Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors opens the Grand’s 2026/27 Season

Rachel Peake, the Grand Theatre’s Artistic Director, had no doubts about programming Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors as the theatre’s grand opening production for the season. “I love comedy but I am picky about farce. Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen have taken the timeless story of Dracula and inserted energy, speed, and zaniness. They play with gender norms, societal tropes, and brilliant social messages, all addressed with non-stop hilarity and a way to hold up a mirror to who we are, what we do, and where we might need to take a fresh look.”

Tall, devastatingly handsome, forever young, and obsessed with you. His sultry gaze locks you in and refuses to let go. Dracula and his ilk have had a hold on us for generations – from the legends and folklore that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula in the 1890s, to heart-stopping portrayals by Hollywood’s steamiest (think Cruise, Pitt, Pattinson, Skarsgård). 

Whether you favour Angel or Spike, Eric Northman or Bill Compton, or maybe Jemaine Clement’s Vladislav, there’s no argument that Dracula himself is the leading man with more than 300 movie credits to his name – not to mention a long history on the stage, including the off-Broadway/West End hit Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors set to open the Grand Theatre’s season in Downtown London.

Drac got his immortality and fangs from Stoker’s famous Victorian-era novel. It was Broadway that gave him his cape and hypnotic charm in the 1920s, and then a Tony Award in the 1970s. After more than a century of power, fame, and desire, a new Dracula at the Grand has guns swathed in barely-there organza and leans into a sensuality that reads across genders. Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, or “Sexy Dracula” as it’s called by those in the know, is a fast-paced, mad-cap farce with fangs where anything could happen.

“We have 90 minutes, 5 actors playing a multitude of characters, a frenzy of costume changes, getting on and off stage, discovering a vampire in their midst, and having to save themselves before time runs out,” explains Director Krista Jackson. “It's modern, it's fresh. We looked a lot at Drag Race and Dragula. We are playing up something that everybody loves. Everyone loves Dracula, everyone loves vampires. And of course, Dracula himself would love this version of the play because he’s the star of the show.”

And who better to play the drop-dead gorgeous (and he knows it), pansexual, egotistical narcissist prince of the night than Jesse Gervais. Grand audiences first met Jesse in Grand Ghosts (2022/23) as the infamous Ambrose J. Small, the theatre impresario who built London’s Grand back in 1901 and then later disappeared, presumed murdered, never to be seen again. The next season, he was back as the Butler who stole the show and took absolutely forever to die (foreshadowing?) in the Grand’s smash-hit production of Clue.

Gervais is part of a small, tight-knit cast of fast-on-their-feet actors who are even faster with their wits. Reena Jolly, who audiences will also remember from Clue as the show-stopping Miss Scarlet, will play Dracula’s spoken-for love interest, Lucy. Nathan Howe makes his Grand debut as Lucy’s feckless fiancé. Also making his debut, Constant Bernard will play Lucy’s lusty sister as well as the fearless, forthright, and unapologetically female Dr. Jean Van Helsing. Rounding out the hilarious five-some is none other than Nora McLellan, fresh from her final season as Sister Rose on Son of a Critch and returning to Grand, a stage that she has come back to over and over throughout her career. 

“This show has been in the works for longer than most,” says Peake. “The Grand’s talented Scene Shop teams built the set last fall to get ahead of the demands of also building sets for School of Rock and A Christmas Carol. We’ve known what is in store and have really had to wait to share it with everyone. Starting a new season at the Grand is always exciting, but this reveal feels extra special.”

Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors will run from October 20 until November 7. Tickets start at $25 and are available at www.grandtheatre.com, by phone at 519-672-8800, or at the Box Office, 471 Richmond Street. A Canada Life Pay-What-You-Can performance will be presented on Sunday, October 25 at 2 p.m. 

Header Image

Pictured: Jesse Gervais as Dracula. Costume Design by Joseph Abetria with Styling by Lisa Wright. Set Design by Joshua Quinlan. Photography by Mai Tilson.