling down the neck blood!

(All information obtained from the ‘Steve Steinman’s Vampires Rock: Eternal Love’ and the Blackeyed Theatre’s ‘Dracula’ official programmes)

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For my next blog post, I shall be writing a theatre review of Cast, Doncaster’s Easter pantomime ‘Pinocchio’… so watch this space! 😜😜

Thank you as ever for reading/viewing, much love, Lauren xx

© 2025 Lauren Parr / https://unicornpostbox.com