And good morning. We're going to talk Broadway in Racine. Yes. In Racine. And Jocelyn
fishes here. She is the marketing director. And I pick it up. Don't tell me. I got to
written down. Hold on. Don't tell me because I have to learn these things. Marketing
director and development. Development. Mark is in development at the Racine Theater
Guild. And also a good egg. Always comes in. That's a great job for us here. Michael
Collector, who is the current director of the latest show there. Dracula, a comedy of
terrors. Dracula. We just played the monster mash a few minutes ago because the Billboard
magazine picked that as the top Halloween song of all time. Interesting. You know that
on the 20th, Bella Legosi celebrated his birthday. I did it really. I have no idea how old
he is, but you know, he's Dracula. So he's immortal. Yeah. And actually, Barry, I had a,
we had a story about things strange people were buried in with in their caskets and stuff.
And of course, he was number one. He got buried in the cape that he used. You know, I,
if you watch the last movie he ever made for the Edward Wood, it was just sad to watch
him on screen because he was an old man. He just, you know, he was terrible. He wasn't a
great actor. He just did Dracula very well. I think he did it on Broadway too. He did.
He did. And then he went on to do the movie Dracula in 1931. When they listed all the
Dracula movies, they actually listed the Spanish version of Dracula above his. It was filmed
on the same sets at night. Dracula with Bella Legosi was filmed at Universal Studios during
the day and at night they filmed the Spanish version. And it's the same exact movie except
in Spanish, but they said the guy played Dracula was much better. But it was in Spanish,
so it wasn't a hit. I digress Dracula, a comedy of terrors. By the way, just before we start,
it's anybody get their neck bitten in this? Do we? Everybody does. If you come through
the door, you get your neck. I just want to be a great. It's not in the show. It's
a special perk. So let's talk about this. What are the dates for it, Dracula? We opened
this Friday, actually, the 24th of October and run through November 9th. So it is spooky
season, which is why we kind of selected where this landed in our season at the theater
guild. We have a show on Halloween, even. So lots of fights and cookiness and silliness.
And it's the Dracula. Everyone knows and loves with a very fun twist. It completely flips
the script. And you know, you're talking about this icon of pop culture who has had multiple
movies, has the book, obviously, by Rob Stoker. I've never seen any of those. And I still
know who Dracula is. It's amazing how he has lived beyond his book and beyond all these
movies. And now there's a cookie comedy about it. Well, I told you that I just taped the
other day. Dracula has risen from the grave from 1968 with Christopher Lee, because he played
as many Dracula roles. And I was looking a little bit of it at the TCM and he said,
this looks good. So I, you know, deviant it. And I'll watch it back. I think the best
Dracula was the original because it was spooky. The rest of the Dracula is kind of new.
But there's no stopping him. Dracula meets Frankenstein. I mean, Dracula meets the wolf
man. Dracula meets the Bowry boy. And in the habit of just telling me Frankenstein, there's
Dracula enough. Yeah. So it never stops. So this is a comedy. This is a comedy. So it takes
a lot of the things you know about Dracula, about mirrors, about garlic, about steaks in
the heart. And it pokes fun at all of the absurdity of a vampire kind of, I guess, is the
best way maybe to sum it up. Now, do you have to get a new Dracula for every performance?
Because after you drive the steak through the heart, he says he dies. Well, if you pull
the steak out clearly from all the movies, he gets resurrected. Also, that's what you did.
Okay. I was wondering if you had to have like 10 Dracula's. We have to get new meaners
and Lucy's because there's a women he bites. But yeah. Now, you know, how many shows have
you directed for the guild? Oh, boy. I don't know. Maybe 10 or more at this time. But
I was an actor at the guild. And I also was the technical director there for a long time.
So let me show you where in maybe I can remember it. I've been going for a bison man.
Okay. What else keep going? Um, greater tuna. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Six rooms
review, um, how the other half loves. So you understand the actors. I do. Okay.
I do. And before we went on the air, I asked you when the auditions come up, you have a
lot of people auditioning first though. We do. For this show, I've had more than most of
my other shows. Yeah. You know, it's not in my wiring to make people feel bad. I just,
I don't do well at that. And as you got to say, next, I mean, you're breaking someone's
heart. It's not like it's, you know, Broadway where their careers are depending on it.
A lot of these people have other jobs, obviously. But still, you got to say, no, I just can't
bring myself to say that to people. I'm just not, uh, I'm not a person who can make people
feel bad. You have no problem with that, right? I don't. I mean, well, you know, I, I also used
to work at the University of Wisconsin Parkside in the theater department. We taught our students
that more often than not, they're going to hear the word no more than they're going to hear
because you're not always 100% right for every role. Every actor thinks they are right for
every single role, but they are not. And as an actor myself, I know that. But and as if you're
going to be an actor, you have to know that sometimes you're just not going to be in a show.
So it's not like, you know, you develop a fairly thick skin. They go in knowing that they may
or not make it. Right. The hope is they will make it. But 99.9% of the time they won't be in a show.
Right. Well, at the theater guild, we're lucky because a lot of these people come back and then
they're in the next show, you know, they, they don't get this one, but they get the next one or
they just try and try again. And so it's, we're very, very lucky that we have so many people that are
even willing to take the chance to audition because that's a very scary process. This particular show,
is all brand new people. They've never worked at theater guild before. But they all have worked
at similar theaters elsewhere. Some of them worked in Kenosha at the Rode and some of them
have been worked in Milwaukee. So they're not new to theater. They're just new to the received
theater guild. So Bob Benson is not missing. He's not in the show. We have a new pencil who is not
related to any other us in the show. And there was a Benson in one of the shows. Well, it's not a
musical. So now, do you ever have somebody audition for a particular part and say, you're wrong
for that part? But I do have a part for you. I have cast the guy who, who is playing a role in this
play, who actually came into addition for a different role in it. And I said, no, you'll be much
funnier in this other role as, as Mina or Dr. Van Helsing. But he really wanted to be Jonathan
Harker. And he's, my Harker is a different person than him. So yeah, give me the plot.
The plot. So it's pretty much that we meet Dracula, who is signing real estate papers with Jonathan
Harker for five properties in England. Takes a boat over Boach sinks to England and ends up at the
Westfield House. We meet Lucy. We meet her sister Mina. We meet Dr. Westfield. And all of
some Dracula appears. Everyone thought he's sunk with the ship on his way over. And so he crashes
the party engagement party for Lucy and Jonathan Harker and tries to seduce Lucy and isn't successful.
She's very headstrong. She does not want that. And so he decides to take a bite at Mina instead. And
so Mina suddenly gets sick. No one knows why. It's a disease of the blood. And so Dr. Westfeld writes
the letter to Gene Van Helsing and requests that he comes to help an vampire hunt and chaos
ensues. Is that pretty much it? Actually, if anybody has read the novel by Brahms Stoker,
it pretty much follows that in its plot. And it goes along the way. The only thing is, is rather than
being, you know, very scary. It's funny. And they do the twist things that they make you think of
things that, you know, you wouldn't otherwise think of it. And Dracula, who is used to getting his
way in absolutely everything all the time, meets Lucy and she gives him a sound. No. And he just
doesn't know how to deal with that. So he's got rock star vibes. There are
everyone except Dracula plays multiple characters. So there's quick changes on stage, wig changes,
etc. There are pop culture jokes. There are, you know, every blood sucking pun you can think of.
It's, it's just chocked full of little quips and things that just make it so entertaining. And
these actors are running with it because this is a marathon. It's about an hour or 45 minutes.
It's running nonstop. They are running around the stage, making jokes,
getting in and out of costumes. It's, it's lots of fun. Martin Landau won the Oscar for playing Dracula.
Do you remember that? Oscar. Yeah. In Ed Wood. Yeah. He played, he played Dracula in one of the Ed Wood
movies. And, uh, yeah, it was a good movie. We're talking to Jastlin Fish and Michael Clickner from
the Rossini Theater Guild. We're talking about their newest production opens up Friday Dracula,
a comedy of terrorists. But before we get back to that, the children's theater has a production
coming up. And it, uh, the next show there is November 14th. Yes. 14th through the 16th is the
musical adventures of flat Stanley Jr. And so that is based off of the children's book that came
out after I was a kid, but like every kid now knows it about flat Stanley who, uh, is a 2D boy
in a 3D world who, uh, travels the world as a cutout figure. So actually Gilmore Fine Arts,
right now, is preparing that show. They, uh, this is the third or fourth year, third year, fourth
year. Fourth year that we're working with them where they have an after school club that these
kids get to join in audition and, uh, rehearse after school. And then they come over and perform
it for the public in November, which is great. It's got to be terrible to say to a kid next. Yeah,
I just couldn't do that. All right. Signature. I can't do it at $1. I can't do it to a kid. Signature
spotlight series. And the next one up is a guild Christmas special. Yes. I went to one of
these. You know, when I went, I don't know if it was during COVID or maybe it was the patriotic
specialty during COVID, but a guild Christmas special is talking about that December 18th.
So Edson Melendez is directing that. He's got it all cast that will be, uh, yeah, Thursday,
December 18th, all kinds of holiday, Christmas, winter, festive music for the season. It's one
of our most popular concerts, actually. So I would say, truly, if you want to get tickets, give us
a call. There's our website very soon because it's already selling quite well. So everyone loves
a little holiday. Let's happen. Yes. This is coming up Saturday, November 15th. It said,
don't be Maxwell's production. Mm hmm. Let's happen to Milwaukee Blast from the past. So it's,
it's, he's got a great title. So don't be Maxwell as a comedian. We've had before at the
theater guild, but this is one man show about going up in Milwaukee and the Eucharism of it all
and working as a, I think he was a concession stand worker for a while and, um, at county stadium,
and all, all these stories from his kind of youth in Milwaukee, one man show. It's, uh, again,
a thing that's actually already selling quite well. We have, I think, only about 125 tickets left,
150. Let me see if I can get that. Don't say anything. Is Schlitz happens? A blitz
from the past. An old Milwaukee Blast from the past. In old Milwaukee Blast from the
past. They got to remember. That's difficult. Yeah. So that will be a comedy show on Saturday,
November 15th. Now this is a long way off this next one, but I love Broadway music because I grew up
in New York City. I'm Broadway and I loved it. The music of Learner and Lowe's coming up. I
remembered well. That's in June. That's in June all the way in June. Kathy and Greg Berg are
actually directing that one together. Oh, wow. So they will, uh, well, we don't have auditions
eight set, but if people also are interested in singing, they could be a part of that concert. But
yes, the wonderful music of Learner and Lowe, who gave us, uh, Brigaduin and my favorite lady
and Gypsy. No, not Gypsy. Uh, I'm going to fray. Oh, the other one's anyway. Uh, great composers. Yeah.
Okay, we're spending many shows. Brigaduin is one of my favorite Broadway musicals. I,
I've only seen the movie with Gene Cameron then. I saw this at Michael Clickner and I figured out
I saw a production that he worked on when I was a child at the fireside theater. When I was in
second grade, that is the first professional production I ever saw as Brigaduin.
And I love Brigaduin as well. And the first one I ever saw it was at the melody top in Milwaukee.
I've been to the melody top. It was amazing. On Good Hope Road. It was amazing.
They had some big stars at the melody top. I saw Camelot with Robert Goulet.
Who played Dr. Kilder, whoever, Richard Chamberlain. Richard Chamberlain. Yeah.
It was amazing. That was a nice place. The melody top was amazing. It was, they had the theater,
which you, I guess, started as a tent, but they it was a, it was a concrete or whatever.
They made it into a real theater later on. But when you went out, there was all these types of,
like a bizarre to walk through when you left the melody top right there and go to, but they had
major stars in that place. I saw it when it was in a tent. Oh, we, when it was a tent,
a little boy. What, what my parents? We had something on Long Island called the
Westbury Music Fair. It also started as a tent. And then later they built the structure to look
like a tent. Let's talk about the, the latest show at the Racine Theatre Guild opens up this weekend.
It's called Dracula. I love that everyone has to say the name with an accent.
You can't just say Dracula. You have to say draw. No, it's not. It's Dracula.
Dracula. Dracula. Which is actually Bella Legosi's
that's what he said. That's what he said. So we all say that now. Those are the
great universe. I'm just even an epic just tollow meat Frankenstein. He said that I am
to rock. Real guy Dracula. It was a real person, but he wasn't called Dracula. He was called
Vlad the Impaler in Romania. In Romania, he was basically a warlord who defended his country and
his people. And his claim to fame that he would put people on stakes. Oh, stab them and let them
sit there and the sake would slowly work its way through their body. Hence the Impaler.
God. Impaler. Interesting. In Transylvania. Yeah. Romania. So you know, and now it's a fiction.
Vlad Dracula, which means the dragon. Oh, look at you. You bring us a little history of that
here. But this is not that Dracula. No, you said there were a lot of people playing Dracula in this
show. No, there are five actors total in the entire play. Yeah. One person plays Dracula. He's
Dracula throughout. The other four people play 14 to 15 different characters. So they have to make
a lot of quick changes and things. And it's not like we're trying to disguise the fact that they're
not. They're labeled actor one, two, three, four. And it's a comedy. And that helps that people
aren't going to say, hmm, I think I've seen that actor before because you will know that you have
seen. Part of the bit actually, which I think is so funny for the playwrights to to let you play
with that of being like this person is two different people on stage within 10 seconds of each
other. How are you going to do that? Let's figure it out. It's tricky. They've never done a musical
with Dracula, haven't they? Now, I know they did a comedy with George Hamilton Dracula,
love it first bite or something like that. So they've done comedy with Dracula. I don't think I've
done a musical. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe you guys can be the first. I have Michael
write the musical. It'll be a premiere production. Well, I'm a director. I'm not a writer,
but I'll direct it. The musical. So again, this opens up Friday night and it runs through November
9th. No, always a long running one. It's a three week run. Yep. So lots of opportunities to get
tickets. Top ticket prices, $20. You can get it at the Racine Theatre Guild website and or give us
call at the box office. And let's run through this again. Yes. You know what I'm going to say. Yes,
I do. I do get tickets through one of two ways, either Racine Theatre dot org or at the box office.
Don't go any other place. You'll see people selling them for like triple or quadruple the price.
You should never have to pay more than $20 for a ticket. Right. And that's for, you know,
the play musicals might be a little more. Yep. But you only get them through Racine Theatre dot
actually three places. Racine Theatre dot org. The Racine Theatre Guild box office or winning
them here on WRJM. Right. Right. Yeah. Because my tickets are legit. Get them free. And we're giving
way of pay. We'll do it in eight o'clock hour this morning. The way of pair to Dracula,
comedy of terrorists. I'm excited. I love going to the guy. I'm only the five minutes away. I
love right there on Main Street. So I just jot on over. Well, I've been going now for a couple of
decades. We've had theater the seats. We get the same seats every year. We get the three in a row.
And you get to know the people around you after all these years. You know, hey, I get there when
I've been seeing you since last show. And I felt bad because the lady who sits in front of us for
years passed away. So I saw somebody different sitting there. And I said, where's? And she said,
what's your past away? Oh, and what are you doing in her seat? I mean, get out of that seat.
That's her seat. We leave that empty now with a rope going around it. But you get to know the
people there. And it's, you know, it's the same in in the backstage and on stage side of things.
Like Michael said, we have five new actors in this show. And it is amazing to see how,
how much camaraderie they have with each other. And then we have a very large crew as well,
supporting this because it is so fast paced. And there are so many costume changes and
are so many set pieces that people are moving in and out of the stage at the whole time. So
Michael's done a lot of coordination and orchestration. It's like noises off. Yeah. I love that
show. The chaos going on in that production. Do you, are you in the audience? You're in for the
audience for the first show, right? You ever watched you watch? I stay through opening night. And
then I'm done. I go away. You don't watch it anymore. No, you know, it's a comedy. And it's
probably very, very funny. But I know all the jokes now. It's like, like dead jokes.
Once you've heard him, you've heard him. Yeah, but I would be sitting there and thinking,
not yet. Trust me, Jocelyn was there the other night when I had a yell out a couple of times.
That's not this part. I said, cut, cut. Let's back it up and do it again. But that's what
I'd be scared to death. I mean, I've done television. I've done all that. Never get nervous.
A live show. I would get nervous because I can laugh my way out of mistakes. I'm radio and
TV. I can laugh my way out of it. It's tough to laugh your way out of a show if you make a mistake.
Well, that's the beauty of becoming a company of actors. You work together and you rely on one
another. If I go, we call it going up on a line. If I go up on a line and you can look across
and that person has that deer in the headlights looking, you know, they don't know where they're at.
You step in and try to fix it for them. I also found a good trick as an actor. If you've lost
your line, just take a step or two one direction or the other and it tends to jog your memory and
to get back. That's live theater and that's why we love it because you never know what's going to
happen. Yeah. I must say the line, local news and timeless hits a hundred times during this three
hours, but I still have to have it written in front of me here. Or I'll forget it. Jocelyn fish,
thank you very much. Thank you. Director of Marketing and Development at the Receiving Theatre
Guild. Michael Klickner, the director of a lot of shows and also Dracula, the latest production,
a comedy of terrors at the Receiving Theatre Guild opens up Friday. Go to Receiving Theatre.org
or to the box office to get tickets or we got a couple to give away here on WRJN. So it's
be nice. Thank you guys for coming into the precincts. You get that really in the morning.
